• Hawaiian type volcanos may erput frequently but do not produce high columns and are usually not extremely explosive. Kilauea is a classic example. Learn more from VolcanoWatch
  • Surtseyan eruiptions are more explosive due to a higher degree of interaction between magma and water. The classic example is Surtsey, off the coast of Iceland.
  • Stombolian type volcanos produce mid size eruption columns, typified by the name sake volcano, Stromboli, in Italy
  • Plinian eruptions produce some of the largest clouds of ash and stream. Examples include Pinatubo, in the Philippines.
  • Combining the large eruption columns of Plinian eruptions and the effects of magma-water interaction, produce this type. An example is Santa María Volcano in Guatemala.

Volcano Types Diagram

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Volcanos are often classified by plotting their degree of "explosiveness" (y axis) and height of the erpution column (x axis).... the largest and most dangerous eruptions have high values of both. Check over each type for examples.

Note- this example is here is purely for showing how flickr can be used to create "hotspot" learning objects.... my geology knowledge is extremely rusty!

sebpaquet, cami13, Tom_Gray_GRC, Dr Andrew Oliver, and 12 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  1. Paynt Ball 52 months ago | reply

    I used this graphic to illustrate a blog post at Super Eco. Thanks for making it available via Creative Commons.

  2. greekgeek 37 months ago | reply

    What a great idea, and thank you for making it Creative Commons!

    Now I'm off to add it to my introductory page on Volcanoes.. (Photo Gallery, down near bottom of front page)

  3. verticelli 30 months ago | reply

    Bella idea! è una funzionalità che penso di sfruttare con i miei alunni!
    Grazie

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