Shield Volcanoes
Maura M.
A shield volcano is broad and gently sloping in shape and built almost entirely out of lava flowing through tubes on the inside. It gets its name from its resemblance to a medieval warriors shield. When it erupts, thick, gooey, slow moving lava pours forth from the many openings on the top and sides of the volcano. Usually it moves slow enough to allow people to evacuate the area, but normally seismographs detect movement, and if the movement is serious enough people are asked to evacuate to a safe location. Rarely do people get covered with a shield volcanoes lava, or get trapped because of it. Ash also emits from the openings. Sometimes, the amount of ash coming out of the volcano is so great it forms a cloud that rains down ash on the area surrounding the volcano. Clouds of ash can cause serious damage, ruining farmers crops, forming piles on houses and roads that take time and money to clear away and trapping people in their homes and cars. The Hawaiian Islands are made entirely out of shield volcanoes. Hawaii's Mauna Loa is the largest active shield volcano in the world. Nearly all volcanoes have Lava Plateaus around them. A lava plateau is a large area formed by lava that rises more than 600 meters above sea level.
I created this picture in Paint
I found my pictures at:
http://www.usgs.gov/education/learnweb/volcano/index.html
and
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/HCV/kilauea.html
