How are volcanoes classified?

Answer 1

They are classified according to their size, shape, style of eruption and the materials that compose them.

* Shield volcanoes: large, gently sloping volcanoes composed of layers of basaltic lava flows. They produce mostly effusive eruptions. Examples include Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and Erta Ale * Stratovolcanoes (also called composite volcanoes or composite cones): Large volcanoes with steel slopes composed of ash and lava flows. These volcanoes often produce explosive eruptions, though lava flows can occur too. These volcanoes can erupt a variety of material. Examples include Mount St. Helens, Mount Pinatubo, and Mount Vesuvius. * Cinder cones: Smaller, steep sloped volcanoes composed of chunks of rock called cinders. They have mildly explosive eruptions that produce fountains of lava. Cinder cones can sometimes be found on top of or on the flanks of stratovolcanoes and shield volcanoes. Examples include Paricutin, Sunset Crater

* Lava domes: These are domes of very viscous rhyolitic lava that build up. Most lava domes are part of a stratovolcano rather than volcanoes in and of themselves. Novarupta is an example of a lava dome. * Calderas: These are massive volcanic craters that form during cataclysmic explosive eruptions when a volcano collapses into the empty space left behind by erupted magma. Most calderas form from stratovolcanoes, and in many cases can be classified as both. Examples of stratovolcanoes that have become calderas include Mount Tambora, Mount Mazama, and Krakatoa. There are four calderas in Yellowstone National Park that likely never involved a stratovolcano as the Yellowstone volcano covers too large of an area to build a mountain.

They are classified according to their size,shape,and the materials that compose them.

Answer 2

volcanoes are classified in two ways:

(1) according to record of activities

(2) according to materials errupted