The Three Most Active Volcanoes in the World

世界上最活跃的三座火山

These volcanoes are the most active volcanoes that have been erupting constantly for thousands of years. The centre of our planet has been exploding through our Earth’s crust many times an hour for the last few centuries, these volcanoes have been taking the worst of it.

这些火山是最活跃的火山，已经持续喷发了数千年。过去几百年中地球中心的物质一直在不断地冲破地壳，每小时好多次。火山活动就是最极端的表现。

Mount Etna

埃特纳火山

Mount Etna is one of the worlds most active volcanoes, it has been erupting for over 2,000 years. Over these years it has been given a multitude of names including the Mountain Of Fire or the Home of the Cyclops. This volcano has put there fear in men down through the ages. It is located in Sicily in Italy and is the largest mountain in Italy. Underneath¹ the surface of this mountain, there is the middle of the Earth just bursting to get out. On the surface there are cracks and vent² holes and caves to release pressure. But what struck the fear in the men down through the ages is that when it does erupt it could blow a hole anywhere in the mountain, putting settlers at risk. Mt Etna has killed thousands of people down through the years because of its instability. Its volcanic³ soil is rich in minerals that lined the mountainsides, this made great agricultural grounds for wine and olives. It also has a forest that runs down the side of its slopes, which is filled with wildlife such as Foxes, Squirrels, Porcupine⁴, Hedgehogs, Turtles, Owls⁵, Frogs, Toads⁶, Snakes, Falcons⁷, Lizards⁸, Weasels and some Wild Cats. Through the ages this area was highly populated because of its Earthly Goodness. What people thought through the years was that the volcano is up there and it is erupting, so we are safe here. Most of the time they were right but some of the time they were not so lucky. Mount Etna stands 3,350 meters high on average, after every eruption¹⁰ it may differ slightly. It is the largest active volcano in all of Europe having a diameter of 1，190 km. Mount Etna started off assn under water volcano off the coast of Sicily aver⁹ a half a million years ago. As it erupted and cooled down fast by the sea it startedto grow in height, forming the strength for a base of an island. Over the millions of years it joined up with the main land and continued to grow. It has collapsed¹²  on  numerous  occasions  causing  huge  landslides¹³ that can  cause devastating¹⁴ tsunami¹⁵'s. You can see such evidence of these collapses¹⁶ on Mt Etna’s hillsides today.

埃特纳火山是世界上最为活跃的火山之一，它已持续喷发了两千多年。多年来人们给它起了许多别称，其中包括火焰山和独眼巨人之家。人们一直对它充满着恐惧之感。它位于西西里岛，是意大利最高峰。山体表面底下就是滚滚欲出的中央物质。火山表面有裂缝、火山口和洞穴，能够释放压力。但是，多年来让人恐惧的是，当它喷发时就有可能在山体的任何地方喷出洞来，给当地居民带来危害。因其不稳定，多年来埃特纳火山夺去了数千人的生命。山坡上的火山土壤富含矿物质，使其成为种植葡萄和橄榄的理想之地。山坡上有森林，里面有各种野生动物，如狐狸、松鼠、豪猪、刺猜、乌龟、猫头鹰、青蛙、蟾蛛、蛇、猎鹰、晰蝎、黄鼠狼和山猫等。因为土质优良，千百年来这里一直人口稠密。人门总以为火山一直在那边喷发，而我们这儿很安全。大多数时候他们是对的，但有时候就没有那么幸运了。埃特纳火山平均海拔3350米，每次喷发之后都会有点变化。它是整个欧洲最大的活火山，面积1190平方千米。埃特纳火山于50多万年前开始形成。当时它只是西西里岛附近的一个海底火山。随着它的喷发和快速冷却，它的高度开始增大，有了成岛的基础。在随后的几十万年间，它和陆地一起上升并且继续长高。它曾多次崩塌，造成滑坡，导致破坏性海啸的发生。从现在的山坡上能够看到崩塌的证据。

