Cinder Cones: The Smallest Volcanoes

Characteristics of Cinder Cones

• Small Volcano Types: Known as cinder cones, the smallest type of volcano.
• Location: Often found on the slopes or within the craters of larger shield or stratovolcanoes.
• Composition: Composed entirely of pyroclastic debris (chunks of rock and ash).

Formation of Cinder Cones

• Ejected Material: Formed from lava ejected from the volcano that cools quickly.
  • Cinders: The ejected lava that forms the cones is referred to as cinders.
  • Scoria: The type of rock that forms, known as scoria (basalt with vesicular texture due to gas escape).
• Central Vent: Filled with rock fragments.
  • Explosive Eruptions: Lava comes up, erupts explosively, and cools quickly to form scoria.
  • Pile Formation: The scoria piles up to form small cinder cones.

Structure and Appearance

• Shape: Cinder cones have steep sides with a broad, deep, bowl-shaped crater in the center.
• Lava Flow:
  • Generally does not flow out of the central crater due to the loose rock structure.
  • Lava might seep out at the base through the main conduit, squeezing out from beneath the cinders.

Volcanic Bombs

• Description: Particles ejected from cinder cones or stratovolcanoes, often elongated due to being stretched while hot and in the air.
• Composition: Consists of both large and small particles of pyroclastic material.