Shield volcano

As the name suggests, a shield volcano is broad and flat, like a shield. Made primarily of lava flows, shield volcanoes are less dangerous than the smaller stratovolcanoes. Examples include the Hawaiian islands, the base of Mount Etna (upon which several stratovolcanoes were built), Geldingadalir in Iceland, and Erta Ale in Ethiopia. Their lavas are generally fluid and runny, allowing them to spread farther from a vent than a stratovolcano’s lava would. As they travel farther from their source they eventually cool, forming a new layer to the shield volcano. Their slopes are weak, and thus prone to fissure eruptions, which send curtains of fire hundreds of feet into the air.

Kilauea is a shield volcano in the United States. Its broad surface features a long series of craters (aptly named the Chain of Craters) on its East Rift Zone, extending from the summit to the eastern tip of the Big Island. In May of 2018, a series of fissures emerged in the Leilani Estates, wiping out dozens of homes and creating massive lava flows.