What positive effects do volcanoes have on the environment? And
where could I get more info. about it?
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
That's a good question. I guess the main good effect that volcanoes have on
the environment is to provide nutrients to the surrounding soil.
Volcanic ash often contains minerals that are beneficial to plants, and
if it is very fine ash it is able to break down quickly and get mixed
into the soil.
Perhaps the best place to look for more information about this would be
to look up references about some of the countries where lots of people
live in close proximity to volcanoes and make use of the rich soils on
volcanic flanks. These would include Indonesia, The Philippines, Japan,
Italy, etc.
I suppose another benefit might be the fact that volcanic slopes are often
rather inaccessible, especially if they are steep. Thus they can provide
refuges for rare plants and animals from the ravages of humans and livestock.
Finally, on a very fundamental scale, volcanic gases are the source of
all the water (and most of the atmosphere) that we have today. The
process of adding to the water and atmosphere is pretty slow, but if it
hadn't been going on for the past 4.5 billion years or so we'd be pretty
miserable.
Good luck with your research into this interesting subject.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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