Geology 101
Pima Community College
Name___________________
______
Date ______________
Chapter 6 Lab Activity 1: Volcanoes and Volcanic Activity Exercise
Identifying Volcanic Landforms
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. Use the following volcanic landforms to identify the feature at that location and
viewing elevation.
Composite Volcano
Shield Volcano
Cinder Cone
Caldera
Lahar
Pyroclastic Flow
Lava Dome
Lava Flows
Enter the geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for each feature below in the query bar
of Google Earth. You can copy the latitude and longitude from the below table (control C) and
paste (control V) into the blank box beside the search icon in Google Earth. Once the feature has
been located, zoom in or out to the indicated viewing altitude, then identify the type of volcanic
feature centered in the image. To get the correct elevation of the altitude to zoom up to for use in
Google Earth, you will have to switch to km in Google Earth tools or you can convert from
metric kilometers (km) to English miles or feet. Either multiply the number of km by 0.6 or
divide the km by 1.6 to get miles. To convert miles to feet, multiply the number of miles times
5,280 feet. Remember, (+) values are north latitude and east longitude; (-) values are south
latitude and west longitude.
LATITUDE (deg)
LONGITUDE
(deg)
ALTITUDE
(km)
A
35.366673
138.733347
20.0
B
19.540564
-155.534218
170.0
C
13.551444
40.744028
12.0
D
35.558949
-111.605573
5.75
E
14.916362
-24.375447
28.5
F
46.199442
-122.188722
5.0
G
46.248469
-122.166488
6.5
H
42.93680
-122.104928
18.2
LANDFORM
1
I
41.587152
-122.474640
14.8
J
14.986742
120.222811
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Additional Questions:
1. What type of volcanic rocks would you expect to be erupted from ‘B’ above?
2. Of what type volcanic rock do you think the feature in ‘F’ is composed?
3. Use the ‘Measure’ or ‘Ruler’ tool in Google Earth to estimate the diameter of the feature
in ‘H’. What is the diameter of this feature?
4. The feature in ‘H’ is approximately circular. What is its area? Use the formula for area of
a circle (A = r2, where radius r = 1/2 diameter and = 3.14).
5. Use the ‘Measure’ or ‘Ruler’ tool in Google Earth to determine the distance from the
feature in ‘I’ and the summit of its parent volcano. How far is it?
6. Use the ‘Measure’ or ‘Ruler’ tool in Google Earth to determine the distance from the
feature in ‘J’ and the summit of its parent volcano. How far is it?
7. Find a composite volcano (stratovolcano) that is not featured above; save and print the
image with a brief description of it for your instructor.
8. Find a shield volcano that is not featured above; save and print the image with a brief
description of it to upload as a .jpg or .pdf file 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
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