Types of Volcanoes

Volcanoes are mountains which a comprises of pathways for the magma that flows beneath the tectonic plates. There are many types of volcanoes all around the world, some are deemed dormant while others are active. The movement of earth’s plates creates all sorts of volcanoes. The oceanic crust and continental crust are responsible for earthquakes which can even cause eruptions. 

What are the states of a Volcano?

There are 3 states of a volcano:

• Active
• Dormant
• Extinct

Active volcanoes are the ones which are prone to eruption, meaning that they have either erupted, could erupt or are still capable of spewing out magma.

Volcanoes which have not erupted for over 2000 years are known as dormant volcanoes.

Extinct volcanoes will never erupt again. These volcanoes no longer pose a threat to their surroundings.

Living near a volcano 

There are so many cities situated near a volcano. Some of the advantages of living near a volcano are energy-related. Geothermal energy projects can easily be implemented near a volcano because of the increased plate activity. Moreover, people live near volcanoes to take advantage of the rich soil which is a great place to farm crops. Not only that but there are so many organizations which mine for minerals near a volcano because volcanic eruption causes the earth to spew out those minerals. Tourism is also another reason why people choose to live near a volcano, tourism is a great way to earn revenue.

Living near a volcano has some disadvantages as well. First being the obvious, the people are vulnerable to eruption. They are in constant danger of suffering the damage from volcanic eruption. The volcanic ash can cause breathing problems for the citizens. In the event of volcanic eruption, their houses and building will be demolished by the lava which is going to flow in a downward direction, incinerating everything in its path. This is very dangerous because the lava can block roads which are an escape route for the people. 

Types of Volcanoes

Cinder cone volcanoes (additionally called scoria cones) are the most well-known sort of spring of gushing lava, as indicated by San Diego State University, and are the balanced cone-formed volcanoes we normally consider. They may be considered as single volcanoes or as auxiliary volcanoes known as “parasitic cones” on the sides of stratovolcanoes or shield volcanoes. Airborne pieces of lava, called tephra, are launched out from a solitary vent. The lava cools quickly and falls as cinders that develop around the vent, framing a pit at the summit, as per the U.S. Topographical Survey. Cinder cone volcanoes are genuinely little, for the most part just around 330 feet (99 meters) tall and not rising in excess of 1,210 feet (369 meters). They can develop over brief times of a couple of months or years. 

Stratovolcanoes are additionally called composite volcanoes in light of the fact that they are worked of layers of substituting lava stream, debris and squares of unmelted stone, as per the U.S. Topographical Survey. They are bigger than cinder cones, ascending to 8,000 feet (2,438 meters). Stratovolcanoes result from a course arrangement of vents driving from a magma repository underneath the surface. At the point when lethargic, they ordinarily have slope concave sides that clear together at the top around a moderately little pit. 

Stratovolcanoes can eject with extraordinary savagery. Pressure builds up in the magma chamber as gases, under monstrous warmth and weight, are broken down in the fluid stone. At the point when the magma arrives at the conduits, the weight is discharged and the gases detonate, similar to the soft drink heaving of a soft drink can that you stir up and opened out of nowhere, as per San Diego State University. Since the structure in an arrangement of underground conductors, stratovolcanoes may victory the sides of the cone just as the summit hole. 

Stratovolcanoes are considered the most fierce. Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, is a stratovolcano that was emitted on May 18, 1980. Roughly 230 square miles (596 square kilometres) of the timberland was totally crushed and 57 individuals were murdered. Through the span of the day, winds blew 520 million tons of debris eastbound over the United States and caused total haziness in Spokane, Washington, 250 miles (402 kilometres) from the fountain of liquid magma, as indicated by the U.S. Topographical Survey. 

Shield volcanoes are tremendous, tenderly inclining volcanoes made of slim lava spreading out every which way from a focal vent. They have wide bases a few miles in measurement with more extreme center inclines and a summit. The delicately raised slants give them a blueprint like a medieval knight’s shield. Ejections of these volcanoes are not commonly dangerous, however, are progressively similar to fluid flooding around the edges of a holder. The world’s biggest fountain of liquid magma, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, is a shield well of lava, as per the U.S. Land Survey. Mauna Loa is around 55,770 feet (17,000 meters) from its base underneath the sea to the summit, which is 13,681 feet (4,170 meters) above ocean level. It is likewise one of the Earth’s most dynamic volcanoes and is painstakingly observed. The latest emission was in 1984. 

