Chapter 15

Primary Volcanic Landforms

Shan de Silva
College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR, USA

Jan M. Lindsay
School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Chapter Outline 4.2. Silicic Monogenetic Volcanoes 292

1. Introduction 274 5. Volcanic Clusters, Fields, or Provinces 293
2. Polygenetic Volcanoes 280 5.1. Flood Basalt Plateaux 293
2.1. Composite Volcanoes 280 5.2. Ignimbrite Plateaux 294
2.2. Shield Volcanoes 283 6. Concluding Remarks 295
3. Caldera Volcanoes (Including Supervolcanoes) 287 Further Reading 295
4. Monogenetic Volcanoes 289
4.1. Mafic Monogenetic Volcanoes 289

hot spot volcano A volcanic center, 100e200 km across and

GLOSSARY persistent for at least a few tens of millions of years, that is
caldera volcano A volcanic landform that is a large collapse depres- thought to be the surface expression of a persistent rising plume of
sion resulting from collapse of the roof of a magma reservoir during hot mantle material.
catastrophic eruption of tens to thousands of cubic kilometers of ignimbrite plateau A plateau consisting of large ignimbrite sheets,
magma. A “negative” volcano surrounded by a partial or complete the depositional product of extensive pyroclastic flows, that share
apron of pyroclastic deposits, dominantly ignimbrite. May contain a petrogenetic and volcanic history. Comparable in size to flood
a central peak in the form of a resurgent dome or block. The largest basalt plateaux. The largest are referred to as silicic large igneous
caldera volcanoes are now commonly known as “supervolcanoes.” provinces.
cinder or scoria cone A steep conical hill of tephra (volcanic debris) kimberlite A rare, blue-tinged, coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock
that accumulates around and downwind from a volcanic vent. sometimes containing diamonds, found in South Africa and
They are dominantly composed of fragments of scoria, a highly Siberia. Many kimberlites are emplaced as carrot-shaped, vertical
vesicular, usually lightweight, volcanic rock of basaltic to intrusions termed “pipes” resulting from explosive maarediatreme
andesitic composition. volcanism.
composite volcanoes All conical or broadly conical polygenetic large igneous provinces (LIPs) A massive composite landform of
volcanoes constructed of accumulations of lava and pyroclastic >106 km3 of mafic volcanic and associated plutonic rocks that did
deposits, sometimes alternating, erupted from vent(s) located at not form by seafloor spreading or subduction but are commonly
the summit (eruptions can also on occasion occur from the flanks) associated with hot spots. Thought to be constructed rapidly
of the volcano. (<5 Myr) at a high rate (0.1 to >1 km3/yr). LIPs occur within
diatreme A typically funnel-shaped, steep-sided subvolcanic struc- continents and oceans, and include continental flood basalts in the
ture filled with a mixture of fragmented juvenile and country rock former, and volcanic passive margins, oceanic plateaux, subma-
material and with a feeder dike at the base that forms due to rine ridges, and ocean-basin flood basalts in the latter.
shallow phreatomagmatic processes that cut deeply into the maar volcano A flat-bottomed roughly circular crater, often filled
country rock. Diatremes underlie maar craters, tuff rings, and tuff with water, that formed during shallow explosive interaction be-
cones, and are usually an order of magnitude larger than the tween magma and groundwater. Maar crater floors lie below the
surface volcanic edifices. preeruptive surface and are surrounded by low rims of ejected
flood basalt plateau A plateau consisting of regional-scale flows of debris.
basalt. Often called traps, because of a characteristic stair-step monogenetic volcano Discrete minor volcanic landform that forms
morphology. during one eruptive cycle. Can be mafic (cinder or scoria cones,

The Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385938-9.00015-8 273

Copyright Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
274 PART | II Eruption

maars, diatremes, tuff cones, tuff rings, and scutulum shields) or

silicic (lava domes and coulées) in composition. Typical lifetimes of
years to decades for mafic centers, decades to centuries for silicic
ones.
pit crater Also called a subsidence crater or collapse crater, this is a
depression formed by a sinking or collapse of the surface above a
void or empty magma chamber.
polygenetic volcano Large discrete volcanic landform that forms
during several episodic eruptive cycles. Typical lifetimes of
104e105 years. Can be mafic or silicic in composition. Most
common types are composite volcanoes and shield volcanoes.
pyroclastic or ignimbrite shield A shield-shaped volcano domi-
nated by pyroclastic deposits on its flanks. Some may show a
collapse caldera on top, others lava flows and domes capping
pyroclastic deposits with no evidence of collapse.
scutulum shield Small shield volcanoes found in monogenetic vol-
canic fields or flood basalt terrains like the Snake River Plain of
Idaho, USA. From the Latin, scutulus means small shield.
shield volcanoes All shield-shaped polygenetic volcanoes con-
structed predominantly of basaltic lava flows erupted from sum-
mit vent(s) and from the flanks of the volcano. Some composite
volcanoes with bimodal compositions and pyroclastic shields are
included.
silicic large igneous provinces (SLIPs) A large igneous province
dominated by silicic compositions and are most common on
continental crust.
supervolcano A large (>25-km diameter), often resurgent, caldera
volcano from which at least one supereruption (>500 km3 of
magma or 1000 km3 of erupted material) has vented.
tuff ring Broad low-profile aprons of tephra with slopes 2e10
,
typically found surrounding maarediatreme volcanoes. The tephra
is often unaltered and thinly bedded, and generally comprises a
mixture of fall and proximal pyroclastic density current deposits.
tuff cone Steep-sloped and cone-shaped volcanic features with wide
craters that comprise typically highly altered, thickly bedded
tephra resulting from phreatomagmatic eruptions through shallow
surface water. They are considered to be a taller variant of a tuff
ring, formed by less powerful eruptions.
volcano-tectonic depression A caldera volcano where development,
eruption, and final form are strongly linked to local tectonic
structures and history.

1. INTRODUCTION
What is a volcano? If you ask this question, generally people
conjure up the image of Mt Fuji, a composite volcano in
Japan. Many are familiar with the shield shape of Mauna
Loa on the big island of Hawaii or stacks of basaltic lava FIGURE 15.1 What is a volcanic landform? The classic pyramidal cone
that form flood basalt provinces (Figure 15.1). These are of of Mt Fuji, Japan (top) comes to most peoples’ minds when this question is
course the iconic images and exemplify that broadest and asked. Some may think of the low shield shape of Mauna Loa seen in the
center. But what about extensive lava plateaux like the Columbia River
simplest definition of a volcano as the site of emission of Plateau (bottom), seen here at Lake Billy Chinook in Oregon, that dwarfs
volcanic products, or more elaborately, the site on the sur- Mt Hood (in the distance)?
face of the Earth where material from the interior of the
Earth is vented onto the surface as lava (molten rock on the where erupted material piles up around the actual opening
Earth’s surface), pyroclastic rock (fragmented magma or rupture (a central or fissure vent) from which the eruption
ejected explosively), and/or hot vapor or gas. Most issues and forms a volcanic edifice or landform (cone, ring,
commonly these sites are marked by positive landforms dome, shield) that most people refer to as a “volcano.”
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 275

