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Acomplex volcano, also called acompound volcano or avolcanic complex, is a mixedlandform consisting of relatedvolcanic centers and their associatedlava flows andpyroclastic rock.[1] They may form due to changes ineruptive habit or in the location of the principal vent area on a particular volcano.[2]Stratovolcanoes can also form a largecaldera that gets filled in by a lava dome, or else multiple smallcinder cones,lava domes andcraters may develop on the caldera's rim.[2][3]
Although a comparatively unusual type of volcano, they are widespread in the world and in geologic history.Metamorphosed ash flowtuffs are widespread in thePrecambrian rocks of northernNew Mexico, which indicates that caldera complexes have been important for much of Earth's history.Yellowstone National Park is on three partly covered caldera complexes. TheLong Valley Caldera in easternCalifornia is also a complex volcano; theSan Juan Mountains in southwesternColorado are formed on a group ofNeogene-age caldera complexes, and most of theMesozoic andCenozoic rocks ofNevada,Idaho, and eastern California are also caldera complexes and their erupted ash flow tuffs. TheBennett Lake Caldera inBritish Columbia and theYukon Territory is another example of a Cenozoic (Eocene) caldera complex.
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