Volcanic Cone

volcanoes · geology · earth science

Built by eruptions. Volcanic cones form when hot rock, ash, and lava shoot out of the ground and pile up in layers around a central opening called a crater.

Different types exist. Cinder cones are made of small rocky chunks, spatter cones form from sticky lava that splatters and sticks together, and stratocones (also called composite cones) are the tallest and most famous because they're made of many layers of lava and ash.

Simple but mighty. Volcanic cones are one of the easiest volcanic landforms to understand because they have a clear shape, kind of like an upside-down ice cream cone with a hole in the top.

Made fast or slow. Some small cinder cones can form in just a few months of eruptions, while tall stratocones like Mount Fuji or Mount Rainier take thousands of years to build up layer after layer.