Most volcanoes form at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates, which are huge slabs of crust and upper mantle that fit together like puzzle pieces. Think of these plates as massive rafts floating ...

A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels ...

Some volcanoes, such as the Cascade volcanoes up in Washington and Oregon, are of the type called a stratovolcano. These steep volcanoes sometimes erupt explosively and other times have calmer lava ...