Part 5 - Analyze and interpret your results

Its time to put it all together!

  1. Based on your observatios in the western United States, rank the following volcanic landforms in order of increasing size: lava dome, stratovolcano, shield, and cinder cone.
  2. How does the size of the shield volcano in this exercise compare to the shield volcanoes in Hawaii?
  3. Which volcano type has the greatest variation in magma composition?
  4. Based on your observations of the ten volcanoes, which rock types are associated with the following volcano types?--lava dome, stratovolcano, shield, cinder cone, caldera
  5. Contrast the sizes and shapes of individual lava flows that you observed associated with the lava domes and cinder cone in this exercise.
  6. Based on your observations recorded on your data table, is there a basis for linking aspects of volcano morphology with magma composition? What is the reason why magmas of different composition form different types of landforms? (hint: the answer is provided earlier in this exercise)
  7. How might you improve on what you just did in this exercise to better study the link between magma composition and volcano morphology? List three things you would do differently.

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