Volcanoes

Types of Volcanoes

Volcanoes. People think these are dangerous and vicious things that releases hot destructive materials that can definitely ruin our lives. Yes, it is, but only when it erupts. But these are natural disasters that releases the heat from the interior of the Earth. Without it, the Earth might probably exploded now. Think of the brighter side, we can't survive and be alive now without these volcanoes. But first...

What is a volcano?

A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earth's volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, rigid tectonic plates that float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle. - Wikipedia

Recall that volcanoes are composed of molten rock materials mixed with different chemical substances. The type of materials that volcanoes may eject during their eruption determines their shape and size. Based on these characteristics, scientists may classify volcanoes into three different types: composite (stratovolcano), cinder cone, and shield volcanoes

Firstly, let us talk about 

Composite volcanoes

Composite volcanoes, sometimes called stratovolcanoes, are typically deep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs and may rise as much as 8,000 ft above their bases. Composite volcanoes can be very high because they can generate several eruptions that may accumulate on their side, making them steeper and bigger. 

Here is a picture of a composite volcano with it's label parts

Shield Volcanoes

A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid magma flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from stratovolcanoes. This results in the steady accumulation of broad sheets of lava, building up the shield volcano's distinctive form. Shield volcanoes shape is due to the low-viscosity magma of their maficlava.

Here is a picture of a shield volcano with it's label parts

Cinder Cone Volcanoes

Cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and only grow to about a thousand feet, the size of a hill. They usually are created of eruptions from a single opening, unlike a strato-volcano or shield volcano which can erupt from many different openings. Cinder cone volcanoes got their name from the type of material they eject during eruption. If other volcanoes eject lava, cinder cones spit out melted volcanic rocks that solidifies into pebble-sized, low-density basalt materials called cinders, which are also known as scoria. That's why cinder cones are also called scoria cones.

Unlike other types of volcanoes that may erupt several times, a cinder cone volcano is monogenetic. This term means that it may erupt only once.

Here is a picture of a cinder cone volcano with it's label parts

So those are the three types of volcanoes. Actually, there are other types of volcanoes but these three are the main ones. You can watch this video to know more about the three types of volcanoes and its examples.

Know more

Have you ever heard the caldera before? Do you know it's meaning or what it is? 

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature on large central volcanoes, a special sort of volcanic crater (from one to several kilometers in diameter), formed when a magma chamber was emptied. The depression then originated either in very big explosive eruptions or in erosion and collapse of the magma chamber roof.

Now that we're done talking about the types of volcanoes,  let us have a quick quiz. Click this to start now!

My reflection on this topic

Volcanoes are actually wonderful and beneficial. It's an interesting subject where there aren't much complications. For me, the best part of the topic was trying to learn about cinder cone volcanoes. Cinder cones, as I have observed, had more different characteristics than the other two. The other two types of volcanoes were also cool and worth studying for. I've also discovered that each type of volcano can be differentiated easily by their structures. The area or concept I'd like to learn or expound more is to discover more about the cinder volcanoes and research more if there are possibilities that they can erupt more than once since they are monogenetic.

Thank you all and blessed be God forever!