This section provides answers to commonly asked questions about Holocene volcanoes and their eruptions, based on data from Volcanoes of the World. Most answers are taken from the work of Tom Simkin and Lee Siebert, who have devoted most of their long Smithsonian careers to gathering and interpreting the comprehensive data needed to answer such questions. In addition to their book, several publications listed below provide answers to questions you might not have yet thought to ask. We expect to add to this section of the web site as time allows.
As with other sections of this site, general use should be attributed to the Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program. For formal scientific citation of these answers, please use the following:
Simkin T, Siebert L (2002-). Global Volcanism FAQs. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-5 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/faq/).
The dash after the year indicates a non-static document that is updated in subsequent years. When citing website documents such as this, adding the access date at the end of the citation provides chronological context for the citation.
Simkin T, Siebert L, 1984. Explosive eruptions in space and time: durations, intervals, and a comparison of the world's active volcanic belts, in: Explosive volcanism: inception, evolution, and hazards, National Academy of Sciences Press, Washington, DC, p. 110-121.
Simkin T, 1993. Terrestrial Volcanism in Space and Time. Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences 21:427-52
Simkin T, Siebert L, 1999. Earth's Volcanoes and Eruptions: an Overview. in: Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Academic Press, p. 249-261.
Simkin T, Siebert L, Blong R, 2001. Volcano Fatalities - Lessons from the Historical Record. Science, 291:255.