Volcanic benefits

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I'm writing a fantasy story for recreational purposes, and one element involves a group of people willingly living in close proximity to a volcano. Now there is a fantastic/supernatural justification for this, but I was wondering if there was any real-world, mundane benefits that can be acquired as well as it can help flesh out other aspects of this group.

The only thing that comes to mind is obsidian, but I'm not really sure if that's enough to make an industry out of.

[Sermil]

Keeps 'em warm if it's a cold climate?

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Keeps 'em warm if it's a cold climate?

I hadn't actually considered that, but it makes sense. I hadn't locked down the location of the volcano, but it never occurred to me to put it in a cold place.

I wonder if the heat of a volcano will be enough to make the immediate surroundings capable of sustaining plants and animals that are otherwise unsuited for the general climate of the region. Say, warm enough to farm crops that aren't cold-resistant.

[factotum]

There are totally real-world advantages to living near a volcano, which is why people have done so for thousands of years. The stuff a volcano kicks out, once it's had time to weather down a bit, produces some of the most fertile agricultural land to be found--before the advent of artificial fertilizers that was a pretty important factor to consider when choosing where to live.

[DaedalusMkV]

There are plenty of benefits to living in an area with volcanic activity (IE, near a big volcano). For one, volcanic hot springs, always nice to have around, even in warm climates. People just like warm water, and hot springs are a naturally occurring source for that. Though, admittedly, volcanic hot springs tend to require a bit of work to make comfortable for people who aren't okay with scalding burns. For a second, ready access to igneous rock and volcanic glass, both of which are very handy for low-tech societies (or any society in an area with limited access to useful metal ores). A hunter-gatherer tribe might be tempted to settle near a volcano simply for the ease of access to obsidian for arrow- and spearheads. In the case of a more modern society, geothermal power is reasonably cheap, extremely clean and about as close to infinitely available as any power source can possibly be. Theoretically, you could also use geothermal vents to generate steam pressure for running anything a steam engine could, if you want a more steampunk-ish setting.

Regardless, areas of high volcanic activity also tend to be pretty high in metallic ore deposits, though this is much more useful when the volcano isn't currently active, since it can be very difficult and dangerous to do any sort of mining near an active volcano. Still, 'there's a bunch of iron/copper/insert-fantasy-ore' present is another reason people might be drawn to the area.

Finally, Volcanoes are an excellent source of islands. If you want to live in the middle of an ocean somewhere, and you like being more than a few meters above sea level, chances are good you're doing it on a volcanic island.

With all that said, there's really not a lot of reason not to live near a volcano, either. While we tend to think of them as scary or dangerous, the simple truth is that volcanoes operate on geological time, not human time. The likelihood of a genuinely dangerous volcanic eruption happening during any one person... Or, really, society's lifespan is hilariously low. To the point that, worldwide, there have been less than 50 volcanic eruptions to cause human casualties in recorded history, despite humans living near or on top of damn near every volcano in the world at this point.

In short: Volcanoes are a good source of useful natural resources and heat, both of which are quite valuable to low-tech human tribes. They're also often the only option for people who wind up in the middle of an ocean. Which is why, historically, a lot of different cultures have lived on or near a lot of different volcanoes.

[Talion]

With all that said, there's really not a lot of reason not to live near a volcano, either. While we tend to think of them as scary or dangerous, the simple truth is that volcanoes operate on geological time, not human time. The likelihood of a genuinely dangerous volcanic eruption happening during any one person... Or, really, society's lifespan is hilariously low. To the point that, worldwide, there have been less than 50 volcanic eruptions to cause human casualties in recorded history, despite humans living near or on top of damn near every volcano in the world at this point.

That being said, the right volcanic eruption can be incredibly disruptive even if you aren't living right next to it. For example, take the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora. The volcano itself was located in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies at the time) and its eruption at the time caused a volcanic winter that hit the entire globe, resulting in failed harvests and even famines (leading to riots) as far away as Europe. Food and livestock feed in parts of the United States jumped drastically. The overall effects caused 1816 to be called "The Year Without a Summer".

By comparison, Kilauea (Hawaii) has been in a state of near constant eruption for about 35 years and has only rarely been a threat to the locals (namely last year when 700 or so homes were destroyed, among other damages).

[snowblizz]

The farming has probably been the main prize for most cultures&civilizations in history.


Though that brings me to a qestion I once posted in a thread that never got an answer which has been rattling in my brain for along time.


What makes our verdant tropical paradise island. It usually has 2 aspects, volcano as a source of prime farming land, a benign (sualyy meaning tropic) climate and plenty of water.


Take Iceland, it's got 2/3 being failed mostly by the weather. It's never really warm though never really cold either.

The Azores have a much nicer latitude and to y knowledge is a much better "farming paradise".

Something like Krakatoa had all for sure.

So I guess I want to say that if it's more Iceland than Azores farming might be less of a draw.

[Fri]

Volcanic soil is super fertile. I thought this is common knowledge.

[Kato]

Volcanic soil is super fertile. I thought this is common knowledge.

Yes. But... Volcanoes also spit out a lot of poisonous stuff. Which may or may not affect the soil but can definitely affect people around, even if it is not a full-scale eruption.

I know OP is looking for advantages to living close to a volcano but the fact that some constantly leak things like sulfuric oxides or other fun stuff to breathe is maybe also helpful for your setting.

[Khedrac]

Additional benefits include the volcanic ash! The Romans used it (I think from Etna) to make cement and concrete (it would even set under water).

