Why do geysers spout hot water?
When water seeps through the ground and reaches magma, hot rock or volcanic gases, it boils violently. This produces steam that can shoot the water out of cracks, causing a geyser. Geysers can be very spectacular, and some shoot water as high as 500 m into the air, although most are much less powerful. Sometimes they erupt at regular intervals, but most erupt only occasionally.
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What happened when Krakatoa erupted?
The eruption of Krakatoa, in Indonesia, in 1883 was the biggest explosion in recorded history. Krakatoa was a small island between Java and Sumatra, on which there was a small cluster of volcanoes that were not dangerously active. On May 20, 1883, one of the cones erupted violently, and three months later the whole island blew up. The explosion could be heard in Australia, 3,500 km away, and a cloud of ash rose 80 km into the air. For two and a half days the island was in total darkness because of the amount of dust in the air.
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