In Earth Science assignments and essays, quotations should be short and used sparingly. Whole paragraphs of text should never be copied from books, even if properly acknowledged. We need to see that you have understood what you have been reading, so you must find a way to describe things in your own words.

When describing the deadly effects of volcanoes, for example, do NOT simply copy from a website, as below:

• "Approximately 30,000 people were killed by pyroclastic flows during the 1902 eruption of Mont Pelee on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean. In March-April 1982, three explosive eruptions of El Chichon Volcano in the State of Chiapas, south eastern Mexico, caused the worst volcanic disaster in the country's history" (website 3).

Rather, say something like:

• Pyroclastic flows are deadly hazards, as illustrated by the death tolls following the 1902 eruption of Mont Pelee in Martinique and the 1982 eruptions of El Chichon in south eastern Mexico, amongst many others (website 3).

If writing about plate tectonics, do NOT simply copy from a book, as below:

• An example of the consequences of this type of plate tectonics is the "Krafla Volcano, in the north-eastern part of Iceland ... From 1975 to 1984, numerous episodes of rifting (surface cracking) took place along the Krafla fissure zone. Some of these rifting events were accompanied by volcanic activity; the ground would gradually rise 1-2 m before abruptly dropping, signaling an impending eruption".
  

Rather, write:

• Plate divergence in continental crust zones results in rifting. This is often accompanied by volcanic activity, for example the episodes that took place along the fissure zone of Krafla Volcano in north-eastern Iceland (Grant et al, 2007).

In this, corrected (and concocted), version, Krafla has been included as an example, and the reference has been acknowledged in the author/date system. The whole reference would appear in the bibliography.

If the reader wishes to read more, he or she can go to your source. Lifting whole paragraphs from a website or book is not acceptable.