Top 10 Facts to Know About Stratovolcanoes

April 30th, 2010 -- Posted in Volcanoes | 20 Comments »

Mount Fuji, a stratovolcano

Of the four types of volcanoes, let’s take a close look at the dramatic stratovolcano.

1. Frequent pyroclastic eruptions give stratovolcanoes their towering cone shape.

2. Eruptions can originate from the summit or flank vents.

3. Subduction-zone stratovolcanoes, like Mount St. Helens, typically erupt with explosive force.

4. Some of the most powerful and destructive volcanoes in human history have been stratovolcanoes.

5. Stratovolcanoes are the most common type of volcano.

6. Of Earth’s 1,511 volcanoes known to have erupted in the past 10,000 years, 699 are stratovolcanoes.

7. Some of the most beautiful mountains in the world are stratovolcanoes, including Mount Rainer in Washington, Mount Fuji in Japan, and Kamchatka in Russia.

8. Magma, from deep in the Earth’s crust, travels through a conduit within the stratovolcano, which becomes lava when it erupts.

9. Between eruptions stratovolcanoes can be quiet for tens of thousands of years, seeming extinct.

10. Many cataclysmic eruptions throughout history were stratovolcanoes, including Mount Pelee in Martinique, El Chichon in Mexico, Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and Krakatoa in Indonesia, causing catastrophic loss of life.