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Composite Volcano

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

  • 31 Accesses

Definition

“Relatively large, long-lived constructional volcanic edifice, comprising lava and volcaniclastic products erupted from one or more vents…” (Davidson and de Silva 2000).

Category

A type of volcano.

Synonyms

Composite cone; Stratovolcano

Note

The previous but still existent name “stratovolcano” implied alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic rocks. However, the more recent term “composite volcano” better describes the complex architecture of this volcano type, superimposed occasionally by lava domes, dotted by scoria cones, cut through by secondary vents, etc., giving a more complex structure relative to the textbook “pancake” images.

Description

In a mature stage, composite volcanoes are prominent features, larger than scoria cones, lava domes, and other monogenetic volcanoes and steeper than shield volcanoes. Although they are all steep and high landforms, they have different shapes including the regular, symmetrical “cones” (which are not cones sensu stricto since...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    Dávid Karátson

Authors
  1. Dávid Karátson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dávid Karátson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Ames Research Center/NPP, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    Henrik Hargitai

  2. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

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Karátson, D. (2015). Composite Volcano. In: Hargitai, H., Kereszturi, Á. (eds) Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_62

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