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📘 How a volcano builds a cone

Follow magma, gas, viscosity, eruption styles, deposits, hazards, and cone growth.

lessons

~20 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Adults

level

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What you’ll learn

Magma
Pressure
Viscosity
Conduit
Effusion
Explosivity
Cinder cone
Composite cone
Shield volcano
Domes
Ash plume
Pyroclastic flow
Lahars
Caldera
Layers
Monitoring
Cone growth

Questions this course answers

What determines whether magma erupts quietly or explosively?

USGS identifies magma properties and water interaction as controls on eruption style.

What is tephra?

Tephra includes ash and larger fragments produced when magma breaks apart.

Why do shield volcanoes have gentle slopes?

Runny basaltic flows spread widely and build broad profiles.

What is a lahar?

Lahars are mudflows made when water mobilizes volcanic ash and debris.

Why can a pyroclastic flow move rapidly downhill?

Collapsed eruption columns form dense ground-hugging currents driven downslope.

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