Is Volcanic Activity Beneficial for the Earth?

Volcanoes are powerful geological features that can profoundly shape the Earth’s landscape. They possess the unique ability to both build and destroy, but in this article we will specifically focus on the question whether volcanic activity is beneficial for the earth.

Mount Unzen in Japan, Mount St. Helens in the U.S., Etna Volcano in Italy, and Mauna Loa and Kilauea in Hawaii (U.S.) are all examples of current active volcanoes around the world.

Volcanoes have the capacity to build and create new landforms. Through volcanic eruptions, molten rock, known as magma, rises to the surface and solidifies. Over time, these layers accumulate and contribute to the formation of islands, mountains, and other landmasses.

The Hawaiian Islands, for instance, are a prime example of volcanic activity that has led to the creation of a series of volcanic islands.

The materials ejected during volcanic eruptions, such as ash, pumice, and pyroclastic flows are deposited and settle on the surrounding land. Over time, these deposits weather and break down, enriching the soil with minerals and nutrients from within the earth. This process of weathering contributes to the formation of fertile volcanic soils that are highly suitable for agriculture. Volcanic regions around the world often exhibit rich and productive farmland due to the nutrient content derived from previous volcanic activity.

On the other hand, volcanoes have the potential to cause significant destruction to the landscape. Eruptions result in the sudden release of a variety of hazardous elements, including lava flows, pyroclastic flows (fast-moving mixtures of hot gases and volcanic materials), ash clouds, and toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide.

These destructive forces cause widespread damage to surrounding ecosystems, infrastructure, and human settlements. Pyroclastic flows and lava flows engulf everything in their path, altering the topography and obliterating existing land features.

How are volcanoes beneficial to the Earth?

While volcanic eruptions can be devastating, they also provide valuable insights into Earth’s processes, contribute to scientific knowledge, and drive advancements in volcanic monitoring and hazard mitigation.

One example of a volcanic event that brought up some benefits is the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Despite being a devastating eruption, it also had some positive outcomes from the long term perspective:

Climate cooling: The eruption injected a large amount of volcanic gases and aerosols, including sulfur dioxide, into the stratosphere. These particles reflected sunlight back into space, leading to a temporary cooling effect on the Earth’s surface. This phenomenon resulted in a decrease in global temperature by about 0.5 degrees Celsius over the following years.

Scientific insights: The eruption of Mount Pinatubo provided scientists with an opportunity to study and understand the impacts of a major volcanic eruption on the climate system. It contributed to our knowledge of the intricate interactions between volcanic emissions, atmospheric processes, and global climate patterns.

While volcanic eruptions can have short-term cooling effects on the climate, they also contribute to the overall functioning of the Earth’s atmosphere. Volcanic emissions, including gases and aerosols, interact with sunlight and atmospheric processes. These interactions affect atmospheric chemistry, cloud formation, and the distribution of heat.

Volcanic activity has played a role in shaping the Earth's climate over geological timescales.

Carbon dioxide regulation: Volcanic activity contributes to the carbon cycle by releasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. While excessive CO₂ emissions from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are a significant concern for global warming, volcanic emissions play a relatively minor role.

Volcanoes release much smaller amounts of CO₂ compared to human activities and are part of the natural carbon cycle. Over geological timescales, volcanic activity helps maintain a balance in the Earth’s carbon budget.

Formation of volcanic ash soils: The volcanic ash ejected during the eruption of Mount Pinatubo deposited a layer of fine particles on the surrounding land. Over time, this ash weathered and mixed with the existing soil, resulting in the formation of highly fertile volcanic ash soils. This soil has the potential to support agricultural activities and enhance crop productivity in the affected areas.

Recycling of nutrients: Volcanic eruptions release nutrients and minerals locked deep within the Earth’s mantle back into the surface environment. These elements, such as potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, are essential for the growth of plants and contribute to the fertility of soil.

Mineral and energy resources: Volcanic activity can lead to the formation of mineral deposits. The heat and pressure associated with volcanic activity create conditions favorable for the concentration and formation of minerals such as gold, silver, copper, and various precious stones. Additionally, volcanoes are associated with geothermal energy, which can be harnessed for electricity generation and heating purposes in regions with accessible geothermal reservoirs.

What are the other benefits of volcanic activity for humans and the environment?

