Mauna Kea, Hawaiʻi, a shield volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid magma flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground.This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from stratovolcanoes.hield 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.