[DaedalusMkV]

That being said, the right volcanic eruption can be incredibly disruptive even if you aren't living right next to it. For example, take the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora. The volcano itself was located in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies at the time) and its eruption at the time caused a volcanic winter that hit the entire globe, resulting in failed harvests and even famines (leading to riots) as far away as Europe. Food and livestock feed in parts of the United States jumped drastically. The overall effects caused 1816 to be called "The Year Without a Summer".

By comparison, Kilauea (Hawaii) has been in a state of near constant eruption for about 35 years and has only rarely been a threat to the locals (namely last year when 700 or so homes were destroyed, among other damages).

Well, certainly. I'd go so far as to argue that the vast majority of human deaths as a result of volcanic activity have been the result of food shortages, since there are about three cases on record of major eruptions causing famine conditions like that, leading to thousands of deaths compared to the bare handful that tend to result from lava flows or burning ash. Which is even more reason to not be afraid of living on or near a volcano, really, considering proximity has very little effect on whether ash clouds will ruin a harvest season. Or a dozen of them, as geological evidence suggests might happen when supervolcanoes erupt.

Again, nearly every volcano in the world has people living on or near it (with the obvious exception of the ones at truly extreme latitudes or entirely underwater). It's not exactly dangerous.

[farothel]

I can tell one thing they're not beneficial for and that's air travel. One vulcano with an unpronouncable name on Iceland erupts and Europe is down.

[Leewei]

There are different types of volcanoes. Shield volcanoes, like those in Hawaii, are relatively gentle. Cinder cones, such as Mount St. Helens or Krakatoa, have a distressing tendency to explode. The relative benefits are similar, but the drawbacks are far, far greater from a cinder cone.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Thanks all, I think I've got a lot to work with now. In particular, my initial idea was for the volcano and its surroundings to be a Mount Doom-like hellscape. After some research and this thread's feedback, I think I can justify a more pleasant setup.

In particular, shield volcanoes (as Leewei mentioned) have pretty gentle slopes and low-impact but continuous eruptions. Mauna Kea seems like a good starting point, with people actually living on it, there being forests, etc.

[factotum]

I can tell one thing they're not beneficial for and that's air travel. One vulcano with an unpronouncable name on Iceland erupts and Europe is down.

It's worth noting that this only affects planes that use jet engines or gas turbines, though--the same volcano in the 40s or 50s, before jet aircraft were commonplace, would have caused considerably fewer issues. The problem is that the ash kicked up by the volcano melts in the engine and clogs it up, as British Airways flight 9 discovered when all four of their engines packed in when they flew through an ash cloud generated by Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. (Must have been pretty scary, considering a 747 isn't really designed as a glider!).

[Henry1122]

I had not really thought about that, yet it bodes well, i had not secured the area of the fountain of liquid magma, yet it never struck me to place it in a chilly place...

[Storm_Of_Snow]

As already said, extremely fertile soil. You've also got the opportunity to make it a spa town - hydrothermally heated water (whether natural springs or something more artificial) coupled with dissolved substances, which would likely make it quite popular with the rich/nobility, and potentially religions centered around medicine.

Another possibility is making it into an industrial area and having it as a major weapons/armour production area - depending on how much poisonous gas is produced (or whether you can somehow work around it, either with technology or magic), you could potentially use volcanic pools to heat metal objects for smithing, instead of needing a forge, and maybe even smelting ores into usable metals by putting a suitably heat proof crucible in or near the outflow. Ditto for ceramics, glassware and so on, if your civilisation is a little less warlike.

As another thought, what about capturing the toxic gas, for use in things like grenades?

[Excession]

As already said, extremely fertile soil. You've also got the opportunity to make it a spa town - hydrothermally heated water (whether natural springs or something more artificial) coupled with dissolved substances, which would likely make it quite popular with the rich/nobility, and potentially religions centered around medicine.

Another possibility is making it into an industrial area and having it as a major weapons/armour production area - depending on how much poisonous gas is produced (or whether you can somehow work around it, either with technology or magic), you could potentially use volcanic pools to heat metal objects for smithing, instead of needing a forge, and maybe even smelting ores into usable metals by putting a suitably heat proof crucible in or near the outflow. Ditto for ceramics, glassware and so on, if your civilisation is a little less warlike.

As another thought, what about capturing the toxic gas, for use in things like grenades?

From what I can tell, lava isn't going to be hot enough to melt steel. It may be hot enough to fire some pottery, but I suspect it will be too hard to get close, or too mobile to use long term. Lava tends to freeze to the bottom of the channel and eventually overflow to make a new channel. For basic pottery a wood fire is enough, and much easier to work with.

I think a more realistic activity for industrial use is sulphur mining. Sulphur can be used for gunpowder, for anti-bacterial medicines, and a bunch of other stuff. Whakaari / White Island in New Zealand is a barely habitable and rather active volcano, but sulphur was mined there on multiple occasions.

[Storm_Of_Snow]

From what I can tell, lava isn't going to be hot enough to melt steel. It may be hot enough to fire some pottery, but I suspect it will be too hard to get close, or too mobile to use long term. Lava tends to freeze to the bottom of the channel and eventually overflow to make a new channel. For basic pottery a wood fire is enough, and much easier to work with.

Good point - lava seems to get up to about 1200C, which isn't really enough to melt steel, although more than enough to work it, and you could certainly use it for lower melting point metals.

I think a more realistic activity for industrial use is sulphur mining. Sulphur can be used for gunpowder, for anti-bacterial medicines, and a bunch of other stuff. Whakaari / White Island in New Zealand is a barely habitable and rather active volcano, but sulphur was mined there on multiple occasions.

I did think of that - although I was thinking more of things like precious metals getting fractionally distilled out/skimmed off.