Central volcano

A central volcano is a type of volcano formed by basalts and silica-rich volcanic rocks. They contain very few or no volcanic rocks of intermediate composition, such that they are chemically bimodal. Large silicic eruptions at central volcanoes often result in the formation of one or more calderas. Central volcanoes can be stratovolcanoes or shield volcanoes.^[1]

Askja central volcano in Iceland

Central volcanoes undergo periodic eruptions throughout their lifetime, which can span more than a million years. In Iceland, volcanic systems are normally named after an associated central volcano.^[2] The largest known glaciovolcanic central volcano on Earth is Mount Haddington, a glacier-covered shield volcano on James Ross Island in Antarctica.^[3][4]

Examples

Mount Morning, a central volcano in Antarctica

Mount Edziza in British Columbia, Canada

Antarctica

• Mount Discovery^[5]
• Mount Morning^[6]

Canada

• Armadillo Peak^[7]
• Ice Peak^[7]
• Ilgachuz Range^[8]
• Itcha Range^[8]
• Level Mountain^[7]
• Mount Edziza^[7]
• Rainbow Range^[8]
• Spectrum Range^[7]

Iceland

• Askja^[1]
• Eyjafjallajökull^[2]
• Krafla^[1]
• Ljósufjöll^[2]
• Prestahnúkur^[2]
• Snæfellsjökull^[2]
• Torfajökull^[2]

References

1. Hjartardóttir, Ásta Rut; Einarsson, Páll; Sigurdsson, Haraldur (2009). "The fissure swarm of the Askja volcanic system along the divergent plate boundary of N Iceland". Bulletin of Volcanology. 71. Springer Science+Business Media: 961–975. doi:10.1007/s00445-009-0282-x.
2. "Volcanic activity". Icelandic Institute of Natural History. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
3. Smellie, John L.; Edwards, Benjamin R. (2016). Glaciovolcanism on Earth and Mars: Products, Processes and Palaeoenvironmental Significance. Cambridge University Press. pp. 18, 19. ISBN 978-1-107-03739-7.
4. "Mount Haddington Volcanic Field". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
5. "Discovery: General Information". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
6. "Morning: General Information". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
7. Wood, Charles A.; Kienle, Jürgen (1990). Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada. Cambridge University Press. pp. 121, 124. ISBN 0-521-43811-X.
8. Kuehn, Christian (2014). A Second North American Hot-spot: Pleistocene Volcanism in the Anahim Volcanic Belt, west-central British Columbia (PhD). University of Calgary. p. 87.