Definition
Volcanoes are structures created by the eruption of (liquid) lava or (solid, fragmental) pyroclastic rock. Volcanoes range in size from small cones a few tens of meters high to enormous shields hundreds of km in diameter. Most volcanoes are cone-shaped. When the lava is relatively fluid basalt, the slopes are low-angle; when the lava consists of more viscous rhyolite, the extrusion of pasty lava tends to form a dome, or the explosive eruption of the highly viscous material and fragmental material will form a steep-sided structure.
Volcanoes erupt in all parts of the world, from ocean ridges to the centers of continents, but are most common along island arcs and convergent margins.
Volcanoes are a common feature in the Solar Systems and have been found on other planets such as Venus and Mars (best known Olympus Mons), and satellites such as Io, Enceladus, Triton (cryovolcanism), and possibly Titan.
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Arndt, N. (2014). Volcano. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1671-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1671-4
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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Volcano, Planetary- Published:
- 27 December 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1671-5
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Volcano- Published:
- 05 May 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1671-4