Shield Volcano

A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground.This is caused by the highly fluid (low viscosity) lava they erupt which travels farther than lava erupted from stratovolcanoes. This results in the steady accumulation of broad sheets of lava, building up the shield volcano's distinctive form. The shape of shield volcanoes is due to the low viscosity of their mafic lava.

Here are some examples of shield volcanoes:

1. Menengai Crater is a massive shield volcano with one of the biggest calderas in the world, in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya. It is the largest volcano caldera in Kenya and the second largest volcano caldera in Africa. Farmland occupies its flanks.

Elevation: 2,278 m

Last eruption: 6050 BC

Country: Kenya

Parent range: Aberdare Range

2.Kīlauea is a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi.

Elevation: 1,247 m

Prominence: 18 m

Last eruption: January 3, 1983 – presentVolcanic arc/belt: Hawaiian-

Emperor seamount chainAge of rock: 300,000 to 600,000 years old

Did you know: Kilauea can be found on the Big Island of Hawaii, on the southeastern slope of Mauna Loa, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

3 .Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a badland desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia.

Last eruption: 2009

Elevation: 613 m

Parent range: Erta Ale Range

Mountain range: Afar Triangle, Erta Ale Range

Did you know: Erta Ale is known for its 2 pit craters which have had active lava lakes in the past. stormchaser.ca

4.Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean.

Elevation: 4,169 m

Last eruption: 15 April 1984Area: 5,271 km²

Prominence: 2,158 m

First ascent: February 1794

5.Alcedo Volcano is one of the six coalescing shield volcanoes that make up Isabela Island in the Galapagos. The remote location of the volcano has meant that even the most recent eruption in 1993 was not recorded until two years later.

Elevation: 1,130 m

Last eruption: 1993

6.Mount Karthala or Karthola is an active volcano and the highest point of the Comoros at 2,361 m above sea level. It is the southernmost and larger of the two shield volcanoes forming Grande Comore island, the largest island in the nation of Comoros.

Elevation: 2,361 m

Last eruption: 2007

Prominence: 2,361 m

7.Hualālai is an active volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the westernmost, third-youngest and the third most active of the five shield volcanoes that form the island of .

Elevation: 2,521 m

Last eruption: 1801

Volcanic arc/belt: Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain

Topo map: USGS HualālaiPronunciation: Hawaiian pronunciation

Did you know: Hualālai is the fourth-highest mountain peak of Hawaii by elevation (8,271 ft).

8.Skjaldbreiður, meaning the broad shield in Icelandic, is an Icelandic lava shield formed in one huge and protracted eruption roughly 9,000 years ago.

Elevation: 1,060 m

Prominence: 534 m

Age of rock: 9,000 years

Translation: broad shield (Icelandic)