Volcanic Environments

Learning goal
To understand the different types of volcanic
landforms
Intrusive v Extrusive
List landforms you think are formed intrusively

List landforms you think are extrusive
Constructive v Destructive
Classify the landforms into constructive or
destructive


Volcanoes
The most obvious landforms created by lava
are volcanoes
Volcanoes come in many forms and are of
course extrusive landforms formed
constructively
3 main types are?
Shield Volcanoes
Low viscosity
Spreads over wide areas
before solidifying
Gentle sloping sides with
many layers of lava from
many eruptions
Broad summit
Mainly found along
constructive plate
boundaries where the
magma rises directly from
the mantle
Example Mauna Loa

Composite (Strata) Volcano
Formed by successive
eruptions of ash and lava
A cone with steep summit
The lava is more viscous and
eruptions more explosive
The layers will consist of
lava, ash, interspersed with
pyroclastic material
Example Mt Fuji
Lava Domes
Lava domes
Can form on outside slopes of composite cones or
within the crater
Most are small but some are recognised as volcanoes
They result from the slow extrusion of highly viscous
magma
The edges can be quite steep
In subsequent eruptions lava domes can be blown
away
Several domes have grown slowly in the crater of
Mount St Helens
Other constructive extrusive landforms
Basalt plateau
Cinder or scoria cones
Destructive processes
What would be destructive?
Maars volcano
These are the simplest kind
of explosive craters
Groundwater meets hot
magma forming steam
The explosion that follows
blows out a large hole in the
ground
Surrounding by low rims of
ash known as tuff
The crater floor is usually
below ground level of the
surrounding land so lakes
and swamps usually form

Calderas
Very large craters
greater than 1km across
Formed by a large
eruption of material
The eruption partially
empties the magma
chamber below the
vent and the ground
above collapses into the
space



Other landforms formed destructively
Lava tubes
Intrusive
Thoughts?
Hot Springs
Intrusive activity
A hot spring is a crack in
the Earth through which
water reaches the
surface after being
heated below the
ground


Geysers
Water heated below the earths
surface
When water is both superheated
by magma and flows through a
narrow passageway underground,
the environment becomes ideal
for a geyser
The narrow passageway traps the
heated water underground,
where heat and pressure
continue to build. Sooner or later,
the pressure grows so great that
the superheated water bursts out
onto the surface

Landforms formed by intrusive
volcanic activity
Batholiths
Dykes
Sills
Plugs

Activity - Task
In groups of three select from the following landforms and create a 5 slide
powerpoint to explain the processes and give an example

1. Basalt plateau and cinder cones
2. Batholiths and dykes
3. Sills and Plugs
4. Lava tubes


- Research the specific landforms that resulted from the
eruptions of your volcano case studies
- Annotate your diagrams describing and explaining the
formation of the specific features






Activity -
Rubrics

Representation