Stratovolcano Stratovolcanoes are shaped like a cone, but have very steep sides.

They are formed during violent eruptions by lava flo nearby. Stratovolcanoes are shaped like a cone, but have very steep sides. They are formed during violent eruptions by lava flows, tephra, and pyroclastic flows. They are formed by several vents that lead from deep underground and may form cinder cones nearby.

Cinder Cone Volcano Cinder cones are steep sided hills made up of fragments from a volcanic eruption. The fragments that form these cinder cones are blown down wind from an eruption from a stratovolcano. You can see the stratovolcano that formed this cinder cone in the background. Shield Volcano Shield volcanoes are the largest volcanoes on earth. They are built by basalt lava flows and have gentle slopes that move from the top of the volcano to the bottom.

Mud Volcanoes Mud volcanoes are the smallest of the volcanoes. They are only 2-3 meters/6-9 feet tall. They are built from by a mixture of hot water and sediments from an eruption by another larger volcano.

Lava Dome Lava domes are built by a kind of viscous lava. Viscous lava is a thick mixture that can not flow quickly, so the lava cools too quickly to really move any distance from the eruption.

Caldera A caldera is an area at the to of a volcano that has collapsed. After eruptions, when the area below the top is sometimes empty, the bottom falls out and the top crashes down. Calderas are not craters.