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Grade 12 Science · Earth & Space Science

Volcanoes, crustal deformation and mountain building

Compare shield volcanoes, composite volcanoes and cinder cones, and see how the lava builds each shape.

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gentle slopesrunny basalt lavasummit cratermagma chamber
Runny basalt flows spread thin before they cool, building gentle slopes.
Eruptions are mostly quiet lava flows, as on Hawaii.

Assumptions

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Silica makes magma sticky; sticky magma traps gas.
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Trapped gas makes eruptions explosive.
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