Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions

• Composite and shield volcanoes are found along plate boundaries and have distinctive characteristics and can have both positive and negative effects on people and the landscape.
• Magma is molten rock that is found within the Earth, which rises to the surface to form lava.
• Volcanoes usually form along plate boundaries, where tectonic plates are either moving towards or away from one another.
• Divergent (or constructive) boundaries are where two tectonic plates are moving away from one another.
• Convergent boundaries are where two tectonic plates move towards each other and collide.
• The oceanic crust sinks beneath the continental crust at a subduction zone, creating magma which rises to form an explosive volcano.
• Volcanoes affect different places in different ways, causing more damage in poorer countries, where there are fewer resources to predict and prepare for them.