Stratovolcano
de:Schichtvulkan
A stratovolcano (also composite cone or composite volcano) is a tall, conical mountain (volcano) composed of both hardened lava and volcanic ash. The shape of these volcanoes is characteristically steep in profile because lava flows that formed them were highly viscous, and so cooled and hardened before spreading very far. Such lava tends to be high in silica. At the other end of the spectrum are shield volcanoes (such as Mauna Loa in Hawai'i), which are formed from less viscous lavas, giving them a wide base and more gently sloping profile.
Because all volcanoes of any size have a stratified (layered) structure—that is, are built up from sequential outpourings of eruptive materials—volcanologists prefer to use the term stratovolcano for these mountains.
Examples of stratovolcanoes are:
- Kollóttadyngja in North-East Iceland
- Mayon Volcano in the Philippines
- Mount Erebus in Antarctica
- Mt. Fuji in Japan
- Mount Rainier in the northwestern United States
- Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand's North Island
- Mount Shasta in northern California
- Mount St. Helens in southern Washington state
- Mount Taranaki (formerly Mount Egmont) in New Zealand's North Island
- Skjaldbreiður in South-west Iceland
- Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat
- Teide on Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
- Trölladyngja in North-East Iceland
- Vesuvius in Italy
- Cotopaxi in Ecuador