A Volcano Wakes Up Additional Information

Published by Scholastic, 2000.

This book tells the story of thirteen natural disasters. Full of photographs and eyewitness accounts, it explores the impact natural disasters have on people, while also explaining how and why natural disasters occur. The first part of the book explores geological-related disasters: two major earthquakes, tsunamis, and the Mount St. Helens volcano eruption. Devastating storms, from hurricanes to tornadoes to blizzards, are described in the second part of the book. The third part of the book examines the dust bowl, a great fire, and a flash flood. With vivid eyewitness accounts appearing on nearly every page, this book is a compelling look at not only disasters but also survivors.

Published by Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, 2000.

“Every now and then planet Earth does something so suddenly and with such great force that it sends people screaming into the streets,” begins this book about the history of geological activity. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tectonic plates are the volume’s focus, and the planet’s furious activity is illustrated with colorful photographs, period illustrations, and clear diagrams. The book begins by recounting famous disasters, such as eruptions of Pelee, Krakatau, and Vesuvius. Then, it discusses the theories of ancient Greeks such as Aristotle about earthquakes and volcanoes. When scientist James Hutton introduced the principle of uniformitarianism in 1790, however, modern geology was born. This book discusses the development of ideas such as continental drift and tectonic plate theory and explains the science of hot spots and how plates move. A final chapter explores how the geology of the continents may look in the future.

Published by Twenty-First Century Books/Millbrook Press, 1998.

A Japanese myth tells of an enormous catfish that lives deep inside the earth, which thrashes about to create earthquakes. Hindu people in ancient India believed that the earth rested on the backs of four elephants, which stood on the shell of a giant turtle. But today, we have the plate tectonic theory to help us understand why the earth moves and shifts sometimes. With clear diagrams and color photos, this book lays out plate tectonic theory: how geologists developed it, how continental drift, convection currents, and seafloor spreading work, and what the different types of boundaries and faults are. Volcanic activity and earthquakes are also discussed; and the future of plate tectonics is touched upon, including geothermal energy, predicting earthquakes and eruptions, and plate tectonics on other planets.