Ages

Introduction

Summary

There are two kinds of volcanoes: one kind with violent eruptions producing steep slopes and the other kind with voluminous lava flows producing gentle slopes

The character of volcanic eruptions are largely controlled by the viscosity of the magma. Indeed, low -viscosity magma:

1. flow more easily than high viscosity magma
2. allow gases to escape easily whereas gas pressures can build up in high viscosity magmas.

Those two reasons explain why stratovolcanoes result in violent eruptions.

Goals

• To distinguish effusive eruption from explosive eruption.
• To name the parts of a volcano.
• To describe the sequence of an eruption.

Features

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Tags

shield-volcano stratovolcano magma vent crater fumarole lava basalt andesitic tectonics mountain pyroclastic tephra