However, in some cases individual volcanoes are “negative” the magma must traverse to from source to surface. In
features, taking the form of craters that can be as large as addition, if magma accumulates and ponds in a shallow
80 km in maximum dimension. Thus, rather than all vol- crustal environment prior to eruption, although not all do,
canoes being like Fuji or Mauna Loa, there are actually processes of differentiation and magma movement from the
many different landforms. However, if we are talking about reservoir to the surface and the nature of the conduit
extraterrestrial volcanic landforms, our definitions and environment are vital to the final volcanic landform that is
perspective needs to be extended to include the exotic formed.
“magma” types and unique landforms that erupt on some What is described as a volcanic landform is a matter of
extraterrestrial bodies. Here we attempt to describe the main scale and here we define them as landforms that have a
volcanic landforms found on the Earth. While recognizing distinct temporal and spatial identity at the scale being
that the greatest volume of Earth’s volcanism happens considered. A single edifice is of course the simplest
beneath the ocean (see Chapters 19 and 21), and that sig- landform, but a prolonged history often complicates this
nificant volcanism occurs under ice cover (see Chapter 20) simple identity. An individual long-lived volcanic land-
as well as on other bodies in the solar system (see Chapters form represents the interplay between eruptive and
39e43), we restrict ourselves to subaerial (on land) volcanic erosional histories and as it evolves, it may change in form
landforms on the Earth as organized in Figure 15.2. We do from one landform type to another, and may build an
not attempt to deal with volcanic landforms produced by areally diffuse massif. Some volcanic landforms are col-
magmaeice interactions (see Chapter 20). lections of different types of other volcanoes that may
Volcanoes are the surface expression of thermal activity define spatially and temporally related clusters, and fields
and magmatism in the interior of a planet. Thus, the general of volcanoes that collectively have an individual identity.
characteristics of the main volcanic landforms reflect We focus here on describing the typical features of pri-
fundamental controls of magma composition and other mary landforms that result from eruptive processes and
intrinsic properties that control eruption character. Since present key quantitative morphometric data where rele-
magmatism on the Earth (and other terrestrial planetary vant (Tables 15.1 and 15.2). The characteristic eruptive
bodies for that matter) is fundamentally basaltic, origi- activity and tectonic associations are also presented. This
nating in the mantle, the character of volcanoes is the result is a summary treatment with reference to details in the
of many factors, in particular tectonic environment, melt relevant thematic chapters.
production and transport, and the nature of the lithosphere A useful initial framework is to consider the main vol-
canic landforms in terms of magma composition and the
volume of erupted material (Figure 15.2). Magma compo-
sition is important because it is the main control on the
rheology (resistance to flow) that ultimately controls
eruptive style (see Chapter 17). Simply put, mafic magma
(basalt) that is poor in network-forming molecules like
SiO2, and is formed and erupted at high temperatures, will
be more fluid and produce lava-dominated volcanic land-
forms with low-angle slopes (shield volcanoes), or form
extensive flat plateaux (Flood Basalts; Chapter 24). On the
other hand, intermediate to silicic magmas, by virtue of
being rich in SiO2 and having a lower temperature, are
more viscous and tend to form more steep-sided volcanic
landforms known collectively as composite volcanoes
(stratovolcanoes, composite cones, compound volcanoes)
that produce effusive (lava-dominated) eruptions as well as
explosive (pyroclastic-dominated) eruptions. However,
there are important departures from these general charac-
teristics. Small mafic volcanoes can be steep-sided cinder
or scoria cones and may be dominated by explosive ac-
FIGURE 15.2 The primary volcanic landforms can be conveniently tivity. If external water is involved in the eruptions, highly
placed in compositionevolume space. Solid lines represent the charac- explosive “fuelecoolant interactions” (see Chapter 26)
teristic range of compositionevolume. Dashed lines indicate subordinate
may result, producing negative volcanoes like the epony-
ranges. Composition can be broadly considered a proxy for viscosity and
eruption style, while landform volume insinuates source productivity and mous “Hole-in-the-ground” maar volcano, an explosive
longevity. SLIPs, silicic large igneous provinces; LIPs, large igneous crater in Oregon. On the other hand, the product of the most
provinces. catastrophic eruptions on the Earth are from silicic magma,
276 PART | II Eruption

TABLE 15.1 Average Characteristics of Primary Individual Landforms (i.e., Unmodified by Posteruptive Processes
excluding small mafic centres)
Average Primary
Height of Basal Crater or Rim Slope of
Cone or Diameter Diameter Construct
Landform Rim (Hco) (Wco or Dco) (Wcr or Dcr) (a)

Composite 2e3 km Simple cones, Vents 30

volcano 10e20 km Wcr < 1 km
Dcr < 300 m
Calderas
Wcr < 10 km
Dcr < 1 km

Oceanic Small, Small, up to Small, <100 m Small, <<10

shield 100e500 m 10 km Galapagos, Galapagos,
volcano Galapagos 1, Galapagos, 3.5e9 km 4
to >25

w1300 m 25e48 km Hawaiian, Hawaii, <<10

Hawaiian, Hawaiian, >50 km 3e4 km
>10,000 m

Other Bimodal 50e60 km 7e12 km 1e5
flanks

shield-shaped basalte Medicine Lake
>30
central
volcanoes rhyolite 7 km Newberry
complex
shields, 1.5 km
(rhyolitic)

Ignimbrite 45e50 km 4 Summit lava 2e10
5

shields, Purico, complex 25 km
300e1300 m Panizos

Caldera 1e2 km 7 100e300 km 4 30e80 km 1e5

volcanoes 10e15
8

1
Depth to basal platform included.
2
Subaerial basal diameter.
3
Area of Newberry: 3100 km2 as per http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/newberry/ and Area of Medicine Lake: 2200 km2 as per http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
volcanoes/medicine_lake/.
4
Width of the ignimbrite outcrop defining the landform.
5
Normalized for basal topography.
6
Abasal is the areal footprint of the ignimbrite shield, Alava complex is the areal extent of the summit lava complex.
7
Normalized average elevation above local base level.
8
Average slope of the domal topography associated with large calderas.
9
Areal footprint of landform (outflow ignimbrite plateau þ collapse).
10
Total duration of activity.
Data sources in references cited (see online version for complete list) also unless stated.
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 277

TABLE 15.1 Continued

Ratios of Note
(H, Height; W, Width; Volume of
D, Depth; Composed Erupted Typical Time for
A, Area) Primarily of Material (km3) Eruption Style Formation (Years)

H/W, 0.15e0.33 Oceanicdbasalt to basaltic Intraplate 5000 Strombolian Simple and

andesite Vulcanian subcones,
Arcs e 10 to 300 Plinian 104e106
Continental:
Phreatoplinian Complexes
andesiteddacite
and massifs,
Lava and 107
pyroclastic rocks
Volcaniclastics
Hawaiian Basaltic lava Small, 1e15 Hawaiian w106
H/W w1/20 Galapagos, 1000 Strombolian
Pyroclastic Hawaiian, >10,000 Phreatomagmatic
Wbasal 2/Wcaldera
deposits <1%
Galapagos, 2.3e4
Hawaii >10
Abasal/Acaldera
Galapagos, 28e51
Hawaii, 156e277
Vvolcano/Vcaldera
Galapagos, 16e103
Hawaii, 830e1030

Abasal 3/Acaldera FlanksdBasalt FlanksdStrombolian, 105e106

Newberry, 62 Hawaiian
Medicine Lake, 36
CentraldRhyolite CentraldDome
building
Vulcanian
Plinian
Phreatoplinian
Ashield/Alava complex 6 Dacite to rhyolite 100e600 km3 Plinian Ignimbritee
3.24 Effusive catastrophic
Lava complex
105e106 10

Alandfrom9/Acollapse Dacite to rhyolite 100e1000 Plinian, Caldera

30 (Taupo, (maximum 6000 km3) Ultraplinian ecatastrophic
Campanian)e4 104e106 10
(Toba, Galan)
278 PART | II Eruption

TABLE 15.2 Average Characteristics of Primary Landforms (i.e., Unmodified by Posteruptive Processes) Associated
with Small Mafic Volcanoes
Average Basal Crater or Rim
Height of Cone Diameter Diameter Primary Slope
Landform or Rim (Hco) (Wco or Dco) (Wcr or Dcr) of Construct (a)

Cinder 300 m high 1 3

900 m 0.4 Wco 25e38
4
(scoria)
50e200 m but Paricutin and 2
Range: 2 w30
5
cone 50e600 m
Cerro Negro are w500 m high 2 0.25e2.5 km,
average ¼ 0.8 km Angle of repose ¼ 33

Spatter 0.08 km 7 Sometimes >33

cone because fragments are
Can be as low
welded together 5
as 0.2 km 5
Tuff cone Often >100 m, but <300 m 8 <0.1e1.5 km 8 20e30
1
50e330 m 5 >25
2
10e30
4
Tuff ring <50 m 8 1.6 km 8 0.2e3.0 km 8 2e10
1
5
But Capelinhos tuff ring is Average ¼ Subhorizontal to
w200 m thick 9 0.7e0.8 km 20
near rim4
<25
5
Maar Height of rim <30 m 8; but Joya 3
1 km 0.2e3.0 km 8 Subhorizontal to
crater Honda maar rim sequence 20
near rim 4
>100 m 5 5
Average ¼
8 0.7e0.8 km <25
5
Depth: 1.4 km
300 m deep 13 Typically
10 to >500 m deep 5 0.2e1.5 km 13

1
Francis and Oppenheimer, 2004
2
Schminke, 2004
3
Wood, 1980
4
White and Ross, 2011
5
Vespermann and Schminke, 2000
6
Inbar and Risso, 2001
7
Wood, 1980
8
Head et al., 1981
9
Waters and Fisher, 1971
10
Lorenz, 1986
11
Houghton and Schmincke, 1989
12
Kereszturi and Németh, 2013
13
Ross et al., 2011
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 279

TABLE 15.2 Continued

Volume of % Juvenile
Composed Erupted Material
Ratios of Note Primarily of Material in Deposits Time for Formation
3
Hco:Wco ¼ 0.18 Scoria lapilli, 2
Average ¼ Close to 100% Usually <1 year 3
3
Dcr:Wco ¼ 0.4 blocks and bombs 4  107 m3
deposited through (Schminke,
fallout or grain 2004)
6
H:Wco ¼ 0.26 avalanches Few weeks to
105e109 m3
months, with eruptive
(cones þ flows)4
rates usually highest on
the first day 2

50% take <30 days,

95% take <1 year 5
Wcr/Wco ¼ 0.36 km Agglutinated and Very close
Hco/Wco ¼ 0.22 km 7 welded spatter to 100%
deposited through
fallout
Hco:Dcr ¼ Ash and lapilli 105e109 m3 4 Over 95% 4
0.5e0.2 km 8 deposited from
fallout and
base surges
Hco:Dcr ¼ Ash and lapilli 105e109 m3 4 Variable, may be Days to a few weeks 12
0.13e0.05 km 8 deposited from 95e99% 10 or as
fallout and base little
surges as 45% 11

Hco:Dcr ¼ Ash and lapilli Volume esti- As little as 10% 4

0.5e0.2 km 8 deposited from mates difficult
fallout and base
Freshest maar
surges
craters have Dcr:Depth ¼
3:1e7:1 13
280 PART | II Eruption

where the entire crust above a massive magma chamber meaning “a covering”) is used in reference to the obser-
collapses after the magma is withdrawn during a cata- vation that some composite volcanoes comprise layer
strophic eruption to form a caldera (see Chapter 16). Some upon layer (or strata) of lava and pyroclastic deposits.
silicic volcanoes dominated by viscous lava domes are Since many volcanoes known as “stratovolcanoes” do not
called cumulovolcanoes, some shield volcanoes can have display such layering, and are actually composites of
central portions dominated by silicic magma, and classic many different stages of evolution, some confocal, some
intermediate composition composite cones may start life as not, it is more appropriate to use the term “composite” to
lava shields. describe this group of landforms. Composite volcanoes
In this chapter we group volcanic landforms based on thus include all the conical or broadly conical edifices
the complexity of their eruptive history into polygenetic constructed of stacked lava and pyroclastic deposits
volcanoes and monogenetic volcanoes. Polygenetic vol- erupted from a central vent(s) located at the summit
canoes have experienced several eruptive episodes in their (eruptions can also on occasion occur from the flanks) of
history. These are here considered to be large volcanoes the volcano. It is common for the center of volcanism to
that have been built over at least tens of thousands, but shift around during the lifetime of a volcano, allowing for
usually hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years to the development of multiple, overlapping edifices. Many
form a major landform that defines a location above a long- composite volcanoes have a cyclic growth history that
lived stable thermal anomaly in the crust. In this group we includes long periods of buildup punctuated by rapid
include composite volcanoes such as Mt Fuji (Japan) and partial collapse of the edifice. Three main morphologies
Mt St Helens (Washington, USA), shield volcanoes such as are found (Figure 15.3):
Mauna Loa (Hawaii, USA) and Fernandina (Galapagos),
1. Large steep-sided cones such as Mt Fuji (Japan),
and silicic calderas such as Toba (Indonesia) and Yellow-
Mt Hood (Oregon, USA), El Misti (Peru), and
stone (Wyoming, USA).
Mt Mayon (Luzon, Philippines);
In contrast, monogenetic volcanoes are defined as those
2. Asymmetric, broader to ridge-form edifices or subcones
where eruptive activity ceases after only one episode of
such as Lascar (Chile) and Ruapehu (New Zealand);
activity. An episode could consist of one eruption of few
and
weeks to months, or quasi-continuous activity over a few
3. Compound edifices or massifs constructed from over-
years to decades. The landforms included in this category
lapping edifices forming a distinct massif separated
are mafic minor centers like the iconic scoria cones of
from other large volcanoes. Examples include Aucan-
Parı́cutin (Mexico) or Lava Butte (Oregon, USA), maar
quilcha (Chile), Coropuna (Peru), Tongariro (New
volcanoes like the Ubehebe crater (California, USA) or
Zealand). The term “cumulovolcano” is also used for a
Crater Elegante (Mexico), and tuff rings like Fort Rock
dome-shaped volcano constructed of multiple lava
(Oregon, USA). Also discussed are silicic lava domes, like
domes and flows such as Mammoth Mountain
the impressive Chao lava (Chile), the most common form
(California, USA). This morphotype would also include
of silicic minor center.
volcanic centers such as Lassen Volcanic Center
Finally, we discuss areally distributed but spatially,
(California, USA), which is a long-lived (>1 Ma),
temporally, and magmatically connected volcanic land-
large-volume, composite edifice.
forms that are not normally discussed as part of the
pantheon of “volcanic landforms.” These clusters, fields, Composite volcanoes occur in all tectonic environments,
and complexes find their largest expression in large but most typically at subduction zones, particularly around
igneous provinces (LIPs) that represent the most inclusive the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are less commonly found in
expression of volcanism and the most obvious volcanic an intraplate setting such as the East African Rift zone
landform at the planetary scale. These often include the (e.g., Mount Kilimanjaro) and San Francisco Mountain in
entire range of individual volcanic landforms. Arizona, USA; these volcanic zones are thought to be
associated with continental rifting. In Iceland, which is
situated on a divergent plate boundary, large central vol-
2. POLYGENETIC VOLCANOES canoes such as Askja and Hekla, and Torfajökull are
composite volcanoes. Typically these are constructed from
2.1. Composite Volcanoes viscous intermediate to silicic magma of andesitic to dacitic
Often used synonymously, the terms stratovolcanoes, lava composition that erupt explosively (Strombolian, Vulca-
cones, composite cones, volcanic centers, or compound nian, sub-Plinian to Plinian eruption styles; see Chapters
volcanoes are all used to describe polygenetic volcanic 27e29) to produce pyroclastic cones, density currents, and
landforms formed by repeated eruptions from a single falls, and effusively to produce lava flows, coulées, and
vent or migrating vents related to a common magmatic domes (see Chapters 17 and 18). The magmatic arcs of the
system. The prefix “strato” (from the Latin stratum, Andes (the type location for andesites), the Cascades,
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 281

FIGURE 15.3 The three main forms of composite volcanoes. LeftdMt Hood looming above the city of Portland, Oregon, USA, is a classic steep-sided
cone approximately 2 km in height and with circular basal footprint approximately 15 km in diameter. Top rightdThe asymmetric, ridge-form edifices or
subcone of Volcan Lascar in northern Chile has maximum basal diameter of w10 km. The summit region (5650 m above sea level) consists of an
overlapping and nested group of craters aligned approximately east to west. Bottom rightdThe compound massif of Volcan Coropuna in Peru (6300 m
above sea level) has a maximum basal diameter of almost 30 km. The massif consists of at least five overlapping cones, the peaks of which can be
distinguished on this view.

Indonesia, and New Zealand host some of the most iconic The size of a volcano is largely a function of long-
andesite to dacite composite volcanoes on the planet. Large term magma supply and rate. If supply is at a rate
Plinian eruptions may punctuate the more typical activity greater than the cooling timescale of the system, the
and result in the formation of a large caldera in the summit. volcano will continue to grow. Also important is the
This happened at Mt Mazama/Crater Lake 7700 years BP hydraulic equilibrium between the growing volcano and
(Oregon, USA; Figure 15.4), Santorini (Aegean Sea, the driving pressure from the magma reservoir, as well as
Greece), Mt Tambora, 1815 (Sumbawa, Indonesia), and the ease with which magma can move up the conduit.
Krakatau, 1883 (Java, Indonesia). These Plinian eruptions Typical composite volcanoes have edifice heights (base to
are usually associated with dacitic to rhyolitic composition summit) of 1e3 km, and volumes of 10e100 km3. The
magma (see Chapter 29). largest examples at subduction zones include Mt Shasta
Composite volcanoes are not always intermediate and (California) with a volume of about 300 km3, and Kliu-
silicic. Lassen Volcanic Center erupted a diverse assem- chevskoi (Kamchatka), about 250 km3. The largest
blage of rock types from basalt to rhyolite. Kamchatka composite volcanoes on the Earth are found in intraplate
hosts some of the largest composite cones, some of which settings. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), with an edifice height of
are basaltic, and island arcs such as the Marianas, over 5 km (summit elevation is 5895 m) and a volume of
Aleutians, and Japan tend to produce composite vol- almost 5000 km3, is one of the largest composite vol-
canoes with more mafic compositions. Relatively rare canoes on the Earth.
mafic-dominated composite volcanoes are also found on The basic conical shape reflects the dominance of
oceanic islands like the Azores, the mid-ocean ridge of eruptive activity from the central summit vent. However,
Iceland, and the continental rift environment of the East the complex interplay between growing volcano and
African rift. driving pressuredas the volcano grows it becomes more
282 PART | II Eruption

