6:42 AM
By Christy Ocariza
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cinder cone
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composite
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mayon volcano
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mt. fuji
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paracutin
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shield
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Volcano
Try to look at this mnemonics:
There are three major types of volcanoes: the composite volcano, the cinder cone volcano, and the shield volcano. Among these three types of volcanoes, the composite volcano is the famous one because it is what we usually see in the movies. The cinder cone is the simplest one and the shield volcano is the largest among the three.
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| Mayon Volcano, Philippines |
The composite volcano is cone shaped volcano with a branched vent and a primary vent in the center. It has a steep sides and a small crater. Because of its high viscosity, the lava that glides down in the volcano didn't able to run fast thus having it harden on its sides, that is why the composite volcanoes have a great height. When it comes to its eruption, the composite volcano have an explosive one. This is because of its small crater that could clog up the magma inside thus giving a great force to spill it out. It can create some volcanic ash and other particles. One of the famous composite volcano is the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines. The Mayon Volcano is also regarded as a perfect cone volcano. Another famous composite volcano is the Mt. Fuji of Japan.
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| Paracutin, Mexico |
Another type of volcano is the cinder cone volcano. This volcano is regarded as the simplest volcano because of its single vent in the center and it is usually small and steep. It has a bowl shaped crater and larger compared to the composite volcano. It is made up of lots of rocks and ash. There is a lot of gas in the lava, as it is blown into the air it cools and solidifies as small rocks or cinders, that is where it got its name, from the cinders. Cinder cones are very common in volcanic areas. The most famous cinder cone is the Paracutin in Mexico.
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| Mauna Loa, Hawaii |
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| Olympus Mons |
The Shield Volcano is considered as the largest volcano because of its covered area. This type of volcano doesn't rise high because of its low viscosity that the lava that flows can run in a greater distance thus having it harden in a flat manner. It has been named "shield" because of its shaped that really looks like a roman or greek shield armor. It has a dome shaped and has a large crater in the center. This type of volcano is also known as the Hawaiian volcano because it is usually found there and the famous one is the Mauna Loa. We cannot only see the shield volcano here on Earth but also in Planet Mars and this is the Olympus Mons.
Now that we are aware of the major types of volcanoes. It would be easy for us to classify them and predict on how they erupt thus helping lives as well.
