Of the seven different types of volcanoes, there are three primary types of volcanoes. (1) Cinder Cones, (2) Shield volcanoes and (3) Strato volcanoes, the third type, are also called Composite volcanoes or Dome volcanoes.

A fourth, less common type is a (4) Super volcano or caldera, which forms over a hot spot of magma.

Also less common are (5) Rift volcanoes and (6) Fissure volcanoes, both which are long cracks in the earth′s surface out of which lava exudes, usually in large amounts. Rifts are usually larger than fissures and normally rifts are found at divergent plates on land where fissures are found at divergent plates in mid ocean ridges.

Last in the list of Volcano types are the (7) Lava Domes. For more information about rock types and volcano types, please select the blue link directly above this section.

The Ring of Fire is a 25,000 mile horseshoe shaped ring surrounding the area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean which ring accounts for approximately 90 percent of the world′s earthquakes and 81 percent of the world′s largest earthquakes. This ring contains 452 volcanoes which is more than seventy-five percent of the active and dormant volcanoes on the Earth.

Of the 452 volcanoes, Alaska is home to a large number, about 80 of which are considered major volcanic centers that consist of one or more volcanoes, with 40 considered to be active volcanoes. One volcano, however, that is an active volcanic caldera in SW Alaska, on the Alaska Peninsula is the largest explosion crater in the world.

The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics which is the movement and collisions of the subdivided portions of the outermost combined two layers of the Earth, the crust and uppermost solid mantle. These subdivided separate portions are commonly called plates which include both oceanic crust and continental crusts. As tectonic plates collide, a subduction zone is formed.

Subduction is a geological process that takes place at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced or sinks due to gravity into the mantle. The average rate of subduction is one to three inches per year along most boundaries.

Subduction zones are sites that usually have a high rate of volcanism and earthquakes. The crust of the overriding plate goes through a process called orogeny which in turn leads to the creation of mountains by volcanic action.

Silverthrone Caldera (10,370 feet) Last eruption: About 100,000 years ago

Franklin Glacier Volcano (6,600 feet) Last eruption: 2.2 mya

Mount Meager (8790 feet) Last eruption: 410 BCE

Mount Cayley (7825 feet) Last eruption: 400,000 years ago

Mount Garibaldi ( feet) Last eruption: 400,000 years ago

Mount Aniakchak Caldera, Alaska. Last eruption: 1931

Mount Shishaldin (9373 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 2000 CE

Mount Katmai (6716 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: See Novarupta

Mount Redoubt (9902 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 2009 CE

Mount Pavlof (8251 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 2019 CE

Mount Veniaminof (8226 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 04 Sept 2018 CE

Novarupta (2759 feet) Lava Dome Last eruption: 6-8 June 1912 CE

Mount LLiamna (10,016 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 1778 CE

Mount Spurr (11,069 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 27 June 1992 CE

Mount Cleveland (5,676 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: June 1, 2020 CE

Mount Wrangell (14,163 feet) Shield volcano. Last eruption: 1930 CE.

Makushin (6,680 feet) Last eruption: January 1995 CE

Fourpeaked Volcano (6903 feet) Last eruption: September 2006 CE

Sunset Crater Last eruption: 1085 CE

Lassen Peak Volcano, California. Last eruption: 22 May 1915 CE

Medicine Lake Volcano, Last eruption: 900 CE. Notable areas: Lava Beds

Mount Shasta Volcano. Last eruption: 1786

Haleakala Volcano, Last eruption: 1600 CE

Kilauea Volcano, Last eruption: 1983 CE to present

Mona Loa Volcano, Last eruption: 1984 CE

Craters of the Moon, Last eruption: 2000 years ago

Capulin Volcano, Last eruption: 60,000 years ago

The Malpais, Last eruption: 3200 BCE

Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field, Last eruption: 400 BCE Notable Area: El Maispas

Mount Hood Volcano (11,249 feet)

Mount Jefferson Volcano (11,249 feet)

Mount Mazama (8,157 feet) Caldera, Oregon, Last eruption: 5600 BCE VEI: 7

Newberry Volcano, Oregon. Last eruption: 690 CE

Lava Butte Cinder Cone

Mount McLoughlin (9,499 feet)

Pilot Butte Cinder Cone (4,142 feet)

Three Fingers Jack Volcano (7,844 feet)

