shield volcanoes tend to erupt magma type of lava.
shield volcanoes tend to erupt what type of lava?
magma
shield volcanoes are distinguished from the three other major volcanic archetypes—stratovolcanoes, lava domes, and cinder cones—by their structural form, a consequence of their unique magmatic composition. of these four forms shield volcanoes erupt the least viscous lavas: whereas stratovolcanoes and especially lava domes are the product of highly immotile flows and cinder cones are constructed by explosively eruptive tephra, shield volcanoes are the product of gentle effusive eruptions of highly fluid lavas that produce, over time, a broad, gently sloped eponymous "shield". although the term is generally ascribed to basaltic shields it has also at times been appended to rarer scutiform volcanoes of differing magmatic composition—principally pyroclastic shields, formed by the accumulation of fragmental material from particularly powerful explosive eruptions, and rarer felsic lava shields formed by unusually fluid felsic magmas. examples of pyroclastic shields include billy mitchell volcano in papua new guinea and the purico complex in chile; an example of a felsic shield is the big obsidian flow in oregon. shield volcanoes are also related in origination to vast lava plateaus and flood basalts present in various parts of the world, generalized eruptive features which occur along linear fissure vents and are distinguished from shield volcanoes proper by the lack of an identifiable primary eruptive center.
shield volcano
on earth, volcanoes are mainly of two types: shield volcanoes and composite or stratovolcanoes. the shield volcanoes, for example those in hawaii, eject magma from the depths of the earth in zones called "hot spots". the lava from these volcanos is relatively fluid and permits the escape of gases. composite volcanos, such as mount saint helens and mount pinatubo, are associated with tectonic plates. in this type of volcano, the oceanic crust of one plate is sliding underneath the other in a subduction zone, together with an inflow of seawater, producing a gummier lava that restricts the exit of the gases, and for that reason, composite volcanoes tend to erupt more violently.
volcanology of venus