Home › Vocabulary › Natural sciences › Volcanology Practise this list
Ways to practise
From these 33 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list The third entry is le cratère , and the word was a piece of tableware long before it was a hole in a mountain. Greek kratēr was the wide bowl in which wine was mixed with water before it was served, and the name comes from the verb kerannynai , to mix, not from the shape. Latin took it over as crater , and Latin writers were already using it for the bowl-shaped mouth of Etna, which is the step that carried the word into geology. Here the two languages part company. English keeps the vessel and the hole apart by spelling: a museum label says « krater », with a k, for the painted pot, and « crater » for the hollow left by a volcano, a bomb or a meteorite. French has one word for both, so un cratère à figures rouges sits in a glass case while le cratère sommital smokes at the top of the mountain. The sentence around the noun does the sorting that English leaves to a single letter: where it mentions a potter, a painter or a banquet, it is the bowl; where it mentions ash, gas or a collapse, it is the volcano.
The words
View Compact With examples
Adjective (2)
Grammar for these: Adjective agreement · Where the adjective goes
effusif effusive Adjective C2 Une éruption effusive laisse la lave s’écouler. In an effusive eruption the lava simply drains away downhill.
explosif explosive Adjective C2 Le même volcan peut devenir explosif en peu de temps. It does not take long for the same volcano to turn explosive.
Noun (f) (15)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
la cheminée volcanique the volcanic conduit Noun (f) C2 La cheminée volcanique relie le réservoir à la surface. Magma rises from the reservoir to the surface through the volcanic conduit.
la fissure éruptive the eruptive fissure Noun (f) C2 La fissure éruptive s’ouvre sur plusieurs centaines de mètres. Several hundred metres of ground split open along the eruptive fissure.
la viscosité the viscosity Noun (f) C2 La viscosité décide si la lave coule ou se fige. Whether lava runs or sets is a question of viscosity.
la teneur en gaz the gas content Noun (f) C2 La teneur en gaz du magma annonce la violence de l’éruption. The gas content of the magma gives warning of how violent the eruption will be.
la colonne éruptive the eruption column Noun (f) C2 La colonne éruptive s’élève au-dessus des nuages. The eruption column leaves the clouds far below it.
la coulée pyroclastique the pyroclastic flow Noun (f) C2 La coulée pyroclastique descend plus vite qu’une voiture. No car could outrun a pyroclastic flow on its way down.
la retombée de cendres the ashfall Noun (f) C2 La retombée de cendres a couvert les toits du village. The village roofs disappeared under the ashfall.
la bombe volcanique the volcanic bomb Noun (f) C2 Une bombe volcanique se fige en plein vol. A volcanic bomb hardens while it is still in the air.
la pierre ponce the pumice Noun (f) C2 La pierre ponce flotte parce qu’elle est pleine de bulles. Pumice holds so many bubbles that it floats.
la surveillance des gaz the gas monitoring Noun (f) C2 La surveillance des gaz se fait aussi par avion. Some of the gas monitoring is done from aircraft.
la zone d’exclusion the exclusion zone Noun (f) C2 La zone d’exclusion suit la vallée jusqu’à la mer. The exclusion zone runs down the valley as far as the sea.
la carte des aléas the hazard map Noun (f) C2 La carte des aléas montre les couloirs les plus exposés. The most exposed gullies are marked on the hazard map.
l’interdiction de vol the flight ban Noun (f) C2 L’interdiction de vol a duré plusieurs jours. For several days the flight ban kept every aircraft on the ground.
l’andésite the andesite Noun (f) C2 L’andésite se trouve surtout près des zones de subduction. Andesite turns up mostly close to subduction zones.
la rhyolite the rhyolite Noun (f) C2 La rhyolite est trop visqueuse pour couler loin. Rhyolite is too viscous to flow any distance.
Noun (m) (16)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
le cratère the crater Noun (m) C2 Le cratère s’est élargi après l’effondrement. After the collapse the crater was noticeably wider.
le dôme de lave the lava dome Noun (m) C2 Le dôme de lave grandit lentement au fond du cratère. On the crater floor the lava dome keeps growing, a little at a time.
le téphra the tephra Noun (m) C2 Le téphra livre la date des éruptions passées. Layers of tephra give the dates of earlier eruptions.
les lapillis the lapilli Noun (m) C2 Les lapillis crépitent sur la tôle du toit. Lapilli rattle down on the metal roof.
le lahar the lahar Noun (m) C2 Le lahar emporte les ponts de la vallée. Not one bridge in the valley was left standing after the lahar.
l’effondrement de flanc the flank collapse Noun (m) C2 L’effondrement de flanc met le conduit à nu. The flank collapse left the conduit exposed.
le trémor harmonique the harmonic tremor Noun (m) C2 Le trémor harmonique précède souvent la sortie du magma. Harmonic tremor often comes just before magma reaches the surface.
le gonflement du sol the ground inflation Noun (m) C2 Le gonflement du sol se mesure au millimètre. The instruments track ground inflation millimetre by millimetre.
l’inclinomètre the tiltmeter Noun (m) C2 L’inclinomètre enregistre la pente du terrain. The tiltmeter keeps a record of every change in the slope.
le dioxyde de soufre the sulphur dioxide Noun (m) C2 Le dioxyde de soufre augmente avant l’éruption. A rise in sulphur dioxide tends to come before the eruption.
le niveau d’alerte the alert level Noun (m) C2 Le niveau d’alerte est passé au cran supérieur. The alert level has gone up by one step.
l’ordre d’évacuation the evacuation order Noun (m) C2 L’ordre d’évacuation est tombé dans la nuit. It was in the middle of the night that the evacuation order was issued.
l’intervalle de récurrence the recurrence interval Noun (m) C2 L’intervalle de récurrence se lit dans les couches. The rock layers reveal the recurrence interval.
le stratovolcan the stratovolcano Noun (m) C2 Le stratovolcan monte en pente raide. A stratovolcano rises in steep slopes.
le volcan bouclier the shield volcano Noun (m) C2 Le volcan bouclier s’étale largement. A shield volcano spreads out over a wide area.
le point chaud the hotspot Noun (m) C2 Le point chaud reste en place pendant que la plaque avance. While the plate moves on, the hotspot stays put.
Back to the quiz ↑
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
This list belongs to Natural sciences — 36 lists and 1 287 words that can also be practised as a whole.
Hear and recognise these words in the listening trainer
The quiz needs JavaScript. Everything above works without it.
← Epigraphy and palaeography Landscape architecture → 