Volcanoes: mother nature's mass weapon of destruction
Volcanoes are landforms that are upon a hotspot or subduction zone in the Earth's crust. And when there is enough heat pressure the volcano will erupt! Some erupt violently and some ooze lava. There will be three types of volcanoes that will be included on this page: cinder-cone volcanoes, composite volcanoes and sheild volcanoes. Volcanoes are classified by the contents spewing from it. The three elements are ash, tephra(cinder) and lava/magma. The scale used to determine how violent a volcano is is called the Volcanic Explosivity Index.
Shield volcanoes
Shield volcanoes are not explosive as a composite or cinder cone volcano would be. Shield volcanoes ooze lava and are the only volcanoes that are entirely formed of cooled magma/lava. Shield volcanoes are shaped like a dome and can reach up to 9000m. tall. the island of Hawaii is a great example of a shield volcano for the island itself is the volcano. but since over thousands of years the movement of the tectonis plates shifted the location of the "hotspots" and created the other islands nearby. The islands farther north are older than the ones below. Shield volcanoes only spew lava so that is why it's eruptions aren't so explosive because lava doesn't have enough water in it to "boil".
Composite Volcanoes
Composite volcanoes are mainly found on subduction zones and spew ash, lava and tephra. they are also the most common volcanoes found on Earth. These volcanoes range from 100-3500m. tall and are symmetrical, meaning if you were to slice it in half, the two half would be identical. This volcano is explosive and can erupt violently and forms from mountain rock to layers of volcanic ash, lava and rock. These volcanoes can have mutiple vents spewing lava at the same time. A famous composite volcano that is currently inactive is called Mount Saint Helens in Washington state, United States. This volcano is know for it's eruption in 1980 that could be heard 700 miles away. The eruption of Mount Saint Helens was recorded as the worst eruption in the United States.
Cinder-cone volcanoes
Cinder cone volcanoes are the simplest type of volcano. The cinder cone volcanohas a bowl shaped crater and usually never rises over 1000 ft. This volcano is a steep sided volcano that is created by the layers of ash and cinder that is cooled down after an eruption, creating a more steep and rough ground. This volcano is unlike others for it has only one vent at the top and is the most violant of all the volcano types known.
A very well known cinder-cone volcano in the world is named "Krakatoa" in Indonesia. It has been known to erupt multiple times and kill and injure many people along with destroying homes and shelters.
A very well known cinder-cone volcano in the world is named "Krakatoa" in Indonesia. It has been known to erupt multiple times and kill and injure many people along with destroying homes and shelters.