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

(E)

FIGURE 15.4 Key volcanomorphic features of composite volcanoes. (A) Steep-sided conical edifice of Volcan Misti, Southern Peru. The view of the
northern flank reveals the composite nature of the edifice with intercalated lava and a few pyroclastic beds interfingering with more massive lava bodies.
(B) Many composite cones have parasitic vents like the 200-m-high La Poruna scoria cone on the flanks of the majestic w2.5-km-high edifice of Volcan
San Pedro in Chile. The 8-km-long lava flow erupted from the site La Poruna is in the foreground. The inset shows detail of the San Pedro summit area
where thick stubby dacite lava flows result in steepening of the uppermost flanks of the volcano. (C) Collapse of composite volcanoes is a common stage in
their evolution. The classic amphitheater of Mt St Helens, Washington, USA, formed during the May 18, 1980 flank failure is a common feature of
composite volcanoes. The scar is now being healed by a series of lava domes. (D) Mt Washington, Oregon is the eroded remnant core of a previously
majestic cone (dashed lines). (E) The iconic Crater Lake caldera, Oregon (8 km in diameter) formed when the upper parts of the 13,000-ft-tall Mt Mazama
collapsed into the magma chamber during the 7350 BP climactic eruption. Inset shows aerial view courtesy of Google Earth (See also Figure 15.10D).
Explosive caldera-forming eruptions are a rare but probable event in the history of large composite volcanoes.

difficult to push magma out and the common trend toward volcaniclastic deposits reflecting the interplay between
more silicic (more viscous) compositions with time both effusive and explosive activity, and aggradation and
also play a role in the steepness. The classic concave degradation (glaciation, collapse, and erosion) most
profile of mature composite volcanoes results from gently completely recorded on the flanks of the volcano
dipping flanks composed mainly of pyroclastic and (Figure 15.5).
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 283

(A)

High
Lava:tephra ratio
Epiclastic:pyroclastic
ratio
Source
Completeness of
volcanic record

"Ring plain"
Low

(B) Main vent

Ring plain association Cone-building association
association Key
Domes/intrusions
of vent
Satellite vent
Breccia/vent tephra
association
Hydrothermal
alteration zone
Debris avalanche
Flows (pyroclastic/
hyperconcentrated)
Flank lavas
Tephra layers

FIGURE 15.5 (A) Schematic illustration of the distribution of deposits relative to the vent for a composite volcano. Completeness of the volcanic record
refers to the Proportion of events recorded in a succession at a given location. The most complete record is preserved in tephra that are deposited over a
wide area. On the slopes tephra is rapidly reworked. Thus a more complete, albeit more condensed section is found in the ring plaindthe volcaniclastic
apron surrounding the volcano. (B) Schematic illustration of lithofacies associations for a typical composite cone, showing the types of deposits. Compare
with distribution of deposits in (A). (From Davidson and de Silva (2000). first edition of the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes.)

Detailed studies of composite volcanoes are now necessarily incomplete, and understanding the fundamental
revealing that common associations of cones, subcones, and controls on edifice evolution and realization of a more in-
massifs in volcanic regions that share a common tectonic clusive framework remains a challenge.
and magmatic history may reflect an evolutionary sequence.
Morphology may be a clue to the complexity of the history
and evolutionary stage, but is not always. Many simple
cones might be thought to have a simple constructive evo-
2.2. Shield Volcanoes
lution, however many may have undergone a major edifice Lava-shield volcanoes, such as those that comprise the
collapse that has been “healed” like at Shasta (California), Hawaiian Islands, USA, are the classic basaltic volcanic
or Socompa and Parinacota (Chile). General sequences landform (Figures 15.1 and 15.6A,B). Other well-known
where simple cones grow into large cones, or where they examples are those of the Galapagos Islands
widen into subcones and massifs once they grow to a critical (Figure 15.6C and D). Shield volcanoes are also the most
size, have been proposed where large cones can undergo recognizable volcanic landforms in the solar system, with
sector collapse and/or gravitational spreading, without Olympus Mons on Mars being the most iconic of all.
significant final morphometry change as the volcano Oceanic basaltic shield volcanoes are constructed primarily
“heals” itself. Simple cones may also evolve by vent by successive lava flows and minor pyroclastic layers, and
migration to elliptical subcones and massifs before reaching are commonly characterized by relatively low slopes of
the critical height. Such general trends in morphology 4e8
. In Hawaiian shields steep-walled calderas and
representing different growth stages can be related to smaller pit craters are found in the summit. In addition,
magma flux, edifice strength, structure, and tectonics. two, sometimes three well-defined linear rift zones extend
However, there are many exceptions. Many composite up to 250 km from the summit along which most eruptions
volcanoes in the Cascades start their life as lava-shield are concentrated. Eruptions are dominated by fluid lava
volcanoes; some are simply large lava-armored flows often fed by spectacular fire fountains that merge
pyroclastic cones. Thus, any general scheme is directly from the dike-fed fissure systems. For this reason,
284 PART | II Eruption

(A) (B)

MK

ML

(C) (D)

(E)

FIGURE 15.6 (A) The 4169-m summit of Mauna Loa from the summit of neighboring Mauna Kea. View to the south at the northeast rift zone. Cinder
cones of Mauna Kea in middle ground. (Image credit: Scott Rowland.) (B) Google Earth Image of the Big Island of Hawaii (120 km across) which is made
of overlapping shield volcanoes. Mauna Loa (ML), the largest occupies about two-thirds of the island. Summits of Mauna Kea (MK) and Kilauea (K) are
also indicated. (C) Overturned soup plate profile of Volcan Wolf, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Summit elevation is 1707 m. (Image credit: Scott Rowland.)
(D) Google Earth image extract of the summit crater and flanks of Volcan Wolf. Although only about 5 km in diameter, the summit crater is large relative
to the size of the volcano compared with Hawaiian shields. (E) Perspective Google Earth image of Piton de la Fournaise on the eastern end of Reunion
island. The 10-km-diameter shield volcano built within an older collapse has its summit crater at an elevation of 2632 m above sea level.
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 285

Hawaiian shield volcanoes tend to be elongated in the di- Hawai’i) moves over the hot spot, the effects are not
rection of the fissure. The low-angle slopes reflect the instantaneous; the degree and amount of partial melting
fluidity of the basaltic lava, high effusion rates that drive and magma production are small. Small percentages of
lava fast and far, the dominance of flank eruptions, and the partial melting produce magma that is rich in alkali
spreading and widening of the volcano in the summit and elements relative to silica (called alkali basalt). This
rifts. Small cinder and scoria cones and spatter ramparts low-efficiency melting produces only small amounts of
may build at eruption foci along these rifts and lines of pit magma, meaning that the eruption rate of a young hot
craters often develop. The caldera and rift zones are un- spot volcano is not high.
derlain by dike swarms consisting of several thousand dikes 2. Main tholeiite shield stage. As heating of the litho-
representing several kilometers of added width to the sphere continues, the degree of partial melting increases
edifice. This spreading along the rift zones results in and the absolute volume of magma produced really
seaward movement of the flanks of the volcano that increases. A higher degree of partial melting produces
weakens the edifice, eventually leading to catastrophic rock tholeiite basalt, which has a slightly higher percentage
avalanches that carry debris hundreds of kilometers along of silica than alkalic basalt. Catastrophic edifice col-
the ocean floor. Mauna Loa, which has an elevation 4169 m lapses can occur during this time.
above sea level, is only the upper 25% of an edifice that 3. Postshield alkalic stage. As the volcano moves off the
extends beneath the sea to the ocean floor about 5 km hot spot, the amount and degree of partial melting both
below. With an areal footprint of 5300 km2 and a volume of become lower. The lower degree of partial melting leads
w80,000 km3 it is the largest individual volcano on the to a return to alkali lava production, characterized by a
Earth. Its immense mass causes the base of the volcano to greatly reduced eruption rate manifested in small fields
sag a further 8 km, making the summit 17 km above its of monogenetic volcanoes. A result of this reduced
base. eruption rate is a much longer period of time between
Active oceanic shield volcanoes are thought to mark hot resurfacing at any one place on the volcano, so that
spots in the lithosphere produced by plumes in the mantle erosion and weathering can be extensive.
(see Chapter 3). Hawaiian volcanoes go through “life
Once growth has completed the islands undergo erosion
stages” during their development and these can be related
and subsidence that eventually reduces them to sea level
to their relative relationships to the Hawaiian hot spot
and with continued subsidence, the islands become coral
(Figure 15.7). The three most important constructive stages
atolls. These coral reefs may die if conditions are not
are as follows:
favorable. After the reef dies, the volcano continues to
1. Early alkalic stage. As a “new” portion of lithosphere (it subside. Once below sea level, these flat-topped, coral-
is actually w90 million years old in the vicinity of capped volcanoes are called “guyots.”

