What is a Cinder Cone Volcano?
Dmurray
Hi Dmurray,
A cinder cone is a pile of loose fragments that have built up around a vent
during a fountaining event. They form during eruptions that are not super
explosive, meaning mostly Hawaiian-style of Strombolian eruptions. The
cinders are usually quite vesicular and lightweight, and they are not
stuck together. This is because most of the cinders cool while they are being
thrown through the air so that they cannot stick together once they land.
Many times within a cinder cone there are also layers where the cinders were
accumulating fast enough so that they were still pasty when they landed
and these layers are relatively coherent. Cinder cones can either be
vents on the flank of a big volcano or they can be members of what are
called "monogenetic fields". A monogenetic field is an area where
numerous eruptions have occurred but they were not concentrated enough
into one place to be able to form a big volcano. I guess a cinder cone
volcano would be the term for a member of a monogenetic field that
happens to be a cinder cone (other types of vent structures can also be
members of monogenetic fields).
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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