MORPHOLOGY

OF VOLCANOES

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

An area characterized by
frequent earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions.
1900 active volcanoes are
concentrated along the rim
of the Pacific Ocean

VOLCANO

Is an elevated landform with an opening

at the top.

BASIC PARTS OF VOLCANO

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

FISSURE elongated fracture or crack on the

Earths crust from which lava erupts
CONDUIT - passageway through which
magma travels to reach the Earths surface
VENT opening where volcanic materials are
released
CRATER bowl shaped depression at the top
of the volcano where the vent is located
FLANK side of a volcano
MAGMA CHAMBER/RESERVOIR underground
compartment where the magma is stored

MAJOR TYPES OF VOLCANO

1.

STRATOVOLCANO

is formed by highly viscous or thick, slow moving lava.

- also termed as COMPOSITE CONE VOLCANO it has steep
upper slopes and relaxed lower slopes, a small crate
at its summit and is packed with a large reservoir of
magma caused by the heat and pressure from
tectonic plate movement.
most dangerous (when they explode an area of the
volcano may collapse forming a larger crater and
depression called CALDERA)
- Most volcanoes in the Pacific Ring are stratovolcanoes.

STRATOVOLCANO

PARTS OF A STRAT0VOLCANO
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.
8.

ASH pulverized rocks, minerals, volcanic glass

ASH FLOW avalanche (large amount) of hot
volcanic ash
LAVA FLOW stream of molten rocks that ooze (soft
deposit) from erupting vent
SILL horizontal crack with solidified or cooled
magma
DYKE vertical crack with solidified or cooled
magma
LAVA magma that has been extruded during
eruption
FLANK ERUPTION eruption from side of a volcano
VENT opening of the volcano

EXAMPLE OF STRATOVOLCANO
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.

7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Mayon Volcano (ALBAY)

Mt. St. Helens (Skamania County, Washington)
Mt. Rainier
(54 miles southeast of Seattle in the state
of Washington)
Mt. Pinatubo (Cabusilan Mountains)
Mt. Fuji
(JAPAN)
Merapi
(border between Central Java and Yogyakarta,
Indonesia. )
Galeras (city of Pasto, is one of Colombia')
Cotopaxi (Pichincha / Cotopaxi, Ecuador)
Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa)
Mauna Loa (Hawaii) highest volcano on Earth
Mt. Vesuvius (Italy)

2. SHIELD VOLCANO

Is formed by loose and fluid

lava that flows over each
other. It is usually low and
broad.
Have a very large steep
walled caldera on the summit.

SHIELD VOLCANO

PARTS OF SHIELD VOLCANO

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

MAGMA CHAMBER underground section of

the volcano where molten rocks of magma
collect and move up through cracks and
fissures to the crust of the Earth
LAVA FLOW stream of molten rocks that
ooze from an eruption vent
FLANK ERUPTION eruption at the side
SUMMIT CALDERA a cavity at the summit of
the volcano
CENTRAL VENT - a conduit for the magma to
travel from the magma chamber to the crater

3. CINDER CONE

Also known as SCORIA CONE

Is formed by fluid lava that is
ejected
because
of
high
pressure that builds up in the
magma chamber.
Volcanic eruptions are short
lived and appear like a wild
fountain

CINDER CONE

PARTS OF CINDER CONE

1. ASH - pulverized rocks, minerals, volcanic

glass
2. SUMMIT CRATER - bowl shaped opening at the
summit of the cone
3. CINDER BEDS pockets where new ash fall will
collect
4. VENT passageway for the magma
5. MAGMA CHAMBER reservoir of magma at the
bottom of the volcano

EXAMPLES OF CINDER CONE

1.
2.
3.

Mojave Volcano
Cerro Negro
Mount Fox

(California)
(Nicaragua)
(Australia)

VOLCANO LANDFORMS
1.
2.
3.

4.

CALDERA COMPLEX - is a depression formed

at the summit of shield volcanoes
LAVA DOME are mounds of lava after a
volcanic eruption
SUBMARINE VOLCANOES - on the ocean
floor and are formed through collision of
oceanic plates
GLACIAL VOLCANOES - overlain by glaciers.
Ex. Alaskan volcano

VOLCANOES ACCORDING TO
ACTIVITY
1.

2.

3.

ACTIVE VOLCANOES - is a volcano that has

had at least one eruption during the past
10,000 years.
DORMANT VOLCANOES - is an active volcano
that is not erupting, but supposed to erupt
again.
EXTINCT VOLCANOES - has not had an
eruption for at least 10,000 years and is not
expected to erupt again in a comparable
time scale of the future.

HAZARDS POSED BY ACTIVE

VOLCANOES

BLASTS - a destructive wave of highly

compressed air spreading outward from an
explosion.
DOME GROWTH refers to a mound of lava
that grows inside the crater, called
cryptodome. Grows outside the volcano, it is
called an exodome.
GASES -are released to the atmosphere
during an eruption and while the magma lies
close to the surface from hydrothermal
systems.

HAZARDS POSED BY ACTIVE

VOLCANOES

LAHAR it is also called mudflow or flow of

volcanic debris.
LAVA FLOW refers to the molten rocks that
move down the slope of volcanic vents.
PYROCLASTIC FLOW refer to glowing hot
material that moves down the slope of an
erupting volcano and comes in contact with
the surface.
PYROCLASTIC SURGES volcanic materials of
gases, ash, rock fragments and water
excluded above the ground.

HAZARDS POSED BY ACTIVE

VOLCANOES

TEPHRA FALLS - is a general term for

fragments of volcanic rock and lava
regardless of size that are blasted into the
air by explosions or carried upward by hot
gases in eruption columns or lava fountains.
TSUNAMI series of sea waves caused by the
displacement of large volumes of water
because of an underwater earthquake or
volcanic eruption.

BLASTS

DOME GROWTH

GASES

LAHAR

LAVA

PYROCLASTIC FLOW/
PYROCLASTIC SURGES

TEPHRA

TSUNAMI

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

HAWAIIAN ERUPTION is a type of

volcaniceruption where lava flows from the
vent in a relatively gentle, low
leveleruption; it is so named because it is
characteristic ofHawaiianvolcanoes.

STROMBOLIAN ERUPTION is violent,

featuring continuous ejection of magma and
gas.

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

VULCANIAN ERUPTION a thick, viscous

magma flows around the vent as solid lava
dust are ejected.

PLINIAN ERUPTION caused by the buildup of

viscous magma and dissolved gas. It is
accompanied by fast-flowing pyroclastic
debris and lahars.

HAWAIIAN ERUPTION

STROMBOLIAN ERUPTION

VULCANIAN ERUPTION

PLINIAN ERUPTION

Types of Volcanic Deposits

Lava: Hot (up to 1200 degrees C), fluid,
molten rock that flows along the land
surface.

Pahoehoe: Lava with a ropelike surface

texture due to partial cooling as the lava
flowed. Relatively hot, low viscosity lava.

Aa: Blocky, rough lava flow. Due to high

viscosity lava that flowed pushing chunks
of solid and semi-solid blocks.

Lava tube: A tube formed by cooling and

solidifying of the lava walls while fluid lava
continued to flow inside.