Hello!!!

Today I'm going to talk about how volcanoes have effected people through the ages, from the recent Icelandic volcano to the lesser known facts about the Krakatoa volcano.

First of all I am going to talk about the recently erupted Iceland volcano.
We all know (and I mean those who haven't been under a rock for the last couple of weeks) that the Icelandic volcano has caused havoc all over Europe and the rest of the world with the airports.
What some people may not know ("people" as in those who didn't pay attention to their Geography teachers) is that the volcano is not just spewing lava, but is also sending up tiny particles of ash and volcanic glass.
It is the tiny particles of this volcanic glass that is the reason for all of the planes to be grounded.
The reason for this is that the glass gets sucked into the engines, and then (because of the heat they produce) the glass melts.
Now, you're probably thinking that the glass would then become runny and drip out of the engine, right?
Well, the answer is, no.
This is because the glass then hardens again, and damages the (might I add, EXPENSIVE!) engines by jamming it so that it stops, or braking the (VERY EXPENSIVE!) fins used in the engine to help produce the thrust that is needed to keep the air-plane up in the air (or else these planes would then be known as "ground-planes").
And so that is why the Icelandic volcano is such a headache for airports and airport staff all over the world.

Now I am going to talk about the lesser known facts about Krakatoa.
On the 27th of August, 1883, the Island of Krakatoa experienced a number of blasts that eventually resulted in the famous explosion.
Many volcanoes usually have one form of volcanic activity, weather it be pyroclastic flows, volcanic bombs or tsunamis, etc, etc, etc.
The thing with Krakatoa is that it had all three of the listed things above.
Another thing to remember about Krakatoa is that it wasn't just a volcano, it was also an island.
In fact, the explosion of Krakatoa was the largest that has ever been recorded (though I'm pretty sure my mums farts would be just as powerful).
The remains of Krakatoa lie next to two islands, Lang and Verlaten.
These three islands used to be apart of a super volcanic island until it exploded in 416A.D, which was recorded in Javanese scriptures.
According to these scriptures, most of the volcanic island collapsed into a 7km long caldera ( for those of you who don't know or doesn't pay attention to their geography, this is a volcanic feature formed when land around a volcano collapses after an eruption) beneath Rakata on Krakatoa, thus forming the three present islands (Rakata is a collapsed Indonesian island of Krakatoa).

Well, I'm just about finished for today, so I'll see ya later!!!