Download Shield Volcanoes Composite Volcanoes Cinder Cone Volcanoes

Scientists classify volcanoes into three basic categories on
the basis of size and shape. Let’s take a closer look at these
types of categories.
Shield Volcanoes
While many people think of volcanic eruptions as being
explosive, many volcanic areas produce quiet, oozing lava.
Fissures and hot spots are two examples. Fissures are long
fractures in the earth’s crust. Instead of erupting from one
central vent, lava erupts gently like a fountain from the
fissure in a long line. Fissures normally form in areas
where two plates separate, such as along a mid-ocean
ridge. Like fissures, hot spots produce quiet eruptions.
Most hot spots form under a plate instead of along its
boundaries. Other hot spots coincide with mid-ocean
ridges. Both fissures and hot spots produce a runny lava
that spreads out to form a wide, broadly sloping volcano.
These volcanoes are called shield volcanoes because they
resemble a warrior’s shield. The slopes of a shield volcano
are rarely steep; these volcanoes are wide and flat. Over
thousands of years, shield volcanoes can reach massive
size, for example, 9 kilometers high and 193 kilometers
wide. The Hawaiian Islands and Iceland are examples of
shield volcanoes.
Mauna Loa in Hawaii is an example of a shield volcano.
Composite Volcanoes
Composite volcanoes are tall and pointed. They are some
of the most picturesque volcanoes in the world because of
their height and snow-capped summits. They form from
alternating eruptions of lava and ash. Steep near the
summit, a composite volcano is flat toward the base. The
lava is sticky and does not flow far before it solidifies.
Mt. Fuji, in Japan, is an example of a composite volcano.
These tall volcanoes usually form where two plates collide
and one overrides the other. Thick magma and water from
the sinking oceanic plate cause the volcano to be explosive.
Water dissolves within the magma and travels upward as
small bubbles, like the bubbles in a carbonated soft drink.
When the magma explodes from the volcano, it breaks the
lava and rocks along the vent into pieces. Alternating
layers of lava and fragmented rock pile up. Mt. St. Helens
in Washington state and Mt. Fuji in Japan are composite
volcanoes.
Sunset Crater in Arizona is an example of a cinder cone volcano.
Cinder Cone Volcanoes
Cinder cone volcanoes are smaller than shield volcanoes
and composite volcanoes. If the eruption contains thick
magma, the gas pressure shatters the rock within the
volcano into small pieces. In other cases, the lava in the air
may harden and fall as fragments. These small pieces are
called cinders. These cinders accumulate around the
opening, or vent, of the volcano. These volcanoes tend to
be explosive, which is why the rock breaks into fragments.
Cinder cones can also ooze lava at the base of the cone.
Eldfell in Iceland and Sunset Crater are cinder cone
volcanoes.
Plate tectonics processes help produce the different types of
volcanoes. Can you tell which volcano type forms in the
different areas?