When we say volcano, what comes to mind is the picture of a cone-shaped mountain, spewing out a mushroom of poisonous gases and scorching hot lava from a crater at its peak. This, however, is just one of the several types of volcano. Below are the different types of volcano:

Supervolcanoes

Supervolcanoes, the most dangerous kind of volcano, are large volcanoes that characteristically have a very large caldera. Supervolcano eruptions can potentially produce destruction on a massive, even continental, scale. They could cause global cooling for many years due to the huge volumes of ash and sulfur in the atmosphere. Examples of this type of volcano include the Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, and Lake Taupo in New Zealand.

Stratovolcanoes

Also known as composite volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are tall cone-shaped mountains composed of ejecta such as cinders, lava flows, and ash in alternate layers created during various kinds of eruptions. Here is how the structure of stratovolcanoes forms: The ash and cinders pile on top of each other, and then lava flows cover the ash. The lava then cools and hardens, and the process begins again. Classic examples include Mount Mayon in the Philippines, Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and Mt. Fuji in Japan.

Cinder cones

Cinder cones or volcanic cones are a result of relatively short-lived eruptions that eject mostly small pieces of pyroclastics and scoria building up around the vent. Such eruptions produce a cone-shaped hill about 30 to 400 meters high. Many volcanoes of this type erupt only once. Sunset Crater in Arizona and Parícutin in Mexico are classic examples of volcanic cones.

Submarine volcanoes

Submarine volcanoes are active volcanoes commonly found in the ocean floor. In shallow water, they blast rocky debris and steam. Those in great depths do not explode because of the weight of the water pressing above them. Because water has faster cooling effects than air, and because of increased buoyancy, volcanoes of this type often form steep pillars over their vents compared volcanoes on the surface above.

Shield volcanoes

Shield volcanoes are called as such because of their shield-like, broad structure. They release low-viscosity lavas, which can stream a great distance from the volcano's vent, but they generally do not explode catastrophically. Examples of shield volcanoes can be found in the Hawaiian volcanic chain and in Iceland.

Lava domes

Lava domes are formed by slow eruptions that release high-viscosity lavas. This type of volcano is sometimes built within the crater of an earlier volcanic eruption, like Mt Saint Helens. Also, lava domes can form independently, like Lassen Peak. Similar to stratovolcanoes, lava domes often produce explosive and violent eruptions, but their lavas do not flow far from the volcano's vent.