A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an explosive eruption. In a plinian eruption the plug is destroyed and ash is ejected.
An aerial view of the Gros Piton and Petit Piton, in St. Lucia, 2006.
Volcanic plug near Rhumsiki, Cameroon.
Roque Bentayga from the town of Artenara
Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe chapel, on top of a volcanic plug in Le Puy-en-Velay, France.
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as a military garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.
Edinburgh Castle dominates the Old Town
The castle is built on a volcanic rock, as seen here in a 19th century view from the Grassmarket area
The Castle seen from the North
St Margaret, depicted in a stained glass window in the chapel of Edinburgh Castle