pyroclastic flows caused by dome volcanoes
Dome volcanoes and stratovolcanoes
Dome volcano on a stratovolcano
Dome volcanoes can produce deadly pyroclastic flows when they collapse on the slopes of a stratovolcano. They travel down the volcano at hurricane speeds destroying everything in their path.
Small round shaped volcano
Lava domes are volcanoes that are round shaped and made of viscous lava. The lava
has a high silica content that prevents the lava from flowing very far
from its vent. Most domes are formed by dacite and rhyolite lavas after an explosive eruption of a stratovolcano.
Lava dome growing in the caldera of Mount Saint Helens USGS
Lava domes in calderas
Where domes form
Lava domes often form in calderas of stratovolcanoes after a major
eruption where the summit of the volcano collapses or is blown away
during the eruption.The lava dome has been increasing in size in the crater of Mount
Saint Helens since the 1980 erupti.
Domes on slopes composite volcanoes
Other small domes form on the side of large composite volcanoes. A
lava dome on the slopes of a composite volcano can become unstable when
hot lava erupts causing pyroclastic flows to form on its slopes. These
deadly pyroclastic flows sweep down the sides of volcanoes killing
everything in their path.
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Lava dome triggered 1902 Martinique eruption of Mont pelee
Mont Pelee eruptions
The 1902 eruption of Mont Pelee in Martinique was triggered by a lava
dome. the pyroclastic flows swept four miles down the side of the
volcano killing 30,000 people in the coastal town of St. Pierre.
Groups of domes created in subduction zones
Mono domes dacite domes in Oregon
Groups of dome volcanoes sometimes form near subduction zones. Small
groups of these domes are located in Oregon and California near the
Cascadia Subduction Zone. Mono domes and Lassen Peak are examples of
domes in California. The picture on this page is one of a group of
dacite domes in Oregon.
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