8.6: Activity 8E - Volcanic Landforms

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Page ID: 14818

Chloe Branciforte & Emily Haddad
Ventura College & East Los Angeles College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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The composition of a melt may also control what type of volcanic features or landforms are seen on the Earth’s surface. In this exercise, you will use the browser version of Google Earth to identify these landforms. Copy and paste (or type in) the latitude and longitude coordinates into the search bar.

Type 43°25'04.2"N 113°31'37.4"W in the search bar of Google Earth. Zoom out to an eye elevation of ~170 miles. Notice the dark colored sparsely vegetated region. Based on the size and location of this volcanic feature, it is likely,
1. a basaltic dike
2. a shield volcano
3. a lava dome
4. a flood basalt

How can you tell?

More information on an area is always helpful. Zoom in to an eye elevation of 15 miles. Engage the Photos layer. Click on a few of the nearby photo icons to view pictures of the area as seen from the ground. Based on the images, this feature is likely,
1. a basalt flow
2. a felsic dome
3. a plutonic rock
4. an ultramafic rock

How can you tell?

Type 46°12'07.8"N 121°31'02.9"W in the search bar of Google Earth. This volcano (Mt. Adams) has a lot of snow cover and small glaciers on it, but you can still see the volcanic rock, especially on the eastern flank (side) of the volcano. Zoom in to an eye altitude of ~9000ft to closely examine the rocks on the eastern side of the volcano. This volcano is likely:
1. a shield volcano
2. a lava dome
3. a composite volcano
4. a cinder cone
5. How can you tell?

Type in 37°55'46.2"N 119°02'43.8"W in the search bar of Google Earth. Examine the shape of this feature by zooming in to an eye altitude of ~2000 ft; use the eye icon in the upper right corner to rotate the view. Now zoom out to an eye altitude of ~6500 ft to see the entire structure and the surrounding area. Based on the size and appearance of this volcanic feature, this is a:
1. cinder cone
2. shield volcano
3. lava dome
4. composite volcano

How can you tell?

Type in 34°32'41.5"N 115°47'26.1"W in the search bar of Google Earth. Examine the shape of this feature by zooming in to an eye altitude of ~2500 ft; use the eye icon in the upper right corner to rotate the view. Based on the size and appearance of this volcanic feature, this is a:
1. shield volcano
2. composite volcano
3. lava dome
4. cinder cone

How can you tell?