What is a cinder cone volcano?
Gertrude
Hi Gertrude,
A cinder cone is a pile of loose fragments that have built up around a vent
during a fountaining event. They form during eruptions that are not super
explosive, meaning mostly Hawaiian-style of Strombolian eruptions. The
cinders are usually quite vesicular and lightweight, and they are not
stuck together. This is because most of the cinders cool while they are
being thrown through the air so that they cannot stick together once they
land. Many times within a cinder cone there are also layers where the
cinders were accumulating fast enough so that they were still pasty when
they landed and these layers are relatively coherent.
Cinder cones can either be vents on the flank of a big volcano or they
can be members of what are called "monogenetic fields". A monogenetic
field is an area where numerous eruptions have occurred but they were not
concentrated enough into one place to be able to form a big volcano. I
guess a cinder cone volcano would be the term for a member of a
monogenetic field that happens to be a cinder cone (other types of vent
structures can also be members of monogenetic fields).
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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