• Magmas have varying

amounts of silica and gas that

cause the lava to either be
thick and pasty or thin and
runny.
• The thickness and thinness of
the magma will determine
how a volcano will erupt and
what kind of a cone will form.
 TYPES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTION

1. Icelandic type
- characterized by effusions of molten basaltic lava that
flows from long parallel fissures, and the outpourings often
build lava plateaus.
- the lava comes out of the ground through long cracks in
the surface called fissures. (can be up to 15 miles long )
- the type cone produced from Icelandic eruptions is a
shield cone.
Krafla Volcano on the island of Iceland
2. Hawaiian type
- It is similar to the Icelandic variety but in this case,
fluid lava flows from summit and radial fissures to form
shield volcano.
- Both types of eruptions are known for their
beautiful fire fountains. The main difference lies in the
fact that most Hawaiian eruptions have the greatest
quantity of lava pouring out of the main vent at the
volcano’s summit, not along side fissures.
3. Strombolian type
- shows moderate burst of expanding gases that eject clots
of incandescent lava in cyclical or nearly continuous small
eruptions. Because of such small intermittent outburst,
Stromboli Volcano (west coast of Italy) has been called the
“lighthouse of the Mediterranean” because it erupts every
20 minutes.
- Strombolian eruptions are short lived explosive eruptions
that shoot very thick and pasty lava into the air along with
bursta of steam and gas.
4. Vulcanian type
- named for the Island of Vulcano near Stromboli, generally
exhibits moderate explosions of gas laden with volcanic ash.
This mixture forms dark, turbulent eruption clouds that rapidly
ascend and expand in convoluted shapes.
- Vulcanian eruptions contain high dark clouds of steam, ash
and gas.
- It is usually build a steep sided cone that is more
symmetrical than a cinder cone. This more symmetrical cone
called is stratovolcano.
  Famous stratovolcanoes in the world:
• Mt. St. Helens and Rainier in Washington • Mt. Fuji in Japan

• Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines • Mt. Etna in Sicily

5. Pelean type
- It is associated with explosive outbursts that generate dense
mixtures of hot volcanic fragments and gas. It is so named for the
destructive eruption of Mount Pelee in Martinique, France in the
easter Caribbean Sea.
- the eruption and the pyroclastic
flow killed 29,000 people almost instantly
and the temperature were probably
around 700 degress F.
6. Plinian type
- An intensely violent kind of
volcanic eruption exemplified by the
outburst of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79
that killed the famous Roman scholar
Pliny the elder, from whom the name
is taken.
- Plinian eruptions are
characterized by a very high ash cloud
that rise upwards to 50, 000 feet high.
 Mt. St. Helens in its
Plinian eruption on
May 18, 1980. The
ash cloud rose t a
height of over
50,000 feet.
Stromboli Volcano
Mount Vesuvius in AD 79