What are the Different Types of Volcanoes?

A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s surface where molten rock can escape
from underneath. The Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates, which are
spreading apart, crunching into each other, or sliding beside one another.
Volcanoes are typically found at the fault lines between these plates. There
can be active volcanos, which are currently, or have recently erupted. There
are also dormant volcanoes, which haven’t erupted recently, and extinct
volcanoes, which will never erupt again.

There are 4 major types of volcanoes:

Cinder Cone Volcanoes:

These are the simplest type of volcano. They occur when particles and blobs
of lava are ejected from a volcanic vent. The lava is blown violently into the
air, and the pieces rain down around the vent. Over time, this builds up a
circular or oval-shaped cone, with a bowl-shaped crater at the top. Cinder
cone volcanoes rarely grow larger than about 1,000 feet above their
surroundings.

Composite Volcanoes:
Composite volcanoes, or stratovolcanoes make up some of the world’s most
memorable mountains: Mount Rainier, Mount Fuji, and Mount Cotopaxi, for
example. These volcanoes have a conduit system inside them that channels
magma from deep within the Earth to the surface. They can have clusters of
vents, with lava breaking through walls, or issuing from fissures on the sides
of the mountain. With all this material coming out, they can grow thousands of
meters tall. As we’ve seen with the famous Mount Saint Helens, composite
volcanoes can explode violently.

Shield Volcanoes:
These are large, broad volcanoes that look like shields from above – hence
the name. The lava that pours out of shield volcanoes is thin, so it can travel
for great distances down the shallow slopes of the volcano. These volcanos
build up slowly over time, with hundreds of eruptions, creating many layers.
They’re not likely to explode catastrophically. Perhaps the best known shield
volcanoes are the ones that make up the Hawaiian Islands, especially Mauna
Loa and Mauna Kea.
Lava Domes:
Volcanic or lava domes are created by small masses of lava which are too
viscous (thick) to flow very far. Unlike shield volcanoes, with low-viscosity
lava, the magma from volcanic domes just pile up over and around the vent.
The dome grows by expansion of the lava within, and the mountain forms
from material spilling off the sides of the growing dome. Lava domes can
explode violently, releasing a huge amount of hot rock and ash.

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DECEMBER 2, 2010 · 4:42 PM

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LR’s – Six Types of Volcanoes

There are six types of volcanoes. They make up all the volcanoes on Earth. The six types are
Cinder Cone Volcano, Stratovolcano, Shield Volcano, Rhyolite caldera complexes,
Monogenetic fields, and Flood Basalts.

Cinder Cone Volcanoes are cone shaped. They are the most common volcano in the world.
These cone shaped mountains are formed from cinder. Cinder is cooled magma that is
pebble sized, it is usually red or black. The mountains height is usually 100-400 meters.
Krakatoa is a Cinder Cone Mountain.

Stratovolcanoes also known as composite volcanoes. They have a main magma vent and
have sills to the sides. It is made of many layers “Stato”. These layers are made of hardened
lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. These layers form its cone shape. The height of the
volcanoes vary from 100-3500 meters. Mount Etna is a Stratovolcano.

Shield volcanoes are dome shaped. These volcanoes are formed by lava slowly oozing out.
The slowly oozing lava is what makes it dome shaped. The dome resembles a shied and that
is how it got its name. The Shield volcanoes are usually 9000 meters tall. Hawaii is a Shield
Volcano.

Rhyolite Caldera Complexes usually do not look like volcanoes. They are the most explosive
volcanoes on Earth. Their explosions are usually so strong that the volcano will collapse.
When they collapse they create a large caldera. In these explosions ash is blasted over a
thousand kilometers away from the caldera. Some examples are Yellowstone, La Primavera,
Rabaul, and Taupo.
Monogenetic fields like the last volcano do not look like a volcano. These volcanoes are
groups of hundreds of thousands of lava vents. This volcano is spread out very far. This
happens because there is a very low amount of magma. The magma makes a new vents each
time, because the other vent cool. Many of these volcanoes are in Mexico and the southwest
US.

Flood Basalts are another odd type of a volcano. It is the result of a giant volcanic eruption
or a series of eruptions. These eruptions have been the size of continents. They can be on the
ocean flour or on land. They create plateaus and mountain ranges.