Volcanic cone in the context of Mount Azuma

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and explosive eruptions. Some have collapsed summit craters called calderas. The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and solidifies before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high to intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less viscous mafic magma. Extensive felsic lava flows are uncommon, but can travel as far as 8 kilometres (5 miles).

The term composite volcano is used because strata are usually mixed and uneven instead of neat layers. They are among the most common types of volcanoes; more than 700 stratovolcanoes have erupted lava during the Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years), and many older, now extinct, stratovolcanoes erupted lava as far back as Archean times. Stratovolcanoes are typically found in subduction zones but they also occur in other geological settings. Two examples of stratovolcanoes famous for catastrophic eruptions are Krakatoa in Indonesia (which erupted in 1883 claiming 36,000 lives) and Mount Vesuvius in Italy (which erupted in 79 A.D killing an estimated 2,000 people). In modern times, Mount St. Helens (1980) in Washington State, US, and Mount Pinatubo (1991) in the Philippines have erupted catastrophically, but with fewer deaths.

Mount Vesuvius (/vəˈsuːviəs/ və-SOO-vee-əs) is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae and other settlements. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ash and volcanic gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), erupting molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 6×10 cubic metres (7.8×10 cu yd) per second. More than 1,000 people are thought to have died in the eruption, though the exact toll is unknown. The only surviving witness account consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.

A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilometres long. Fissure vents can cause large flood basalts which run first in lava channels and later in lava tubes. After some time, the eruption tends to become focused at one or more spatter cones. Volcanic cones and their craters that are aligned along a fissure form a crater row. Small fissure vents may not be easily discernible from the air, but the crater rows (see Laki) or the canyons (see Eldgjá) built up by some of them are.

The dikes that feed fissures reach the surface from depths of a few kilometers and connect them to deeper magma reservoirs, often under volcanic centers. Fissures are usually found in or along rifts and rift zones, such as Iceland and the East African Rift. Fissure vents are often part of the structure of shield volcanoes.

Mayon (Central Bikol: Bulkan Mayon; Tagalog: Bulkang Mayon, IPA: [mɐ'jɔn]), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renowned for its "perfect cone" because of its symmetric conical shape, and is regarded as sacred in Philippine mythology.

The volcano with its surrounding landscape was declared a national park on July 20, 1938, the first in the nation. It was reclassified as a natural park and renamed the Mayon Volcano Natural Park in 2000. It is the centerpiece of the Albay Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in 2016, and is currently being nominated as a World Heritage Site.

A somma volcano, also known as a sommian, is a volcanic caldera that has been partially filled by a new central cone. The type is named after Mount Somma ("Summit"), a stratovolcano in southern Italy with a summit caldera in which the upper cone of Mount Vesuvius has grown. Other examples of somma volcanoes can be found on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, stretching south from Kamchatka to Hokkaidō, Japan.

Some examples of somma volcanoes are the following:

A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, conical landform of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or lava fountains from a single, typically cylindrical, vent.

As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as either cinders, clinkers, or scoria around the vent to form a cone that is often symmetrical, with slopes between 30° and 40° and a nearly circular base. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit.

Xitle (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃitɬe] Nahuatl, "navel") is a monogenetic volcano in the Ajusco range in Cumbres del Ajusco National Park. It is located in the Tlalpan borough in the southwestern part of Mexico City. It is an ash cone volcano with a conical form, round base, altitude of approximately 300m, and a slope between 30° and 40°.

Xitle erupted during the period AD 245-315, according to the results of radiocarbon dating. Among the consequences of this eruption were the formation of the Pedregal de San Ángel lava fields, to the south of the Mexican Federal District. Cuicuilco, one of the most refined cities of Mesoamerica, was destroyed and covered by lava. The subsequent diaspora of the Cuicuilcans, and the attendant diffusion of their culture across most of central Mexico, influenced important cultural changes in the nearby power center of Teotihuacan.

