I have recently heard that volcanoes may be caused by disruptions
in the tectonic plates (much like earthquakes). If this is the case is
it possible to have a flat volcano?
Scott
Dear Scott,
I'm a little confused by your question. Disruption of a tectonic plate
can certainly produce volcanoes. A good example would be the volcanoes
along the rift in east
Africa.
However, these volcanoes are not flat. Most of them are stratovolcanoes and
shield volcanoes. The flattest volcanoes are associated with flood basalts, great
sheets of lava that cover very large areas. They may be associated with
changing plate boundaries but I don't think the plates are "disrupted."
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
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