Volcanoes are associated with geothermal energy, which is harnessed in geothermal active regions for various purposes. Geothermal power plants tap into natural heat reservoirs deep underground, utilizing the steam and hot water generated by volcanic activity to produce electricity and provide heating for nearby communities.

Geothermal energy is a renewable and relatively clean source of power.

Did you know? One country that utilizes its geothermal resources with great success is Iceland. Over 25 percent of Iceland’s electricity is produced from geothermal sources. Hot water and steam from geothermal reservoirs are utilized for space heating, heating buildings, and providing hot water for domestic and industrial use. Nearly 90 percent of Iceland’s households are heated with geothermal energy.

Volcanic gases add water to the Earth. In fact, between 70 to 95 percent of all the gas that is emitted by a volcano during an eruption is water vapor.

Due to their steep inclines, volcanoes can serve as refuges for plants and animals in areas where humans have developed the land surrounding volcanoes. It is now thought that volcanoes may have also provided a warm refuge for plants and animals during the Earth’s past Ice Ages.

How does volcanic activity affect land?

Volcanic soil is very rich and productive for plants for several reasons. Volcanic lava and ash provide a variety of minerals to the soil that are important for plant growth. Volcanic soil retains water for a long time, allowing it to be used gradually by vegetation.

Volcanic soil also contains high levels of phosphorous, which is important for plant growth, and crops that are grown in volcanic soils require less fertilizer and produce higher yields.

Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and Italy are examples of places where people have lived in close proximity to volcanoes to take advantage of the rich soil that exists near them. Coffee and grapes are two globally important crops that grow very well in volcanic soil.

The intense heat and pressure associated with volcanic activity leads to the formation of valuable mineral deposits. Magma carries dissolved minerals from deep within the Earth’s mantle, and as it cools and solidifies, these minerals crystallize and form ore bodies. Examples include deposits of gold, silver, copper, and various precious stones.

Volcanic regions often host important mineral resources that are economically significant for the country. Examples of gold-silver deposits include the famous Comstock Lode in Nevada, USA, and the Yanacocha Mine in Peru, or the Grasberg Mine in Indonesia and the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, USA.

Do volcanoes affect climate?

Volcanoes have an impact on the Earth’s climate, albeit in various ways depending on the magnitude and scale of volcanic activity. Their eruptions release significant amounts of gases, aerosols, and particles into the atmosphere, influencing climate patterns both locally and globally.

One of the most notable effects of volcanoes on climate is the temporary cooling effect they generate. During large volcanic eruptions, massive quantities of sulfur dioxide gas are emitted.

This gas reacts with water vapor in the atmosphere to form sulfate aerosols, which can remain suspended in the stratosphere for an extended period. These aerosols scatter and reflect incoming solar radiation, reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth’s surface. As a result, there is a temporary decrease in temperatures, leading to a cooling effect.

Volcanic emissions also have complex interactions with the atmospheric chemistry. The gases released by volcanoes react with other compounds, forming new particles and altering the composition of the atmosphere. These chemical reactions can impact the lifetimes and concentrations of greenhouse gases like methane and ozone.

On a regional scale, volcanic aerosols and particles influence weather patterns. They affect cloud formation, precipitation, and moisture distribution, which leads to changes in rainfall patterns and atmospheric circulation in localized areas.

However, it is essential to emphasize that the climate impact of volcanoes is temporary and limited compared to long-term climate drivers such as human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. While volcanic eruptions can cause short-term cooling, their overall influence on climate is relatively minor in the grand scheme of global climate dynamics.

Volcanoes release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

Before humans were burning massive amounts of fossil fuels and far exceeding the Earth’s natural carbon limits, volcanoes played a critical role in contributing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is necessary for the photosynthetic processes of trees and other plant life.

Carbon dioxide also contributes to the greenhouse effect, which, prior to the massive human contributions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere due to the relentless burning of fossil fuels, would help to keep our planet warm and helped to keep it from freezing. Volcanoes also provide carbon balance to the Earth, since carbon is the one of the building blocks that is important for all life on this planet.

Volcanoes emit sulfur dioxide

Volcanic sulfur contributes to global sulfur levels that help to build the proteins that are present in humans and in all other living things.

Scientists have recently discovered that this sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by volcanoes is also helping to keep global temperatures from rising even higher than they would otherwise have risen, slowing the global warming potential of as much as 25 percent of global greenhouse gases from 2000 to 2010.