cinder cone
A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep conical hill of volcanic fragments that accumulate around and downwind from a volcanic vent.[ Cinder cones range in size from tens to hundreds of meters tall.][ Cinder cones are made of pyroclastic material.]
Many cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit. Lava flows are usually erupted by cinder cones, either through a breach on one side of the crater or from a vent located on a flank.[ If the crater is fully breached, the remaining walls form an amphitheatre or horseshoe shape around the vent. Lava rarely issues from the top (except as a fountain) because the loose, uncemented cinders are too weak to support the pressure exerted by molten rock as it rises toward the surface through the central vent.]
Cinder cones are commonly found on the flanks of shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes, and calderas.[ For example, geologists have identified nearly 100 cinder cones on the flanks of Mauna Kea, a shield volcano located on the Island of Hawaii.][ These cones are also referred to as scoria cones and cinder and spatter cones.]
Perhaps the most famous cinder cone, Paricutin, grew out of a corn field in Mexico in 1943 from a new vent.[ Eruptions continued for 9 years, built the cone to a height of 424 meters, and produced lava flows that covered 25 km².]
The Earth's most historically active cinder cone is Cerro Negro in Nicaragua.[ It is part of a group of four young cinder cones NW of Las Pilas volcano.][ Since it was born in 1850, it has erupted more than 20 times, most recently in 1992 and 1995.]
See also
 Volcanic cone
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