Volcano

A volcano is a geological landform usually generated by the eruption through a vent in a planet's surface of magma, molten rock welling up from the planet's interior. Volcanoes of various types are found on other planets and their moons as well as on earth. Roughly defined, a volcano consists of a magma chamber, pipes and vents. The magma chamber is where magma from deep within the planet pools, while pipes are channels that lead to surface vents, openings in the volcano's surface through which lava is ejected during an eruption.

Though the common perception of a volcano as mountain spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater in its top is not wrong per se, the features of volcanoes are much more complicated and vary from volcano to volcano depending on a number of factors. Some volcanoes even have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater, whereas others present landscape features such as massive plateaus. Vents that issue volcanic material and gases can be located anywhere on the landform.