SHIELD VOLCANOES Senior Table

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Wide volcano

• shallowly sloping sides

• Formed by lava flows with low viscosity

• Many of the largest volcanoes on Earth are shield

• Lava flows easily

MODE OF FORMATION

• Shield volcanoes form like any volcanoes. They are spots on the earth where magma from inside the Earth has reached the surface. The main difference with shield volcanoes is that they are formed out of lava flows which have low viscosity. Think syrupy magma creating gently sloping sides. Shield volcanoes are much less dangerous than any other volcano.

TYPES OF MAGMA ASSOCIATED

• Shield volcanoes are almost exclusively basalt, a type of lava that is very fluid when erupted. Shield volcanoes are results of high magma supply rates, the lava is lot and little changed since the time it was generated.

WHERE THEY ARE LIKELY TO BE FOUND

• A lot of shield volcanoes are found in the U.S., Africa, Galapagos, Kamchatka, and Japan.

• Shield Volcanoes are found along divergent plate boundaries.

EXAMPLES IN THE U.S.

• Mauna Kea (MK), Mauna Loa (ML), Hualalai (H), and Kohala (K) all of which are in Hawaii