Jeffrey Seroggins, age 8, of Huntsville, Ala., For his question:

How does a volcano erupt?

We sometimes hear that a new volcano has been born. It may poke its smoky head above the ground and grow taller and taller until it becomes a mountain. It may poke above the sea and spit out enough melted rock to make a brand new island. But each new volcano began far, far below the ground. It started to form dawn there long before it erupted to the surface of the earth.

A volcano forms miles down in the earth's crust. It forms where the deep rocks are pushed and strained. This causes the deep rock to become hot, hot enough to melt. The solid crust of the earth tries to keep this molten rock scaled underground. But sometimes this cannot be done. Then the seething lava bursts up to the surface, and there is a volcanic eruption.