FIGURE 15.7 Life stages of a Hawaiian

volcano. Note that because of subsidence, about
half of the volume of the volcano is below the
level of the ocean floor. Within the main
southeast Hawaiian chain, Lo’ihi is in stage 2.
Kilauea is a young stage 4 and Mauna Loa is a
mature stage 4. Hualalai and Mauna Kea are
both in stage 5. Kohala is in stage 6. Moving to
Maui, East Maui is in stage 7 whereas West
Maui is between stages 7 and 8. East Moloka’i
is also between stages 7 and 8. Lana’i (which
skipped stage 5), Kaho’olawe, and West
Moloka’i are in stage 6, perhaps never to go
through stage 7. On O’ahu, Ko’olau is in (still
in?) stage 7 (but also skipped stage 5), and
Wai’anae is probably between stages 7 and 8.
Kaua’i and Ni’ihau are between stages 7 and 8.
As you can see, even though a lot of work has
gone into figuring out this sequence, the vol-
canoes themselves have a good deal of variation
and have not perfectly “followed” the sequence.
Used with permission from http://volcano.
oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/113.
286 PART | II Eruption

Shield volcanoes elsewhere may deviate from the was active for more than a century until 1924. Erta Ale
Hawaiian model. The Galapagos shields differ from (Afar, Ethiopia), Mount Erebus (Antarctica), and Nyir-
Hawaiian shields by having radial dike swarms leading to a agongo (Congo) have active lava lakes at the time of
more radially symmetric shape in plan view. They have a writing. Like Kilauea, these latter three volcanoes are also
distinct “inverted soup-plate” profile with a clear break in intraplate, and over hot spots, although they are built on
slope from lower slopes up to 4
to steep upper slopes and a continental crust.
broad flat top (the summit platform) with a deep summit crater Nonbasaltic volcanoes with a shieldlike profile are also
(Figure 15.5C, D). Two morphotypes have been suggested, referred to as shield volcanoes (Figure 15.8). These are not
related to hot spots but occur in a variety of tectonic as-
1. Deep calderas (depth 40e60% of subaerial height of the
sociations. Two examples are the bimodal volcanoes of
volcano) and >20
maximum slopes for more than 60%
Newberry (Figure 15.8(B), 15.10(A)) and Medicine Lake
of the volcano height (Azul, Fernandina, and Wolf) and
in the subduction-related setting of the Cascades arc of
2. Shallow calderas (<20% of subaerial height) with steep
western North America. Referred to sometimes as “central”
slopes only in the uppermost 10% (Alcedo, Darwin, and
volcanoes, these are centered on a mafic shield-form edifice
Sierra Negra).
with a central part made up of rhyolitic rocks, and the flanks
A circumferential (annular rift) zone around the caldera consisting of flood basalts and minor basaltic vents. At
rim is a feature of Galapagos shields. Piton de la Nieges Newberry, the basaltic lower flanks extend out as far as
(Reunion Island, Indian Ocean) is an ocean lava shield cut 65 km, sloping at 1e3
outward with over 400 cinder cones
by swarms of sills rather than dikes. Small flat shields of arranged along fissures that run broadly north-northwest to
only a few hundred meters elevation and slopes as low as south-southeast through the volcano. The central core is
1
and diameters of about 10 km are a distinct landform in made up of multiple rhyolitic vents, domes, and flows
Iceland, the Snake River Plain, Idaho, and elsewhere. within which one or more calderas may develop during
They are known as scutulum shields. These have volumes large explosive eruptions that punctuate the evolution of the
of only a few tens of cubic kilometers, a fraction of the system (Figure 15.10A).
giant shields of Hawaii or the smaller ones of the Also deviating from the classic basaltic lava shields are
Galapagos. pyroclastic shields. These are broad shallow volcanic
Some shield volcanoes have persistent active lava lakes constructs that are dominated by pyroclastic rocks. These
in their summit calderas. Halemaumau pit crater in Kilauea may be basaltic or silicic. Basaltic pyroclastic-dominated

FIGURE 15.8 Nonbasaltic shield-shaped

volcanic landforms. (A) The Cerro Purico (A)
ignimbrite shield, Chile has gently dipping
(<10
) flanks of dacite ignimbrite extending
out from a flat summit where a broad w15-km
diameter complex of dacite to andesite domes
overlie the ignimbrite. Total relief seen here is
w1300 m in a distance of 15 km. (B) The
Newberry Volcano in Oregon, USA, has low
flanks of basalt lava flows and minor centers
(fore to middle ground), and a high central re-
gion (distant horizon) of silicic lava flows,
domes, and calderas. The view is to the south
and shows the w45-km east to west width of
the shield-like landform. Vertical relief is
w1000 m in a distance of 30 km. (B)
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 287

shield volcanoes include the continental hot spot-related 1000 km3 of pyroclastic material (500 km3 of magma) (see
Jebel Marra volcano (Sudan) and Emi Koussi volcano Chapter 13), occur relatively rarely, approximately every
(Tibetsi, Chad). Both have shieldlike morphological simi- 100,000 years. They result in inverse volcanoes, or central
larities to those of the Galápagos, in particular, with gra- collapse depressions, surrounded by flanks of pyroclastic
dients upward of 13
at the central crater rim and a rocks that are dominated by large-volume pyroclastic flow
relatively abrupt leveling off of approximately 3
toward deposits or ignimbrites. The formation of these calderas, or
the midflank and base regions. Among the silicic varieties supervolcanoes as they have become known, is attributed
are ignimbrite shields described from the subduction- to subsidence related to rapid withdrawal of magma (see
related volcanic environment of the Central Andes. These Chapter 16). However, unlike their smaller (<10 km)
consist of a large-volume ignimbrite apron dipping gently counterparts, where Plinian eruptions and related with-
(8e10
) away from a central lava dome complex that oc- drawal of magma truncate just the upper parts of preex-
cupies more than half the areal footprint of the shield. isting composite volcanoes or pyroclastic shield volcanoes,
Unlike calderas where clear evidence for collapse is found, these large calderas represent collapse of the entire crust
ignimbrite shields have a “downsag” at their summits in with maximum dimensions as large as 80 km, covering
which ignimbrite dips inward with only weakly developed areas of 2500e3000 km2 (Figure 15.9). Some smaller
caldera collapse, if present at all. The lavas also clearly eruptions have been remarkably violent. The 1800 yr B.P.
overlie the ignimbrite (Figure 15.8(A)). These observations 30-km3 Taupo ignimbrite eruption covers more than
have led to the suggestion that these are a class of explosive 20,000 km2 of the North Island of New Zealand. The
silicic volcanoes, separate from calderas, that may owe w37,000 BP, 200-km3 Campanian ignimbrite eruption
their form to deeper or more prolate magma chambers. In covers an even more impressive 30,000 km2. Both these
general, both the basaltic and silicic pyroclastic shields erupted from relatively small caldera collapses of the
remain poorly studied. 30-km Taupo volcano (New Zealand) and 13-km Phlegrean
Fields (Italy), respectively. A significant range of violence
is therefore associated with caldera-forming eruptions.
3. CALDERA VOLCANOES (INCLUDING The central depressions of the largest calderas often host
thick sequences of caldera-fill ignimbrites, that after
SUPERVOLCANOES) caldera formation can be uplifted to form resurgent domes
The largest, most catastrophic eruptions result when hun- by renewed magmatic activity. Examples are shown in
dreds to thousands of cubic kilometers of magma is erupted Figure 15.10(B, C). They are found in all tectonic environ-
in a matter of days during a single event. Such eruptions, ments on continental crust, the latter required for production
known as supereruptions if they produce more than of the batholith-scale bodies of silicic magmas that are

FIGURE 15.9 Relative sizes of cal-

deras. Smaller sizes less than 20 km are
calderas that form in the summit of
preexisting composite volcanoes or
shield volcanoes. Calderas of sizes
greater than 20 km are “negative” vol-
canoes that are defined by the collapse
depression. The largest calderas of sizes
greater than 30 km are commonly
called supervolcanoes and commonly
have a structural resurgence after the
climactic eruption. Image credit:
Adrian Pittari.
288 PART | II Eruption

(A)

(B)

(C) (D)

