Volcanic mountains are formed as a result of volcanic activities on the surface of the Earth. The magma inside the Earth erupts out as lava through the cracks on the Earth’s surface. This cools down repeatedly to form volcanic mountains.

Examples :

• Mt. Kilimanjaro(Tanzania)
• Mt. Fuji (Japan)
• Mt. Merapi (Sumatra)
• Mt. Mayon (Philippines)
• Mt. Agung (Bali)
• Mt. Cotopaxi (Ecuador)

Types of Volcanoes

Volcanoes are grouped into four types:

• Cinder cones
• Composite volcanoes
• Shield volcanoes
• Lava volcanoes

Cinder Cones

• Cinder cones are circular or oval cones made up of small fragments of lava from a single vent that have been blown up. Cinder cones result from eruptions of mostly small pieces of scoria and pyroclastics that build up around the vent.
• Most cinder cones erupt only once. Cinder cones may form as flank vents on larger volcanoes, or occur on their own.

Composite Volcano

• Many layers of volcanic rocks, typically consisting of high-viscosity lava, ash, and rock debris, compose steep-sided composite volcanoes.
• Tall conical mountains composed of lava flows and other ejecta in alternate layers give rise to the name of these types of volcanoes.
• Composite volcanoes are made of cinders, ash, and lava. Cinders and ash pile on top of each other, lava flows on top of the ash, where it cools and hardens, and then the process repeats.

Shield Volcano

• Basaltic lava flows shape shield volcanoes with a bowl or shield-like structure and long, gentle slopes.
• These are form by the eruption of low-viscosity lava that can flow a great distance from a vent.
• They generally do not explode catastrophically. Since low-viscosity magma is typically low in silica, shield volcanoes are more common in oceanic than continental settings. The Hawaiian volcanic chain is a series of shield cones, and they are common in Iceland, as well.

Lava Domes

• Lava domes are form when erupting lava is too thick to flow and makes a steep-sided mound as the lava piles up near the volcanic vent. They are built by slow eruptions of highly viscous lava.
• They are sometimes form within the crater of a previous volcanic eruption. Like a composite volcano, they can produce violent, explosive eruptions, but their lava generally does not flow far from the originating vent.

Types Of Volcanic Mountains,Types Of Volcanic Mountains

Read Also : Characteristics Of Volcanic Mountains