Cinder Cones
Cinder cones are conical hills produced by the accumulation of
cinders and other tephra. The cones can be up to 2,300 ft (700 m) in
height, but most are between 100 and 1,000 ft (30 and 300 m). The cinder
cone in the above photo is Puu Lilinue on
Mauna Kea
in Hawaii.
Photo by Jack Lockwood, U.S. Geological Survey, August 3, 1983.
The cones are produced by "fire fountains," low-energy eruptions that
propel fragments of lava hundreds of feet into the air. The tephra
accumulates in layers. This photo shows the Iilewa fountain during the
1955 eruption of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. Note how cinders from the
fountain are accumulating to make a cone adjacent to the vent. Photo by
Gordon Macdonald, U.S. Geological Survey, March 22, 1955.
This photo shows the interior of Strawberry Knoll, a cinder cone in
southwestern Utah. Some of the round-shaped clasts in the layer above
the hammer are volcanic
bombs.
The layers in the
upper half of the photo are made of cinders. Photo by Steve Mattox,
1989.