FIGURE 15.10 (A) The summit calderas of Newberry Volcano in Oregon are formed in the silicic central core of the shieldlike complex. The singular
collapse was the result of an explosive pyroclastic eruption; resurgent volcanism has divided the w6.5 km maximum diameter central collapse into two
basin now filled with lakes. The ridged surface of the 1000-year-old Obsidian flow is seen on the bottom left. (B) ASTER false color perspective view of
the 35  20 km 2.0 Ma Cerro Galan caldera in NW Argentina demonstrating the classic large caldera volcano form of an elliptical depression with a
central dome formed when the floor of the caldera resurged due to magmatic pressure from remnant magma. (C) Toba caldera, Sumatra w80  30 km is
the site of one of the largest eruptions in the Earth history w74 ka. The NeS elongation of the depression is thought to represent the strong influence of
regional structures making this a type example of a volcanic-tectonic depression. (Extract from Google Earth.) (D) The classic scalloped quasicircular
Crater Lake caldera formed when the upper 6000 ft of Mt Mazama collapsed into the magma chamber during the climactic 7700 yr eruption. The caldera
has a diameter of 8 km. (Extract from Google Earth.)
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 289

erupted. The development of a large long-lived caldera 3. A broadly radially distributed apron of ignimbrite
system is thought to reflect a magmatic flare-up, where flanking the depression. Depending on preeruption
elevated thermal fluxes from the mantle into the crust result topography and volume of erupted material, the ig-
in prodigious magma production rates, much higher than nimbrites could be valley confined or could inundate the
“normal” magmatism that produces composite volcanoes topography forming a plateau. All the large calderas
(see Chapters 4 and 14). mentioned here have ignimbrite plateaux surrounding
The term volcano-tectonic depression is used to them in various stages of dissection.
describe large calderas or nested calderas where collapse
Diffusion of these features with time due to erosion and
and structural development is strongly linked to regional
mass wasting will “soften” many of these characteristics
faults, graben, or rifts, although cause and effect are debated.
making identification of calderas in older or rapidly eroded
Examples of such large calderas include the 1 Mae74 ka
or vegetated areas a much more difficult task.
Toba caldera (Sumatra, Indonesia) (Figure 15.10(C)), the
2 Mae640 ka Yellowstone caldera (Wyoming, USA), and
the 5.6e4 Ma La Pacana caldera (Chile). Each of these
measures >65 km in maximum dimension and has had at 4. MONOGENETIC VOLCANOES
least two major eruptions attesting to the long-lived cyclic
nature of these systems that are clearly associated with
4.1. Mafic Monogenetic Volcanoes
regional structures. Importantly, each of these has a central Small mafic volcanoes are found in their thousands all over
resurgent dome showing that postcollapse magmatic activity the world in all different tectonic environments, although
is focused beneath the caldera. Other examples include the they seem to particularly favor extensional regimes. They
classic w2e1 Ma, 25-km-diameter, Valles caldera (New typically occur either as part of a monogenetic volcanic
Mexico, USA) and the 30-km-diameter Taupo volcano field formed due to distributed volcanism (e.g., East and
(New Zealand). No resurgent dome is found at Taupo or West Eifel, Germany; Chaine des Puy in the Auvergne,
other calderas in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand France; and the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand;
suggesting that the extensional stress field there may hinder see Chapter 23) or as vents on the flanks of larger volcanoes
the processes of resurgence. (e.g., Rotomahana maar on the flank of Mt Tarawera
The key features of youthful, well-preserved large cal- rhyolite dome, New Zealand; satellite scoria cones on the
deras are as follows: flanks of Mt Etna composite volcano, Italy). Mafic mono-
genetic volcanoes are well studied, in part because hazard
1. A depression bounded by steep walls defining an
and risk posed by monogenetic eruptions is of concern for
escarpment, the topographic rim of which marks the
ever-growing nearby population centers such as Auckland
overall areal extent of subsidence. The shape of the
(New Zealand), Mexico City (Mexico), Al-Madinah (Saudi
depression can range from circular/equant to elliptical/
Arabia), and Portland and Bend (Oregon, USA). Moreover,
subequant to polygonal, depending on relative influence
they usually erupt the most primitive magmas in a region
of regional stress fields. A lake may occupy the
yielding important insight into the origin and production of
depression, as at Toba, or extensive lake deposits may
magma, and economically important deposits (diamonds)
record the former existence of a lake, as at Aso (Japan).
are hosted by some maarediatreme structures like
At Yellowstone, the caldera has been glaciated and
kimberlites.
infilled with 1000 km3 of lava, masking the depression.
The main forms of mafic minor volcanic landforms
At La Pacana and Cerro Galan (Argentina), the arid
(Figure 15.11) are as follows:
high-desert environment has led to superb preservation
of the main features of very complex calderas. 1. Scoria or cinder cones where morphology depends on
2. A central uplift within the depression made up of the interplay of many factors, including total eruptive
dipping welded intracaldera ignimbrite representing volume, eruptive style, and posteruption modification.
the uplifted floor. Sometimes the dips define an anti- Typically, the cones are 300-m high and cone shaped,
formal structure resulting from arching associated with although they are often asymmetrical due to a dominant
uplift, as at La Pacana and Valles. At La Pacana and wind direction during eruption, a breached crater, a
Toba, elongate resurgent domes indicate strong migrating vent, or rafting away of parts of the cone by
regional structural influence mimicking the general late-stage lava flows. They often have large bowl-
elongation of the depression, whereas at Yellowstone, shaped craters that are proportionately large with
Valles, and Long Valley (California), the resurgent respect to the size of the edifice as a whole (the ratio of
domes are more equant. Dipping lake sediments crater diameter to basal diameter is on average 0.4
capping the ignimbrite on the resurgent dome are found (Table 15.2)). Young, fresh cones typically have a
at Toba. simple geometrical profile, with their slopes defined by
290 PART | II Eruption

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

FIGURE 15.11 Examples of small mafic volcanic landforms. (A) The late Quaternary Motukorea volcano (also known as Browns Island) in the
Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand, experienced a range of eruption styles during the course of a single eruption resulting in a hybrid landform, with a
scoria cone and rafted cone remnants within an eroded tuff ring surrounded by late-stage lava flows. (Photograph courtesy of B. Hayward.) (B) The late
Quaternary Meke Gölü maar volcanic complex of the Karapinar Volcanic Field, Turkey, comprises a large, elongated maar volcano with a well-preserved
tuff ring, and a late-stage scoria cone in the crater. (C) The late Quaternary Narköy maar, near Nevsehir in Central Anatolia, Turkey, is a deep maar volcano
with a steep crater wall and surrounding tuff ring, with pre-maar lava flows exposed in the crater walls. (D) A quarried section of a Quaternary scoria cone
in western Mexico, near Volcán Ceboruco, exposes typical features of a scoria cone dominated by coarse ash to fine lapilli pyroclastic successions. (E) An
older scoria cone from the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province, Turkey. The gentle slopes reflect advanced erosion of a coarse ash to fine lapilli-
dominated scoria cone. (Photographs (BeE) courtesy of K. Ne´meth.)
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 291

the angle of repose for loose scoria (33
), although surface volcanic edifices. Maars are, by definition,
gentler slopes may occur due to factors such as crater holes that have been excavated into the preeruptive
breaching and interaction of erupting magma with surface rather than structures built up above the ground,
preexisting topography (e.g., 22e30
in Holocene and for this reason often fill with water and manifest as
scoria cones on Tenerife). The crater area of scoria lakes. The immediate posteruptive walls of maar craters
cones is commonly red or purplish red due to oxidation can be very steep, with slopes up to 70
inferred for
by hot gases streaming through the central part of the some kimberlite maar craters or “pipes.”
edifice; the outer walls are commonly black and non- 3. Tuff rings and tuff cones, unlike maars that are exca-
oxidized. These cones are commonly associated with vated into the substrate, are built on the substrate.
late-stage lava flows that are typically fed by lava Morphologically, tuff rings are broad flat features with
fountains or erupted from the base of the cone. Lava slopes 2e10
. Tuff cones are smaller, with thick near-
flow volumes are generally higher than the associated vent deposits that thin rapidly outward, resulting in
cone volumes. steeper (20e30
) slopes. The diameters of craters in tuff
2. Maarediatremes are circular depressions that have cones are comparable to tuff rings and maars, but the
crater floors that lie below the preeruptive surface and elevation of the crater rims are higher, reaching up to
are surrounded by low rims of ejected debris (unless the 300 m. Tuff rings are underlain by a shallow diatreme;
debris has been eroded). These rims may be asymmet- diatremes are typically absent beneath tuff cones.
rical if the eruption occurred during strong winds
A progression of small basaltic landforms from scoria or
(e.g., Cerro Colorado maar, Pinacate Volcanic Field,
cinder cones in totally dry environments, through tuff rings
Mexico). Maar craters are underlain by a 2-km-deep
where groundwater is present, to tuff cones formed in shallow
diatreme, a typically cone-shaped, steep-sided structure
surface water is seen (Figure 15.12). This progression can
filled with a mixture of fragmented juvenile and country
produce a range in eruption styles from Hawaiian-style
rock material and with a feeder dike at the base. Diat-
passive emission of lava producing small spatter cones and
remes are usually an order of magnitude larger than the
lava flows, through Strombolian-style fire-fountaining

