A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid magma flows. A type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid magma flows.
Shield volcanoes are not the only type of volcano that forms on the ocean floor, nor are all shield volcanoes formed only in the sea. As shield volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands build up from the sea floor they are known as sea mounts-undersea mountains. Shield Volcanoes. Shield volcanoes are the largest volcanoes on Earth that actually look like volcanoes (i.e. not counting flood basalt flows). The Hawaiian shield volcanoes are the most famous examples. Shield volcanoes are almost exclusively basalt, a type of lava that is very fluid when erupted. 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. Shield Volcano Facts. A shield volcano resembles the appearance of a Hawaiian warrior’s shield in that they have a low-angle profile. In almost all cases the comparison to a shield is done because the width of these volcanoes is typically around 20 times the size of their height. 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. One of the two most important types of volcanoes, shield volcanoes are large and broad and have relatively gentle slopes. Kilauea on the island of Hawaii is good example of a shield volcano. Eruptions on shield volcanoes are far less explosive than those on composite volcanoes.
http://www.extremescience.com/shield-volcanoes.htm http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/shield-volcanoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_volcano http://www.basicplanet.com/shield-volcano/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_volcano http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/earth/surface_and_interior/shield_volcano
what are shield volcanoes