Volcanic crater

Short description: Roughly circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity

Craters on Nemrut (volcano) Craters on Mount Cameroon Queen's Crater (Kawah Ratu), biggest crater of Mount Tangkuban Parahu, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity.[1] It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an underground magma chamber, through a conduit, until they reach the crater's vent, from where the gases escape into the atmosphere and the magma is erupted as lava. A volcanic crater can be of large dimensions and sometimes of great depth. During certain types of explosive eruptions, a volcano's magma chamber may empty enough for an area above it to subside, forming a type of larger depression known as a caldera.

## Geomorphology

In most volcanoes, the crater is situated at the top of a mountain formed from the erupted volcanic deposits such as lava flows and tephra. Volcanoes that terminate in such a summit crater are usually of a conical form. Other volcanic craters may be found on the flanks of volcanoes, and these are commonly referred to as flank craters. Some volcanic craters may fill either fully or partially with rain and/or melted snow, forming a crater lake.[2] These lakes may become soda lakes, many of which are associated with active tectonic and volcanic zones.[3]

A crater may be breached during an eruption, either by explosions or by lava, or through later erosion. Breached craters have a much lower rim on one side.

Some volcanoes, such as maars, consist of a crater alone, with scarcely any mountain at all. These volcanic explosion craters are formed when magma rises through water-saturated rocks, which causes a phreatic eruption. Volcanic craters from phreatic eruptions often occur on plains away from other obvious volcanoes. Not all volcanoes form craters.

Irazú Volcano, Costa Rica

## See also

* Company:Caldera

## References

1. ↑ "Glossary of Terms: C". physicalgeography.net. http://www.physicalgeography.net/physgeoglos/c.html.
2. ↑ "Volcanic Craters" (in en). US National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/volcanic-craters.htm.
3. ↑ Kempe, Stephan; Kazmierczak, Józef (January 2011a). "Soda Lakes". in Joachim Reitner and Volker Thiel. Encyclopedia of Geobiology. pp. 824–829. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_192. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299748191.

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Earth's landform

List of landforms

Mountainous|

* Table
* Butte
* Flat
* Hill
* Mountain
* Mountain range
* Plateau
* Ridge
* Valley

Continental plain|

* Ice sheet
* Plain
* Steppe
* Tundra

Fluvial|

* Alluvial fan
* Beach
* Canyon
* Cave
* Channel
* Cliff
* Floodplain
* Lake
* Levee
* Meander
* Oasis
* Pond
* Rapids
* River
* River delta
* River mouth
* River valley
* Strait
* Swamp
* Waterfall

Glacial|

* Arête
* Cirque
* Esker
* Fjord
* Glacier
* Ice field
* Tunnel valley

Oceanic and
coastal landforms|

* Atoll
* Bay
* Cape
* Channel
* Coast
* Continental shelf
* Coral reef
* Estuary
* High island
* Island
* Isthmus
* Lagoon
* Mid-ocean ridge
* Oceanic trench
* Peninsula
* Seamount

Volcanic|

* Caldera
* Crater lake
* Geyser
* High island
* Mid-ocean ridge
* Lava dome
* Lava field
* Lava plateau
* Submarine volcano
* Guyot
* Volcanic crater
* Volcanic plug
* Volcano
* Wall rock

Aeolian|

* Desert
* Dry lake
* Dune
* Sandhill
* Tundra

Artificial|

* Artificial island
* Artificial reef
* Bridge
* Building
* Canal
* Dam
* Ditch
* Land reclamation
* Levee
* Polder
* Quarry
* Reservoir
* Road
* Tunnel

* See also: Geographical feature

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