Mount Pelée or Mont Pelée (/pəˈleɪ/ pə-LAY; French: la montagne Pelée [la mɔ̃taɲ pəle], lit. 'bald mountain' or 'peeled mountain'; Antillean Creole: Montann Pèlé) is an active volcano at the northern end of Martinique, an island and French overseas department in the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of stratified layers of hardened ash and solidified lava. Its most recent eruption was in 1932.

The stratovolcano's 1902 eruption destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing 29,000 to 30,000 people in the space of a few minutes, in the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. The main eruption, on 8 May 1902, left only three known survivors. Ludger Sylbaris survived because he was in a poorly ventilated, dungeon-like jail cell. Léon Compère-Léandre, living on the edge of the city, escaped with severe burns. The third was a young girl named Havivra Da Ifrile, who fled to a nearby sea cave in a boat, enduring burns from falling ash.

Anyuyskiy (Russian: Анюйский Вулкан; Annuyskiy Vulkan) is an extinct volcano in the Anyuy Mountains, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Far Eastern Russia. It is formed by two systems: one is formed by long lava flows which disrupted the valley of the Monni River. Later, a volcanic cone formed, experiencing explosive activity and eventually extruding a long lava flow.

The volcano erupted more than one cubic kilometre of lava. It was considered to have been active during the 14th and 18th centuries, but radiometric dating has shown ages of almost 250,000 years ago.

Whakaari / White Island ([faˈkaːɾi], Māori: Te Puia Whakaari, lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated 48 km (30 mi) from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty. The island covers an area of approximately 325 ha (800 acres), which is just the peak of a much larger submarine volcano.

The island is New Zealand's most active cone volcano, and has been built up by continuous volcanic activity over the past 150,000 years. The nearest mainland towns are Whakatāne and Tauranga. The island has been in a nearly continuous stage of releasing volcanic gas at least since it was sighted by James Cook in 1769. Whakaari erupted continually from December 1975 until September 2000, and also erupted in 2012, 2016, and 2019.

Puerto de la Cruz is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It was formerly known by its English translation, "Port of the Cross", although now it is known by its Spanish name in all languages. Puerto de la Cruz is located on the northern coast, 4 km (2 mi) northwest of La Orotava and 30 km (19 mi) west of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The TF-5 motorway passes through the municipality. The population is 30,483 (2018). In Spanish, the local inhabitants are known as Portuenses. With an area of 8.73 km (3 sq mi), the municipality is the smallest in Tenerife. The elevation of the town's centre is 9 m (30 ft) above sea level and the highest point being Las Arenas, a volcanic cone with an elevation of 249 m (817 ft).

A volcanic group, depending on context, is either (1) a group of related volcanoes in the form of volcanic fields, volcanic complexes and cone clusters, or (2) a stratigraphic group consisting of volcanic strata.

Mount Ngauruhoe (Māori: Ngāuruhoe) is a volcanic cone in New Zealand. It is the youngest vent in the Tongariro stratovolcano complex on the Central Plateau of the North Island and first erupted about 2,500 years ago. Although often regarded as a separate mountain, geologically, it is a secondary cone of Mount Tongariro.

The volcano lies between the active volcanoes of Mount Tongariro to the north and Mount Ruapehu to the south, to the west of the Rangipo Desert and 25 kilometres (16 miles) to the south of the southern shore of Lake Taupō.

Pico do Fogo (Portuguese: [ˈpiku du ˈfoɡu]; lit. 'Peak of Fire') is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, rising to 2,829 metres (9,281 ft) above sea level. The main cone last erupted in 1680, causing mass emigration from the island. A subsidiary vent erupted in 1995. The only deadly eruption was in 1847 when earthquakes killed several people.

Fogo, which means "fire" in Portuguese, is a hotspot volcanic island. Its most recent eruptions occurred in 1951, 1995 and 2014. It is the youngest and most active volcano in the Cape Verde Islands, a short chain of volcanic islands that generally are younger at the western end, formed as the African Plate moved towards the east over the hotspot.