FIGURE 15.12 Diagram illustrating the effect of water/magma (W/M) ratios on eruption style and volcanic landform. Scoria cones result from dry
Hawaiian or Strombolian magmatic eruptions (low W/M ratios), tuff rings from Taalian phreatomagmatic eruptions (relatively low W/M ratios), and tuff
cones from Surtseyan phreatomagmatic eruptions (relatively high W/M ratios). (Figure modified from Kereszturi and Ne´meth (2013) and Vespermann and
Schmincke (2000).) Photographs are courtesy of K. Németh and are of a Pleistocene scoria cone in Harrat Rahat, Western Saudi Arabia (left), a Pleistocene
maar volcano from the Pali Aike Volcanic Field in Southern Patagonia, Argentina (center) and Cerro Colorado, a Quaternary tuff cone in the Pinacate
Volcanic Field in Sonora, Mexico (right).
292 PART | II Eruption

producing scoria cones, to violent phreatomagmatic explo- landforms are discrete extrusions collectively called lava
sions producing maarediatremes and tuff rings including domes (see Chapter 18). These are thick bodies of limited
kimberlites (see Chapters 27 and 30). It is also possible to extent representing sluggish flows owing to the high vis-
have a range of these eruption styles during the course of a cosities of the dacitic to rhyolitic lava composition
single eruption, resulting in hybrid landforms. Motukorea (Figure 15.13(A)). Often these lavas are crystal-rich, adding
volcano in the Auckland Volcanic Field, for example, com- to their viscosity, although glassy obsidian bodies are also
prises an intra-tuff ring scoria cone, with the tuff ring found. These lava domes are most typically parasitic ex-
breached by late-stage lava flows (Figure 15.11(A)); all of trusions related to a larger composite cone or caldera where
these are thought to have formed during a single eruptive they may be located along faults. They are most commonly
event. associated with explosive eruptions as the final eruptive
Various morphological features and ratios have been events of the cycle, when degassed remnant magma is
used to distinguish between the different landforms (such rejuvenated or induced to erupt by new intrusions of more
as tuff rings and scoria cones) of small mafic volcanoes mafic magma. While most commonly dacite, many of these
(Table 15.2). These morphometric parameters are used in domes are andesitic in composition, maybe representing
landform recognition in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial intimate mixing between invading mafic and resident silicic
environments. magmas that produces spectacularly banded lavas.
Four different forms of silicic lava body morphologies
can be recognized:
4.2. Silicic Monogenetic Volcanoes 1. Low domes or tortas are the most common type,
Small silicic minor centers are relatively rare, possibly forming flat-topped, roughly symmetrical steep-sided
reflecting the propensity for explosive eruption in these cakes or tortas (although talus often masks any inter-
magmas. The most common minor silicic volcanic nal structure). They have rubbly tops and large-scale

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

FIGURE 15.13 (A) Chao dacite coulée, North Chile. The 400-m-thick flow front attests to the viscous nature of the lava. View from 25 km to the
southeast. (B) Landsat 8 view of the Chao dacite showing the scale of this monogenetic compound lava bodydit is 15-km long. The ridged surface is
produced by ramp structures resulting from bulldozing of the front of the lava mass from behind. Note the relative size of large composite volcanoes
flanking Chao. (Image courtesy of NASA.) (C) Cerro Aspero in North Chile is an example of a Pelean dome. The height is 500 m and the circular plain has
a diameter of about 2 km. (D) Google Earth view of Aspero, showing the distinct summit fissure and thick stubby flank lava flows.
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 293

pseudocolumnar jointing, often revealed in the steep arc. Arcs like the Cascades or the Andes are rarely dis-
walls. Some have a concentric, onion-like structure cussed as “volcanic landforms” per se; however, on a
indicating endogenous or internal growth as successive planetary scale the most obvious volcanic landforms are
extrusions push earlier lava outward. Others clearly going to be such spatially extensive but coherent collective
show a composite plain-form made up of several abut- volcanic landforms that occupy the large-volume (103 to
ting lobes attesting to exogenous growth. The steep >104 km3) sector of Figure 15.1. These are aggregates of
sides attest to very high yield strength. many individual volcanoes and their products.
2. Coulées form where tortas are erupted onto slopes The largest of these, the highest order grouping of
resulting in elongation of the lava body as it flows under volcanoes on the Earth, are known as LIPs that are domi-
the influence of gravity and internal shear overcomes nated by basaltic volcanic features (see Chapter 24). The
the resistive force of the yield strength. As a conse- Ontong Java Plateau LIP in the South Pacific is 2 million
quence of the flow, large flow ridges or ogives produce a square kilometers in area and 30-km thick, making it one of
pleated “elephant-skin” upper surface. Although su- the largest of any type of landform on the Earth; it rivals the
perficially like giant pahoehoe “ropes,” these are actu- Tibetan Plateau in area but is at least five times thicker.
ally pressure ridges that are the surface expression of Iceland as a whole, with an area of over 1 million square
ramp structures that form as successive lava extrusions kilometers, could be classified as an LIP, and represents a
bulldoze preexisting lava forward. The 15-km-long, distinct landform. The silicic-rock dominated siblings,
400-m-high Chao dacite of Chile is one of the most silicic large igneous provinces (SLIPs) like the Sierra
spectacular examples of a coulée (Figure 15.13(A) Madre Occidental in Mexico, with an areal extent of
and (B)). w350,000 km2 and a volume of 200,000 km3, are smaller,
3. Peléean domes are more conical in shape, and charac- but massive nonetheless on the scale of volcanic landforms.
terized by craggy topography and lava spines at the In many ways these are the primary manifestation of a
crest. Collapse of spines and associated avalanching planet’s magmatism defining a spatially and temporally
produces a steep collar of debris that encircles the related group of volcanic landforms linked to some distinct
domes, enhancing the steep conical profile of these thermotectonic event in the planet’s history. The most
domes. common type of LIP and SLIP are flood basalt plateaux
4. Upheaved plugs are rock masses pushed upward as and ignimbrite plateaux, respectively. Approximate co-
magma rises from depth. These may have country rock incidences of some LIPs and mass extinctions have been
and lake sediments on top. noted (see Chapter 61).
Lava domes are among the best documented of volcanic
bodies. They accumulate over many tens of years to cen- 5.1. Flood Basalt Plateaux
turies and their eruption progress can often be documented
Flood basalt plateaux consist of voluminous and extensive
relatively safely. The most recently documented examples
sheets of lava flows erupted from scattered monogenetic
are those of Soufrı́ere Hills, Montserrat, which has been
fissure vents. They tend to flood the landscape and generate
erupting since 1995, and the Santiaguito dome, since 1922.
a new landscape of subdued relief. They occur above hot
The Showa Shinzan plug in Japan grew completely during
spots where significant crustal spreading has occurred. For
World War II.
example, the Columbia River Plateau of Oregon and
Washington, the High Lava Plains of Oregon, and the
5. VOLCANIC CLUSTERS, FIELDS, Snake River Plain of Idaho in the northwest of the United
States, are all thought to be related to the interaction of the
OR PROVINCES
Yellowstone plume with the North American lithosphere
Imagine looking down on the Earth from space. Zoom out, above it. The even more massive Deccan Flood Basalt
and one can see that individual volcanic landforms Province (Figure 15.14(A)) is the result of the Indian lith-
described above do not occur in isolation, but rather are osphere interacting with the Reunion hot spot (now under
often part of a volcanic cluster. Good examples are the Reunion Island). Even larger is the giant Siberian Traps
Auckland Volcanic Field, a cluster of c. 55 small basaltic flood basalt field in Russia.
volcanoes spread over 350 km2, or the Lassen Volcanic Many individual lava flows have volumes exceeding
National Park, a coherent locus of volcanism that is 10 km3, but individual lava flows exceeding 1000 km3 have
spatially (430 km2), temporally (3.5 Ma of activity), and been identified in the Columbia River Plateau and the
volumetrically (>500 km3) more extensive than the largest Deccan province. Some have traveled hundreds of kilo-
individual volcanoes in the region. Zoom out some more meters. Individual flow units are thickest on shallow slopes,
from the Lassen region and you see that the cluster itself is where they commonly exceed tens of meters thick and are
part of a regionally coherent volcanic terrain, the Cascades spectacularly columnar jointed. Evidence that many lava
294 PART | II Eruption

