This is an image of a cinder cone in Oregon called Lava Butte.
Click on image for full size
Image from: U.S. Geological Survey

Cinder Cones

Cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a cone shape and are not very big. Compare the size of this volcano to the strato-volcano in this image.

They are usually made of piles of lava, not ash. During the eruption, blobs ("cinders") of lava are blown into the air and break into pieces that fall into a pile around the opening to the volcano. The pile forms an oval-shaped small volcano, as shown in this picture.

Famous cinder cones include Paricutin in Mexico. Another well known cinder cone is in the middle of Crater Lake.


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