Lava domes are developed when the lava is too gooey to even think about flowing, as per the U.S. Land Survey. An air pocket or fitting of cooling rock shapes over a gap. This cooler, thick lava as a rule ascends close to the finish of a dangerous ejection and lava domes regularly structure inside the holes of stratovolcanoes. Mount St. Helens has a few well-characterized lava domes inside the cavity, as indicated by NASA. 

Other than notable balanced volcanoes, for example, Mount Fuji in Japan and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, volcanic action is liable for a few other particular landforms. 

Calderas: A caldera is a bowl-moulded downward-shaped volcano that is formed when a well of lava falls into the void left when its magma chamber is purged. There are three sorts, as indicated by San Diego State University. The primary sort is a cavity lake caldera. This is the aftereffect of a stratovolcano falling into its magma chamber during a brutal emission. Basaltic calderas have a concentric ring design coming about because of a progression of steady falls instead of a solitary occasion. They are frequently found at the summit of shield volcanoes, for example, the holes at the highest points of Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Resurgent calderas are the biggest volcanic structures on Earth. They are the aftereffect of calamitous emissions that predominate any ejections at any point recorded by individuals. Yellowstone caldera, in some cases, called a “super volcano,” is one model. 

Volcanic plugs: When magma hardens in the gap of a volcano the hard thick stone may shape a “neck” the remaining parts when softer encompassing stone has been eroded away, as indicated by the U.S. Topographical Survey. This can bring about sensational tourist spots, for example, Ship Rock in New Mexico, and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. 

Tuff cones: otherwise called maars, tuff cones are shallow, level amazed pits that researchers think framed because of a savage development of magmatic gas or steam, as indicated by the U.S. Land Survey. Maars run in size from 200 to 6,500 feet (60 to 1,980 meters) across and from 30 to 650 feet (9 to 198 meters) profound, and most are ordinarily loaded up with water to shape normal lakes. Maars happen in topographically youthful volcanic areas of the world, for example, the western United States and the Eifel locale of Germany. 

Lava plateaus: Shield volcanoes may eject along lines of crevices instead of a focal vent spilling fluid lava in progressive layers. After some time as these layers structure wide plateaus, for example, the Columbia Plateau, as indicated by the Encyclopedia Britannica. These plateaus are frequently cut by profound gulches that uncover the layers of rock.

