A shield volcano is a broad-based, gently sloping formation, more nearly resembling an overturned bowl than a cone. It is built by a succession of thin, wide-spreading lava flows. In addition, volcanic mountains that have broad profile are filed up through the years by flowing fluid called basaltic lava.
In other words, this can be described, too, to be a gently sloping incline with a relatively large diameter at its base. This type is formed by lava which is so fluid that it flows and reaches farther down before solidifying, hence, the wider base.Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii exemplifies this type. Normally, shield volcanoes have 1/20th in height. Most of the largest volcanoes are shield volcanoes.
On the other hand, composite cone volcano is a composition cone formed by alternate layers of lava and cinders. It is steep-sided, stubby-topped formation built around a vent and consists almost entirely of cinder and ash. It means that it is intermediate in steepness between a lava cone and a cinder cone.Moreover, usually the cone is relatively low and is formed during the first few months or years of a volcano’s existence. If most of the largest volcanoes are shield volcanoes, the composite cone volcanoes are the world’s major volcanoes.
They are large require hundred of years to build, and are made up of alternating of lava and fragmented material ejected from the volcano. The sides are less steep than those of a cinder cone; the top is usually more pointed. Composite cones are also called strato-volcanoes and Fujiyama, in Japan, is a classic example.
