Answers To The Question: What Is A Magma Chamber?
MAGMA CHAMBER – In this article, we will learn about what a magma chamber is, as well as its importance.
A magma chamber is an area beneath the Earth’s surface where molten rock or magma is stored. Magma forms in subduction zones where an oceanic plate meets with a crustal plate.
The descending plate would start to melt. Afterward, the molten rock gets stored in these underground chambers.
Adding to this, the magma would be hotter than the rocks surrounding it. This causes great pressure.
Ast the melting plates continue to add molten rock into the chamber, the pressure rises until it could break solid rocks apart. The hot liquid rock is lighter than the rocks around it.
This forces magma to go upward. From here, it could erupt during a volcanic eruption.
Most known magma chambers are between one and ten miles deep. However, little is known about deeper chambers due to them being hard to detect.
According to an article from The Science Site, when Magma stays in a chamber for a long time, it would start to cool near its walls. These then gasses from the crystallizing elements.
Olivine, along with lighter elements settle near the bottom of these chambers. Lighter elements and gasses, however, move upward.
This causes them to form a stratified chamber. These could erupt causing a massive volcanic eruption.
One of the most notable eruptions from a stratified magma chamber was the Mount Mazama eruption. This event was so massive that if formed Crater Lake.
As the eruption was over, so much material had been spewed out. The summit collapsed forming a caldera that is 2,148 feet (655 meters) deep.
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