What is a Lave Cone ?

Simon

Hi Simon,

That's a good question. That isn't a term that gets used too often but that doesn't mean it isn't useful. There are a number of types of vents that you find on basaltic volcanoes. One type is a cinder cone, composed of a loose pile of vesicular cinders and produced by high fountaining. That isn't what you're thinking of. Another type is a spatter cone, composed of blobs of spatter that were still liquid when they erupted so that they could stick together. Spatter cones are often steep- to vertical-sided so that even though they are spatter "cones" they are often not very cone-shaped. However, I have seen one vent out on Kilauea that really looks like a lava cone. I'm not sure if it is an actual vent or if it is a secondary vent formed over a leaky skylight. Here, a series of short lava flows has come out of the same place and flowed away. The thing is about 20 m high and perhaps 50-60 m in diameter. It has a nice 30-40 degree slope so it is steep. However, it is quite climbable. Such structures may be common on other volcanoes but apparently in Hawai`i they are rare.

Sincerely,

Scott

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