stratovolcano
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.35|Mount Rainier, a stratovolcano, the highest mountain in the US state of Washington
AI overview
A stratovolcano is a steep, conical volcano built up from many layers of hardened lava, ash, and rock that erupt over time. They matter because they can be extremely dangerous—stratovolcanoes like Mount Rainier tend to produce powerful, explosive eruptions that can affect large surrounding areas.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Distribution
- Formation
- Hazards
- Ash
- Lava
- Volcanic bombs
- Lahar
- Volcanic gas
- Eruptions that affected global climate
- List
- See also
- References
thumb|upright=1.35|Mount Rainier, a stratovolcano, the highest mountain in the US state of Washington
thumb|upright=1.35|Exposed internal structure of alternating layers of lava and [[pyroclastic rock in the eroded Broken Top stratovolcano in Oregon]] A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and explosive eruptions. Some have collapsed summit craters called calderas. The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and solidifies before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high to intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less viscous mafic magma. Extensive felsic lava flows are uncommon, but can travel as far as .