Mount Baker (10,781 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 1880 CE

Glacier Peak (10,541 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 1700 CE

White Chuck (6,020 feet) Cinder Cone. Last eruption: unknown

Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 1894 CE

Goat Rocks (8184 feet) Stratovolcano Last eruption: 730,000 years ago

Mount Adams (12,277 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 950 CE

Mount Saint Helens (8363 feet) Stratovolcano. Last eruption: 2008 CE

Indian Heaven (5923 feet) Shield Volcano. Last eruption: 6240 BCE

Tumtum Mountain (2004 feet) Lava Dome Last eruption: 70,000 years ago

Silver Star Mtn (4364 feet) Shield Volcano Last eruption: 340,000 years ago

Yellowstone Caldera Last eruption: 170,000 years ago

Los Atixcos, Vericruz, shield volcano

Barcena, San Benedicto Island, Pacific. cinder cone, 1953 CE

Ceboruco, Nayarit, 930 CE, composite, 1875 CE

Cerro Prieto, Baja California, composite, extinct

Chichinautin, (12,894 feet) Morelos, shield

El Chichon, (3930 feet) Chiapas, composite, 400 CE

Cofre de Petote, (14,049 feet) Veracruz, shield, 1150 CE

Colima, Volcan de, (12,533 feet) Jalisco, composite, 2013 CE to date

Colima, Nevado de (14,015 feet) Jalisco, composite, extinct

Colima, El Cantoro, (9580 feet) Jalisco, composite, extinct

Comondu-La Purisima, (2,559 feet), Baja California Sur, cinder

Coronado, (1444 feet) Island Coronado, composite

Las Cumbres, (12,926 feet), Puebla, composite, 3920 BCE

Derrumbadas, (11,417 feet) Puebla, Twin composite

Durango field, (6,808 feet plus), Durango, cinder cones with maars, extinct

La Gloria field, (11,483 feet), Puebla, composite

Isla Guadalupe, (3,609 feet), Pacific Ocean, shield,

Los Humeros, (10,335 feet), Puebla, composite, 4470 BCE

Iztaccihuatl, (17,342 feet) Puebla, composite, extinct

Jaraguay, (3150 feet) Baja California, composite, extinct

Jocotitlan (Xocotepetl), (12,828 feet) Mexico, composite, 1270 CE

El Jorullo, (10,397 feet) Michoacan, cinder, 1774 CE

La Malinche, (14,636 feet) Tlazcala-Puebla cinder, 1170 CE

Mascota field, (8,399 feet), Jalisco, cinder, extinct

Michoacan field, (12,664 feet), Michoacan-Guanajuanto, cinder, 1952 CE

Moctezuma field, (300 feet), Sonora, composite, extinct

Naolinco field, (6,562 feet), Veracruz, cinder, 1200 BCE

Nevado de Toluca, (15,354 feet) Mexico, composite, 1350 CE

Papayo , (11,811 feet) Mexico, composit, extinct

Paricutin, (9,186 feet), Michoacan, cinder, extinct

Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltepete), (18,701 feet), Veracruz, composite 1846 CE

Pinacate Peaks, (3937 feet), Sonora, composite

Popocatepetl, (17,802 feet), Puebla-Morelos, composite, 2022 CE

Sierra la Primavera, (7450 feet), Jalisco, compoosite, extinct

La Reforma Calders, (3900 feet), Baja California, caldera, extinct

San Borja field, (4462 feet), Baja California, composite, extinct

Isla San Luis, (591 feet), Gulf of California, shield, extinct

San Martin Tuxtla, (5,413 feet), Veracruz, shield, 1796 CE

San Quintin field, (853 feet), Baja California, cinder cones, extinct

Sanganquey, (7,677 feet), Nayarit, composite, 1742 CE

Serdan-Oriental, (11,434 feet), composite, extinct

Socorro Island, (3,445 feet), Pacific Ocean, Shield 1994 CE

Tacana, (13,320 feet), Chiapas-Guatemalla, composite, 1986 CE

Tequila, (9,580 feet), Jalisco, composite, extinct

Isla Tortuga, (689 feet), Gulf of California, shield, extinct

Tres Virgenes, (6,360 feet), Baja California Sur, three composite, extinct

Zitacuaro-Valle de Bravo, (11,483 feet), composite, 3050 BCE