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]
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]
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Volcanic activity". Icelandic Institute of Natural History. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Mount Haddington Volcanic Field". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-07-20.