A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions, although some have collapsed summit craters called calderas. The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and solidifies before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high to intermediate levels of silica, with lesser amounts of less viscous mafic magma. Extensive felsic lava flows are uncommon, but have traveled as far as 15 km (9 mi).
Mount Rainier, a 4,392 m (14,411 ft) stratovolcano, the highest point in the US state of Washington
Exposed internal structure of alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic rock in the eroded Broken Top stratovolcano in Oregon
Mount Etna on the island of Sicily, in southern Italy
Snow-like blanket of Mount Pinatubo's ashfall deposits in a parking lot on Clark Air Base (June 15, 1991)
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption. Types of volcanic cones include stratocones, spatter cones, tuff cones, and cinder cones.
Mayon in the Philippines has a symmetrical volcanic cone.
Osorno volcano in Chile is an example of a well-developed stratocone.
Puʻu ʻŌʻō, a cinder-and-spatter cone on Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi
Koko Crater is a tuff cone that is part of the Honolulu Volcanic Series.
