Cinder Cones

In a cinder cone, lava erupts from a small vent in the crust and 'sprays' melted rock fragments into the air where they then fall back to earth in a pile. These rock fragments are glassy, gas-filled chunks of lava... Read more

Shield Volcanoes

The biggest single mountain in the world is a shield volcano that was slowly built up from the floor of the Pacific Ocean over hundreds of thousands of years ...Read more

Stratovolcanoes   |   VIDEO

Some of the most powerful and destructive volcanoes in human history have been stratovolcanoes. They can send cubic miles of rock and ash into the atmosphere in an extremely violent series of eruptions known as a plinian-type eruption....Read more

Caldera Volcanoes

The Caldera volcanoes are the Extreme Volcanoes. These are the most powerful and catastrophic types of volcanoes in a category by themselves because of the unique way in which they form....Read more

Greatest Volcanic Eruption

The initial eruption of 2.1 million years ago was 2,500 times more powerful than the Mt. St. Helens eruption and perhaps was the largest, most violent volcanic eruption in the history of earth. Enough ash and volcanic debris exploded from the eruptions to cover...Read more