Fun Facts about Volcanoes

• Volcanoes are openings in the Earth’s surface. At the point when they are dynamic they can let debris, gas and hot magma escape in some of the time fierce and fabulous ejections. 
• The word volcano initially originates from the name of the Roman fire god, Vulcan. 
• Volcanoes are generally found where structural plates meet. This is particularly valid for the Pacific Ring of Fire, a territory around the Pacific Ocean where over 75% of the volcanoes on Earth are found. 
• While most volcanoes structure close to structural limits, they can likewise shape in territories that contain unusually hot stone inside the Earth. Known as mantle crest, these hotspots are found in various areas around the world with the most eminent being in Hawaii. 
• The hot fluid stone under the Earth’s surface is known as magma, it is gotten lava after it leaves a volcano. 
• Some well-known volcanic ejections of current occasions incorporate Mount Krakatoa in 1883, Novarupta in 1912, Mount St Helens in 1980 and Mt Pinatubo in 1991. 
• While we surely have some enormous volcanoes here on Earth, the greatest known volcano in our close planetary system is quite Mars. Its name is Olympus Mons and it gauges a challenging 600km (373 miles) wide and 21km (13 miles) high. 
• The item with the most volcanic movement in our nearby planetary group is Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. Shrouded in volcanoes, its surface is continually changing to the enormous measure of volcanic action. 
• A great many people consider volcanoes huge cone moulded mountains however that is only one sort, others highlight wide plateaus, gap vents (breaks were lava rises) and swelling arch shapes. 
• There are additionally volcanoes found on the sea depths and considerably under icecaps, for example, those found in Iceland. 
• Volcanoes can be dynamic (ordinary action), lethargic (ongoing authentic action yet now calm) or wiped out (no movement on verifiable occasions and improbable to emit once more). While these terms are valuable, researchers are bound to portray volcanoes by qualities such a how they are framed, how they emit and what their shape is. 
• Regular volcanic gases incorporate water fume, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen sulfide. 
• Volcanic emissions can send debris high into the air, over 30km (17 miles) over the Earth’s surface. 
• Enormous volcanic ejections can reflect radiation from the Sun and drop normal temperatures on Earth by around a large portion of a degree. There have been a few instances of this in the course of the only remaining century. 
• Pumice is an exceptional volcanic stone (molten) that can coast in water. It can likewise be utilized as a rough and is now and again utilized in excellent salons for expelling dry skin.
• Crisp volcanic debris, made of pounded rock, can be unforgiving, acidic, dirty, lustrous and rancid. The debris can harm the lungs of senior individuals, children and individuals with respiratory issues. 
• Volcanic lightning happens for the most part inside the haze of debris during ejection and is made by the contact of the debris racing to the surface. Around 200 records of this lightning have been seen live. 
• An ejecting volcano can trigger waves, streak floods, quakes, mudflows and rockfalls. 
• Over 80% of the world’s surface is volcanic in the beginning. The ocean bottom and a few mountains were shaped by innumerable volcanic emissions. Vaporous emanations from volcanoes shaped the world’s climate. 
• There are in excess of 500 dynamic volcanoes on the planet. The greater part of these volcanoes is a piece of the “Ring of Fire,” a locale that encloses the Pacific Ocean. 
• The sound of an ejection volcano can be calm and murmuring or hazardous and blasting. The noisy breaks travel several miles and do the most harm, including hearing misfortune and broken glass. 
• The most destructive ejections have happened in Indonesia, with a huge number of lives lost to starvation, tidal waves (because of the emission), debris streams, and mudflows.

Read more about the Distribution of Volcanoes

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three main types of volcanoes?

The three main types are shield volcanoes, cinder cone volcanoes, and composite (stratovolcanoes) volcanoes, each with distinct eruption characteristics.

How do shield volcanoes differ from other types?

Shield volcanoes have broad, gently sloping sides and typically erupt with relatively non-explosive, basaltic lava flows.

What defines a cinder cone volcano?

Cinder cone volcanoes are steep-sided, often small, and formed from the accumulation of volcanic fragments ejected during eruptions.

What are the unique features of composite (stratovolcanoes) volcanoes?

Composite volcanoes have alternating layers of lava and ash, often result in explosive eruptions, and can produce pyroclastic flows and lahars.

Where in the world can you find examples of each type of volcano?

Shield volcanoes are found in Hawaii, cinder cone volcanoes can be seen in the western United States and elsewhere, while composite volcanoes are prominent along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

References 

• 11 Facts About Volcanoes. (n.d.). Retrieved from DoSomething.org: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-volcanoes
• caldera_forms_pre_load_processors. (n.d.). Retrieved from Caldera Forms: https://calderaforms.com/doc/caldera_forms_pre_load_processors/
• Earth Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from Science Kids: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/volcano.html
• How do cinder cone volcanoes form? (n.d.). Retrieved from Quora: https://www.quora.com/How-do-cinder-cone-volcanoes-form
• Lava Flows at Mount St. Helens. (n.d.). Retrieved from USGS: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/st_helens/st_helens_hazard_74.html
• Nothing left but a stopper… – Volcanic Plugs. (n.d.). Retrieved from Volcano Hotspot: https://volcanohotspot.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/nothing-left-but-a-stopper-volcanic-plugs/
• Types of Volcanic Cones. (n.d.). Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/types-volcanic-cones/
• Valcano Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289778557254833250/
• Volcano Facts and Types of Volcanoes. (n.d.). Retrieved from LiveScience: https://www.livescience.com/27295-volcanoes.html
• What happens when a volcano erupts? (n.d.). Retrieved from OUPBlog: https://blog.oup.com/2018/02/happens-volcano-erupts/What is a Stratovolcano (Composite Cone)? (n.d.). Retrieved from EarhHow: https://earthhow.com/stratovolcano/