The Characteristics Features of Various Types of Volcanoes

A volcano is a mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapour and gas are or have been erupted from the earth’s crust.

One type of volcano is fissure volcanoes, fissures are giant cracks that open in the ground. Lava spreads far and wide. When these pools of lava cool and solidify, the surface remains mostly flat. Since the source cracks are usually buried, there is often nothing volcano like to see, only a flat plain. Fissure volcanic eruptions are not very violent the lava flow can be controlled with channels, therefore most fissure volcanoes are used as tourist attractions.

A second type of volcano is shield volcano, shield volcanoes are formed from free flowing basaltic lava. They are associated with mid ocean ridges, rift valleys and hot spots. The resulting volcanoes have gentle sides and cover a large area. As a result shield volcano eruptions are not very violent because the lava contains the least silica content only 48-52% silica content this means that it doesn’t block the volcano and the eruption is calm, also it release little to no ash on eruption.

A third type of volcanic eruption is acid dome volcanoes, acid dome volcanoes are steep sided convex cones, consisting of viscous lava, which is probably rhyolite. The lava is so thick that it cannot flow far before cooling. Associated with destructive plate margins. Acid dome volcanic eruptions are more violent because the lava has a high silica content 68-77%, therefore the viscous lava cannot flow and can block within the magma chamber, this blockage causes pressure to build until eventually the pressure becomes too much and the volcano erupts violently.

Further another volcano is composite volcanoes, composite cones are classic shaped volcanoes consisting of layers of ash and lava, which is usually andesitic, composite volcanoes are associated with destructive plate boundaries. The silica content of andesite