Editing Active volcano (section)

{{Short description|Geological feature}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
[[File:Map plate tectonics world.gif|thumb|World map of active volcanoes and plate boundaries]]
[[File:Lava entering sea - Hawaii.png|thumb|right|[[Kīlauea]]'s lava entering the sea]]
[[File:Bárðarbunga Volcano, September 4 2014 - 15145875322.jpg|thumb|right|Lava flows at [[Holuhraun]], [[Iceland#Geology|Iceland]], September 2014]]

An '''active volcano''' is a [[volcano]] that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future.<ref name="www.usgs.gov">{{Cite web |last=Poland |first=Michael |date=2022-10-10 |title=Active, dormant, and extinct: Clarifying confusing classifications {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/active-dormant-and-extinct-clarifying-confusing-classifications |access-date=2023-11-14 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref> Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the [[Holocene]] (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago). A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a [[dormant volcano]].<ref name="www.usgs.gov" /> Volcanoes that will not erupt again are known as [[extinct volcano]]es.<ref name="www.usgs.gov" />