Volcanic eruptions are among the most stunning phenomena in the natural world. Volcanoes erupt because of the way heat moves beneath Earth’s surface. Heat is conveyed from the planet’s interior to its surface largely by convection—the transfer of heat by movement of a heated fluid. In this case, the fluid is magma—molten or partially molten rock—which is formed by the partial melting of Earth's mantle and crust. The magma rises, and, in the last step in this heat-releasing process, erupts at the surface through volcanoes.
Most volcanoes are associated with plate tectonic activity. For example, volcanoes of Japan, Iceland, Indonesia, and numerous other places occur on the margins of the massive solid rocky plates that make up Earth’s surface. When one plate slides under another, water trapped in the subducted, sinking plate is squeezed out of it by enormous pressure, which produces enough heat to melt nearby rock, forming magma. Since the magma is more buoyant than the surrounding rock, it rises, and it may collect in chambers nearer to the surface. As a chamber fills up, the pressure inside may increase. When the downward pressure produced by the weight of rock above the chamber is less than the upward pressure produced by rock below the chamber, cracks often form above. Eventually the upward pressure may push the magma through the cracks and out of vents at the surface, where it becomes lava. In fact, strictly speaking, the term volcano refers to just such a vent, although it can also refer to the landform created by the accumulation of solidified lava and volcanic debris near the vent.
Far from tectonic plate boundaries, a smaller number of volcanoes occur at hotspots, where rising magma melts through the crust. The volcanoes of Hawaii are good examples of hotspot volcanoes.