(A) (B)

FIGURE 15.14 (A) The Deccan Traps flood basalt plateau consists of more than 6500 feet (>2000 m) of flat-lying basalt lava flows and covers an area
of nearly 200,000 square miles (500,000 km2) similar to the Columbia River basalts of the northwestern United States. This photo shows a thick stack of
basalt lava flows north of Mahabaleshwar. (Photograph by Laszlo Keszthelyi, January 28, 1996.) (B) Part of the dissected plateaux of the Sierra Madre
Occidental silicic large igneous province. The photo shows an approximately 1-km-thick ignimbrite pile exposed in the Copper Canyon, northern Sierra
Madre Occidental, reaching an elevation of 2240 m above sea level, with the base of the canyon at 1320 m above sea level. The exposed section includes
six major ignimbrite units emplaced from 29 to 30 Ma. (Photo taken by Luca Ferrari at 27
300 4000 N, 107
500 0900 W looking to the northeast.)

flows are compound and have structures indicating Mountains of Colorado, the Indian Peak and Central
endogenous growth has lead to the recognition that many of Nevada caldera clusters of the Great Basin of North
these flows were inflated as fresh lava was injected beneath America, and the AltiplanoePuna Volcanic Complex of
a surface crust that was lifted up. A complex network of the Central Andes of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The
transient tubes or tunnels is seen as responsible for the long largest well-exposed plateau is the Sierra Madre Occi-
travel distances as interior flowing lava was well insulated dental of Mexico (Figure 15.14(B)), although few calderas
during travel. Smaller flood basalt fields like those in Ice- or source vents have been unequivocally identified there.
land and the Snake River Plain consist of many overlapping Another is the Snake River PlaineYellowstone province,
low-angle shields of the scutulum type. These shields in although this is a more obviously bimodal province than
turn are made up of accumulations of pahoehoe flow units. the others.
Eroded flood basalt fields are normally seen to have These and many others identified through space and
inwardly directed dip, most pronounced where the lava pile time on the Earth suggest that such plateaux occur in a
is deepest, and thought to indicate loading-related subsi- variety of tectonic environments where continental crust is
dence. Linear dike swarms accounting for 5e20% of the present, whether at subduction zones or at intraplate hot
total volume of rock are common features in proximal spots resulting in continental rifting. The requirement of
areas, consistent with linear vents that are marked by crater continental crust points to a dominant mechanism for
rows of spatter, agglutinate, and cinders. Commonly fissure producing the large volumes of silicic magma involving
vents evolved to point sources as vent widening occurred, crustal melting and assimilation by mantle-derived basalt.
mimicking the process, albeit at a much larger scale, seen in The coherence of volcanic style, magmatic composition,
Hawaiian fissure eruptions. and temporal transience of these episodes has been sug-
gested to be a “flare-up” in magma production resulting
from an anomalous thermal input from the mantle. The
5.2. Ignimbrite Plateaux impact of a mantle plume on continental lithosphere
Like flood basalt plateaux, ignimbrite plateaux are the (continental hot spot) or a change in the mantleecrust
composite of overlapping and superimposed products of interface through loss of insulating continentalemantle
clusters of large caldera complexes. As the name implies, lithosphere (delamination) allowing hot upper mantle to
the dominant features are the extensive ignimbrite sheets rise and fuel melt production are among the most
that define an areally extensive but spatially and tempo- commonly suggested mechanisms.
rally coherent volcanic history. Other volcanic interme- The main distinctive features are stacks of ignimbrite
diate to silicic volcanic features are often present but the sheets defining a “plateau” several tens to hundreds of
volcanic episode is dominated by large catastrophic thousands of square kilometers in extent. At the core of the
caldera-forming eruptions. Examples include the caldera plateau are the calderas and other source vents for the ig-
clusters and associated ignimbrites of the San Juan nimbrites. The ignimbrite plateau is thickest where the
Chapter | 15 Primary Volcanic Landforms 295

calderas are located; ignimbrite stacks of several kilometers Thouret, J.-C., 1999. Volcano geomorphology e an overview. Earth
may be present within the collapse structures. The ignim- Science Reviews 47, 95e131.
brite stratigraphy on the flanks of the calderas is consid-
erably thinner but can overlap and combine to produce an Composite Volcanoes
Cotton, C.A., 1944. Volcanoes as Landscape Forms. Whitcombe and
aggregate thickness of over 1 km or greater if preexisting
Tombs, Christchurch, New Zealand.
topography is infilled. Clynne, M.A., Muffler, L.J.P., 2010. Geologic Map of Lassen Volcanic
National Park and Vicinity, California. U.S. Geological Survey.
Scientific Investigations Map 2899, scale 1:50,000.
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Davidson, J.P., de Silva, S.L., 2000. Composite volcanoes. In:
What we call a volcanic landform is a matter of scale, and Sigurdsson, H., Houghton, B.F., McNutt, S.R., Rymer, H., Stix, J. (Eds.),
we have presented volcanic landforms as having a distinct Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 663e680.
temporal and spatial identity at the scale being considered. Grosse, P., van Wyk de Vries, B., Petrinovic, I.A., Euillades, P.A.,
On the local scale this may mean that a single lava flow or Alvarado, G.E., 2009. Morphometry and evolution of arc volcanoes.
Geology 37 (7), 651e654. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G25734A.1.
small cone is the volcanic landform; on the planetary scale,
Hackett, W.R., Houghton, B.F., 1989. A facies model for a quaternary
the Big Island of Hawaii, Iceland, and LIPs like the Ontong
andesitic composite volcano: Ruapehu, New Zealand. Bulletin of
Java Plateau, should be considered as volcanic landforms. Volcanology 51, 51e68.
Such planetary-scale volcanic landforms may contain all of Halsor, S., Rose, W.I., 1988. Common characteristics of paired volcanoes
the familiar volcanic landforms that we typically classify in northern Central America. Journal of Geophysical Research 93,
into polygenetic and monogenetic volcanoes regardless of 4467e4476.
tectonic environment. This suggests some primary controls Hildreth, E.W., Lanphere, M., 1994. Potassium-argon geochronology of a
on the character of the volcanic landforms. Magmatism on basalt-andesite-dacite arc system: the Mount Adams volcanic field,
the Earth is fundamentally basaltic, but the variety of vol- Cascade Range of southern Washington. Geological Society of
canic landforms reflects a variety of compositions and America Bulletin 106, 1413e1429.
resulting eruptive styles. Thus, at the most primal level it is Hobden, B.L., Houghton, B.F., Davidson, J.P., Weaver, S.D., 1999. Small
and short-lived magma batches at composite volcanoes: time win-
how the basaltic magma from the mantle is differentiated by
dows at Tongariro Volcano, New Zealand. Journal of the Geological
the lithosphere that is responsible for the variety of com-
Society of London 156, 865e867.
positions. The final volcanic landform that is formed reflects Pike, R.J., Clow, G.D., 1981. Revised Classification of Terrestrial Vol-
this but is ultimately the result of final modifications in the canoes and a Catalog of Topographic Dimensions with New Results
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FURTHER READING Volcanism and erosion during the past 930 k.y. at the TataraeSan
Pedro complex, Chilean Andes. Geological Society of America
General Bulletin 109, 127e142.
Bishop, M.A., 2009. A generic classification for the morphological and Wood, C.A., 1978. Morphometric evolution of composite volcanoes.
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morphology 111 (1e2), 104e109.
Borgia, A., Aubert, M., Merle, O., et al., 2010. What is a volcano? Shield Volcanoes
Geological Society of America Special Paper 470. http://dx.doi.org/ Moore, J.G., Clague, D.A., 1992. Volcano growth and evolution of the
10.1130/2010.2470(01). island of Hawai’i. Geological Society of America Bulletin 104,
Cashman, K.V., Sparks, R.S.J., 2013. How volcanoes work: a 25 year 1471e1484.
perspective. Geological Society of America Bulletin 125 (5-6), Moore, J.G., Clague, D.A., Holcomb, R.T., Lipman, P.W., Normark, W.R.,
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Francis, P.W., Oppenheimer, C., 2004. Volcanoes. Oxford University Hawaiian ridge. Journal of Geophysical Research 94, 17,465e17,484.
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Change. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. ical Research Letters 23 (25), 3767e3770.
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