A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed
landform
A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, ...
consisting of related
volcanic centers and their associated
lava flows
Lava is molten or partially molten rock ( magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land o ...
and
pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in
eruptive habit or in the location of the principal vent area on a particular volcano.
Stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
es can also form a large
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
that gets filled in by a lava dome, or else multiple small
cinder cone
A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions o ...
s,
lava dome
In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...
s and
crater
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
*Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
*Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
s may develop on the caldera's rim.
Although a comparatively unusual type of volcano, they are widespread in the world and in geologic history.
Metamorphosed ash flow
tuffs are widespread in the
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
rocks of northern
New Mexico, which indicates that caldera complexes have been important for much of Earth's history.
Yellowstone National Park is on three partly covered caldera complexes. The
Long Valley Caldera in eastern
California is also a complex volcano; the
San Juan Mountains in southwestern
Colorado are formed on a group of
Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
-age caldera complexes, and most of the
Mesozoic and
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...
rocks of
Nevada,
Idaho, and eastern California are also caldera complexes and their erupted ash flow tuffs. The
Bennett Lake Caldera in
British Columbia and the
Yukon Territory is another example of a Cenozoic (
Eocene) caldera complex.
Examples
*
Akita-Yake-Yama (Honshū, Japan)
*
Asacha (
Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia)
*
Asama (Honshū, Japan)
*
Kusatsu-Shirane
is a active stratovolcano in Kusatsu, Gunma, Japan. It is called Kusatsu Shirane to differentiate it from the Mount Nikkō-Shirane on the other side of Gunma Prefecture. The summit of Kusatsu-Shirane volcano, located immediately north of Asam ...
(Kusatsu, Gunma, Japan)
*
Banahaw (Luzon, Philippines)
*
Bennett Lake Caldera (British Columbia/Yukon, Canada)
*
Cumbre Vieja (Canary Islands, Spain)
*
Mount Edziza volcanic complex (British Columbia, Canada)
*
Galeras (Colombia, South America)
*
Grozny Group
Grozny Group (also Grozny Volcano) is a complex volcano located in the central part of Iturup Island, Kuril Islands, controlled by Russia, and claimed by Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island countr ...
(Kuril Islands, Russia)
*
Hakone (Japan)
*
Homa Mountain (Kenya)
*
Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica)
*
Ischia (Italy)
*
Kelimutu (Flores, Indonesia)
*
Las Pilas
Las Pilas (or El Hoyo) is a complex volcano located in the western part of Nicaragua. Part of a 30-km-long volcanic massif, Las Pilas has a series of well-preserved flank vents surrounding a central cone. Las Pilas last erupted in the 1950s and be ...
(Nicaragua)
*
Long Valley Caldera (California, United States)
*
McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean, Australia)
*
Mount Meager massif (British Columbia, Canada)
*
Morne Trois Pitons
Morne is an Old-French word for a small mountain. It may refer to:
* Morne a Chandelle, a village in the Sud-Est department of Haiti
* Morne-à-l'Eau, a commune in Guadeloupe
* Morne Bois-Pin, the fourth highest mountain in Haiti
* Morne la Vigie, ...
(Dominica)
*
Moutohora Island (New Zealand)
*
Mundua (New Britain, Papua New Guinea)
*
Pacaya
Pacaya is an active complex volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. It rises to an elevation of . After being dormant for over 70 ...
(Guatemala)
*
Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile)
*
Rincón de la Vieja Volcano (Costa Rica)
*
Silverthrone Caldera (British Columbia, Canada)
*
St. Andrew Strait
St. Andrew Strait is a volcano in Papua New Guinea that has had eruptions in historical times. The volcano is not linked to any tectonic plates, the volcano is also in an area of very few earthquakes, suggesting that St. Andrew Strait is an Intrapl ...
(Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea)
*
Taal Volcano, (Batangas, Philippines)
*
Mount Talinis, (Negros Oriental, Philippines)
*
Taupō Volcano, (Taupō, New Zealand)
*
Three Sisters (Oregon) (Oregon, United States)
*
Te Tatua-a-Riukiuta (Auckland, New Zealand)
*
Tongariro, (New Zealand)
*
Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma- stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...
, (Italy)
*
Valles Caldera (New Mexico, United States)
*
Yellowstone Caldera
The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corne ...
(Wyoming, United States)
*
Mount Mazama (Oregon, United States)
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Complex Volcano
Volcanic landforms