Blast off! - blasts in nature are produced by volcanoes, puffball mushrooms, whales, bombardier beetles, and geysers - Illustration

Ranger Rick, July, 1997 by L.P. Sherman

Volcanoes do it. Geysers do too. So do certain kinds of beetles and other living things. And get this: Our entire universe may have started this way. What are we talking about? Big blasts! Just like fireworks on the 4th of July, nature has some flashy blasts of its own. Check them out on these pages--and get a little blast of info about why they happen.

These people aren't looking at a 4th of July fireworks display. They're watch- ing a volcano erupting in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Hot, liquid rock--called lava--shoots up into the air from deep in the Earth. People just "lava" to watch the show--so long as it doesn't come t-o-o-o close!

The common puffball is a mushroom that grows in moist ground. Its puffy top is filled with tiny seed-like spores. All it takes is the slightest poke at just the right time--even the plop of a raindrop--and pooof! The air inside the puffball blasts out through a hole in the top. Along with it comes a powdery cloud of spores. Then the wind carries the spores to places where new puffballs will grow.

That tall, white cloudis a humpback whale's breath blasting out of the animal's blowhole. As the warm air of the breath meets the cooler air sur- rounding it, water vapor turns to beads of water and creates the cloud you see. Some whale experts can tell what kind of whale is spouting, even from far away. How? By the size and shape of the cloudy-looking spout!

This colorful insect acts like a skunk! It's a bombardier beetle. And it blasts a chemical spray at anything that gets in its way. When a predator such as a praying mantis moves to nab the beetle, pfffffft! Out shoots a nasty chemical that's double trouble because it's also super HOT!

This part of the Black Rock Desert of Nevada used to be just another dry, flat place. Then, in 1916, some people came and drilled a well. Whoosh! Three spouts of steamy water started blasting out of the ground, and they haven't stopped since! When the hot water evaporates, minerals build up at the base of each spout. And that's what formed these cone-shaped hills. The hills keep slowly growing as the water keeps blowing. So when you watch the fireworks on July 4th, remember this: Nature can be a real blast too!