There are three major types of volcanoes in the world: composite volcano, shield volcano, and cinder cone volcano.According to the United States Geological Survey, there are 161 active and potentially active volcanoes present in the world. All of them are either erupting now or waiting for the perfect moment to explode.A volcano mainly consists of a vent (the large central crater) that occasionally or frequently releases lava, ash, and molten rock from its magma chamber. Volcanoes can vary in shape and size; while some are conical in shape with magnificent height, others may be comparatively flat. The appearance of a volcano solely depends on the nature of magma it erupts.Among the major types, the composite ones are the most dangerous volcanoes. They are made of viscous lava flows that often tend to block the vents making them explosive. Fluid lava flows create shield volcanoes that are comparatively less dangerous. But they can cause much damage to crops and properties as low viscosity lava can roll down in any direction and can travel quite a long distance. Lastly, cinder cone volcanoes are the simplest of all. They are made of congealed lava erupted from a single vent. Their formation is swift and surprising, and so is their sudden collapse and disappearance. These volcanoes mostly do not erupt, but there are some examples of active cider cones present in the world.Most Famous Composite VolcanoesComposite volcanoes are mainly tall mountains with steep slopes, that occasionally erupt with violent explosions.The construction of a composite volcano is a very long process. For hundreds of thousands of years, layers of lava flow have been overlapping one another to create a mountain or a hill, and that is what we call a composite volcano. These volcanoes are not only made of lava but layers of molten rock, volcanic ash, and pyroclastic flow. They are supplied by conduits that connect the Earth’s surface to the lithosphere. Composite volcanoes produce a large amount of viscous lava that often blocks the volcanic vent causing massive explosions.Most of the great and dangerous volcanoes in the world are examples of composite volcanoes. They were also responsible for some of the most devastating volcanic explosions in history. The composite volcanoes that have erupted catastrophically are Mount St Helens, Krakatoa, Mayon Volcano, and Mount Pinatubo. The ones that have not erupted recently are Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Fuji in Japan, and Mount Rainier in Washington State.The United States Geological survey was observing the waking giant, Mount St Helens, in 1980. On May 18, this composite volcano and its magma chamber hit Washington State with such vigor that the incident is recorded as one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in the history of the US.Composite volcanoes are also known for creating a caldera. It is the collapsed region (empty magma chamber) left behind by a composite volcano after a massive explosion. A caldera mainly is a depression that is deep and steep-walled, and it can often be filled up with water to create beautiful lakes, such as Mount Mazama (Crater Lake), in Oregon. Sometimes, instead of a lake, a new composite volcano can also build up in the empty space.Most of the time, composite volcanoes occur in chains. Each of them can take place within a few miles of the other. The greatest example of this can be the stratovolcanos that exist in the ‘Ring of fire’ in the Pacific Ocean.Composite volcanoes are known for making devastating explosions; some of them are Mount Vesuvius, which exploded in 79 AD and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, and Mount Pinatubo, which erupted in 1991 and became one of the biggest eruptions of the century.Another reason why composite volcanoes are the most dangerous volcanoes is that they erupt viscous lava. This lava, unlike fluid one, cannot flow like a river clearing all the obstacles from the vent. Thus, the eruption takes a massive size and becomes terribly destructive. Most composite volcanoes also erupt lahar, a mixture of water and volcanic debris. Once erupted lahar runs down the steep slope so swiftly that it is difficult to escape. It is reported that since 1600 more than 300,000 people have lost their lives to volcanic eruptions.Along with magma, ash, and lahar, large composite volcanoes also erupt harmful volcanic gases like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. After coming in contact with the atmosphere sulfur dioxide produces sulfuric acid, which in turn causes acid rain. In addition, these gases block sunlight and lower temperatures. It is recorded that the cloud produced by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora caused the global temperatures to decrease as much as 6.3 °F (-14.27 °C). Due to this incident, 1816 is known as the ‘year without a summer’ in Europe and North America.Famous Composite Cone VolcanoesComposite cones are made of lava flows, and they can be seen at the peak of composite volcanoes.These cones are situated thousands of feet above sea level and have steep slopes. Another name for these cones is ‘stratocones’. Like stratovolcanoes, stratocones are also formed by layers of lava, volcanic ash, and molten rock as they come out through the volcanic vents at the summit crater and overlap one another for a long period of time. The process responsible for the forming of these cones is called ‘Plinian eruptions’. They are extremely dangerous and violently explosive.Two of the most famous composite cones in the world are Mount Rainier and Mount Fuji. Mount Rainier has been erupting volcanic debris and lava over the past half a million years. Thanks to that it has managed to build an exemplary stratocone with the classic layered structure and the steep sloping shape.Mount Fuji on the other hand is the tallest mountain in Japan with a whopping height of 12,380 ft (3,773.42 m) above sea level. The last recorded volcanic explosion of Mount Fuji took place in 1707.Famous Composite Shield VolcanoesEven though they are fearful, shield volcanoes are some of the least dangerous ones.These volcanoes are made of low viscosity lava flows, more commonly known as fluid lava flows. During an eruption, shield volcanoes release fluid magma through several vents in all directions from the summit. With multiple eruptions spanning over a long time, the magma flows overlap one another and create volcanoes with gentle slopes and dome-like shapes that resemble the shield of a warrior.Like all other volcanoes, this one also takes thousands of years to form. A shield volcano’s length can be 20 times its height. But that does not necessarily mean they are not tall. Some of the biggest volcanoes in the world are shield volcanoes. In northern California and Oregon, many volcanos of this kind can be found that are three to four miles wide and 1,500-2,000 ft (457.2-609.6 m) tall. The Hawaiian Islands also consist of many shield volcanoes including Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, which is considered to be the second biggest volcano on the planet, after Tamu Massif.Mauna Loa is the largest subaerial (existing on the Earth’s surface) volcano in the world. Its height is 13,680 ft (4,169.66 m) (above sea level), and it goes 8 mi (12.87 km) down the water surface into the Earth’s crust. It is one of the biggest mountains on Earth and also the biggest shield volcano by volume.Shield volcanoes are known for making hydrovolcanic eruptions. These eruptions take place when the magma from a shield volcano reaches the water. Due to the difference in temperature, the magma makes explosive eruptions of ash, stream, and often rocks.Not only on the Earth but shield volcanoes can exist on any planet or moon that has a molten core. With the help of space probes, scientists have discovered that Mars and Venus have shield volcanoes on their surfaces.There are many shield volcanoes in Africa; one of them is known as Erta Ale in Ethiopia. This volcano has a caldera filled with lava, making it a lava lake.Some of the oldest shield volcanoes can be found in the Galapagos Islands. It is said that some of these volcanoes can be 4.2 million years old.Famous Composite Cinder VolcanoesCinder cone volcanoes are not that big in size, but they have the appearance of volcanoes with their sloping shape and conical structure.The construction of cinder cone volcanoes takes place through some eruptions called Strombolian eruptions. During these eruptions lava, ash, and rocks come out of the volcano and pile up around the vent. Slowly they become rubble or cinder and take a conical shape. This conical mound, made of cinder and rubble, often towers as high as a thousand feet above sea level.Unlike a composite volcano, cinder cone volcanoes generally rise from a single eruption and mostly don’t erupt again. That is why they are also called ‘monogenetic volcanoes’. But Nicaragua’s Cerro Negro is an exception. Since its rise in 1850, this volcano has erupted more than 20 times. It is considered to be one of the youngest and most active cinder cones.Cinder cones are known for rising beside a vent of a volcano. But sometimes they can also be formed by lava, ash, and rock coming out of the subsidiary vents of shield or composite volcanoes. Mauna Kea in Hawaii carries hundreds of cinder cones on its gentle slopes. Apart from that Arizona’s Sunset Crater is an example of a cinder cone that is a part of the San Francisco volcanic field.
There are three major types of volcanoes in the world: composite volcano, shield volcano, and cinder cone volcano.
