VOLCANOES AND VOLCANIC ACTIVITY
Identifying Volcanic Landforms
Volcanoes are important features of Earth’s surface geology. For this exercise, you will visit a
number of localities around the world where volcanic landforms can be observed. Your task will
be to identify the different volcanic landforms in the table below.
Fig. 1.
Google Earth image of SP Crater, northern Arizona, USA.
Enter the geographic coordinates for each feature below in the query bar of Google Earth.
Once the feature has been located, zoom in or out to the indicated altitude, then identify the
volcanic feature centered in the image. Remember, (+) values are north latitude and east
longitude; (-) values are south latitude and west longitude.
Composite Volcano
Caldera
Lava Dome
LATITUDE (deg)
Shield Volcano
Lahar
Lava Flows
LONGITUDE
Cinder Cone
Pyroclastic Flow
Volcanic Crater
ALTITUDE (km)
LANDFORM
(deg)
A
35.366673
138.733347
20.0
Composite volcano
B
19.540564
-155.534218
170.0
Shield volcano
C
13.551444
40.744028
12.0
Lava flow or
fissure eruption
D
35.558949
-111.605573
8.00
Cinder cone
E
14.916362
-24.375447
28.5
Composite volcano
F
-0.378905
-91.514776
32
Shield volcano
G
50.855056
155.558648
18
Composite volcano
H
46.199442
-122.188722
5.0
Lava dome
I
46.248469
-122.166488
6.5
Pyroclastic flow
J
42.93680
-122.104928
18.2
Caldera
K
41.587152
-122.474640
14.8
Pyroclastic Flow
L
56.569979
158.579963
7.9
Shield volcano
M
41.396334
-122.19003
19.0
Composite volcano
N
-3.064728
37.358316
11.9
Volcanic crater
O
14.986742
120.222811
14
Lahar
P
13.254101
123.685199
15
Composite volcano
Q
2.425559
98.842043
68.5
Caldera
R
-7.951140
112.951327
13.2
Caldera
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
1. What type of volcanic rocks would you expect to be erupted from ‘B’ above? basalt
2. Of what type volcanic rock do you think the feature in ‘H’ is composed? Intermediate or
andesitic
3. Use the ‘Measure’ tool to estimate the diameter of the feature in ‘J’. What is the diameter
of this feature? 9-10 km
4. The feature in ‘J’ is approximately circular. What is its area? ca. 78 km2
5. Use the ‘Measure’ tool in Google Earth to determine the distance from the feature in ‘K’
and the summit of its parent volcano. How far is it? ca. 30 km
6. Use the ‘Measure’ tool in Google Earth to determine the distance from the feature in ‘O’
and the summit of its parent volcano. How far is it? ca. 20 km
7. Use the ‘Measure’ tool to determine the length and width of the feature in ‘Q’. ca. 85 x
27 km
8. Find a composite volcano (stratovolcano) that is not featured above; save and print the
image with a brief description of it for your instructor.
9. Find a shield volcano that is not featured above; save and print the image with a brief
description of it for your instructor.
LINKS TO RELATED SITES:
Wikipedia entry on shield volcanoes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_volcano
Wikipedia entry on composite volcanoes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_volcano
Wikipedia entry on lava flows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_flow
Wikipedia entry on calderas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldera
Wikipedia entry on pyroclastic flows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyroclastic_flow
Wikipedia entry on lahars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahar
Wikipedia entry on cinder cones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinder_cone