what happens after a volcano has erupted?

“It can take as little as days for the lava to cool or it can take years. In Mexico, there is a volcano where people can still light sticks of wood from the lava that erupted over 40 years ago. Vulcanologist have been able to stop the lava from flowing by building barricades of stone. They can also cool the lava by spraying water on it.

Even if we can stop lava from flowing by using water, water will not stop a volcano from erupting. If you put water down a volcano’s chimney, the water would turn to vapor and would cause an explosion. In 1943, American plans dropped two bombs in the cater of Vesuvius and stopped the eruption. The bombs formed a crack at the bottom of the crater and lava flowed out. This lessened the pressure that was building. Americans also exploded dynamite in a Mexican volcano in 1919. The pressure was released when thick lava came to the center of the crater. These were the only two ways I found to stop a volcano from erupting.

A volcano spits out steam. The steam comes from water that has seeped through the rocks from the sea or rivers. The steam is blown into the air. It cools and forms water droplets. If there is enough steam, there can be a rainstorm. When the rain mixes with ash, it forms a thick black mud. This is called lahar.”