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A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers of hardened lava and tephra. [1] Unlike shield volcanoes , stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and explosive eruptions. [ 2 ]
The word lava comes from Italian and is probably derived from the Latin word labes, which means a fall or slide. [2] [3] An early use of the word in connection with extrusion of magma from below the surface is found in a short account of the 1737 eruption of Vesuvius, written by Francesco Serao, who described "a flow of fiery lava" as an analogy to the flow of water and mud down the flanks of ...
The word volcano (UK: /vɒlˈkeɪnəʊ/; and US /vɔlˈkeɪnoʊ/) originates from the early 17th century, derived from the Italian vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from latin volcānus or vulcānus referring to Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology.