volcanic dome

volcanic dome, any steep-sided mound that is formed when lava reaching the Earth’s surface is so viscous that it cannot flow away readily and accumulates around the vent. Sometimes domes are produced by repeated outpourings of short flows from a summit vent, and, occasionally, extremely viscous lava is pushed up from the vent like a short protrusion of toothpaste from a slightly squeezed tube. More commonly, however, the initial small extruded mass is gradually expanded by new lava being forced up into its interior. Fractures forming in the solidified shell of the expanding dome may allow small flows to escape onto its flanks or around its base, but, for the most part, the growth is simply a slow swelling. As the dome grows, the expanding crust breaks up, and pieces of it roll down to form a heap of angular rock fragments (breccia) around its base. Continued crumbling of the shell of the dome may result in a heap of debris that nearly buries the solid portion of the dome.

Volcanic domes may develop in the summit craters of volcanoes or completely away from any crater. They may attain heights of several hundred metres and measure thousands of metres across. One of the largest known volcanic domes is that constituting the upper part of Lassen Peak in northern California. The Lassen dome rises more than 600 m (2,000 feet) and has a diameter of approximately 3.2 km (2 miles). The Chaos Crags, located just north of Lassen Peak, constitute a row of spectacular domes.