Stromboli

斯特隆波里火山

Stromboli is an island that formed from the sea bed millions of years ago. It is one of the worlds most active volcanoes, it has not stopped erupting for the last 2,000 years. Looking at the size of the island and the fact that is constantly erupting you wouldn't imagine people live on this island. 700 people actually call this island home. Stromboli is a small island off the north coast of Sicily which lays in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Itsconstant eruptions¹⁷ are usually small and they all seem to happen at the summit, allowing inhabitants to occupy the shore lines of the island.Stromboli stands at 926 meters above sea level but under the waters surtace there is an extra 2,000 meters from where it began millions of years ago on the oceans floor. This volcanoes walls have collapsed over the years leaving a crator on the North Western side of the mountain. Stromboli has the record for the longest activity period of all the volcanoes. Its latest big eruption was in Aug 2008, this eruption saw all of the islands occupants flee the island in boats away from the power of Middle Earth. These eruptions lasted until June. In this time the mountain formed four new blow holes which erupted 20 times every hour. Another big eruption happened in 2002 causing a collapse¹¹ of the hillside which resulted in a tsunami, that flooded Stromboli and Ginostra on the main land. Most of the deaths caused by this volcano was from falling debris¹⁸, these people were mostly tourists that got to close.

斯特隆波里火山是几百万年前从海床形成的一个岛屿。它是世界上最为活跃的火山之一;过去两千年里它一直在不停地在喷发。看看该岛的面积以及它在不断地喷发这个事实，你就很难想象会有人生活在岛上。实际上有700人生活在这儿。斯特隆波里是一个小岛，位于伊特鲁里亚海、西西里岛的北边。其持续不断的喷发规模通常都很小，而且都发生在山顶，这就使得当地居民能够栖息于岛屿的海岸线上。斯特隆波里火山海拔926米，但在水下还有200()米。几百万年前它就是从2000米以下的海底开始形成的。多年来火山壁的坍塌给山坡西北面留下了一个大坑。斯特隆波里火山的活跃期在所有火山当中是最长的。它的最近一次喷发是在2008年8月。这次喷发中，为了躲避来自地球内部的威力，所有的岛民都乘船逃离了小岛。喷发一直持续到第二年6月。这次山上形成了四个新的喷口，每小时喷发20次。另一次大的喷发发生在2002年。那次喷发造成山体滑坡并引发海啸，导致斯特隆波里岛和大陆洪水泛滥。该火山造成的死亡原因多数都是由掉落的碎块所致。这些人主要是游客，他们离得太近。

Mt. Yasur

伊苏尔火山

Yasur is in the South West Pacific Ocean an is one of the 83 islands that lay on the Pacific Ring Of Fire. It is known by pilots and sailors as the Lighthouse of the Pacific because of its constant eruptions. It has erupted many times an hour for the past 800 years and it doesn't seem to be slowing down either. There are many volcanoes in this area and they are all responsable for the 83 islands, volcanic activity has been in this area since the begining of time because of the fault lines that run under the Earths crust. Yasur stands at 361 meters above sea level and is located on the coast of Sulphur Bay. Most of this island lays bare and hosts very little vegetation. It has a 400 meter circular crator at it summit that is constantly spitting out magma from the centre of planets core. This island was discovered by Capitan James Cook in 1774, it was the burning night sky that grabbed hisattention and he was drawn¹⁹ to it. Even though Mt. Yasur is constantly erupting it is a famous tourist destination. The scientists and locals have put warnings up in levels, level 0 to level 5. Level 5 is the most dangerous and tourists are not allowed up the summit at all, levels determine how close you can get to the top of the summit. Level 0 is relativly safe but still unpredictable. Its at levels 0-3 you will be able to take pictures like the one above.

伊苏尔火山位于太平洋的西南面，是地处太平洋火环的83个岛屿之一。因为经常喷发，飞行员和海员称它为太平洋上的灯塔。过去800年里它每小时要喷发好多次，而且似乎没有要慢下来的迹象。这一地区有很多火山。这儿的83个岛屿都是火山岛。自远古以来这儿就有火山活动，因为这儿正好是地壳板块的接合处。伊苏尔火山位于硫磺湾上，海拔361米。岛上多数地方岩石裸露，很少有植被。山顶有一个周长400米的火山口，来自地球内部的岩浆不断地从火山口喷发而出。该岛是由詹姆斯·库克船长与1774年发现。当时，熊熊燃烧的夜空引起了他的注意，于是他驾帆而至。伊苏尔火山虽然喷发不断，但它却是一个著名的旅游胜地。科学家和当地人制定了警报级别—从0级到5级。危险级别决定你靠近山顶的距离。S级最危险，禁止游客登顶。0级相对安全，但有时候情况仍然难以预料。在0到3级时你能够拍到类似上文的照片。