But as a shield volcano, Kilauea doesn’t have explosive, Mt. St. Helens-type eruptions. Instead, it emits a steady stream of fluid lava that generally flows gently down the side of the mountain ...

They're also called composite volcanoes. Mount Rainier in Washington is a famous stratovolcano. Shield volcanoes are big, broad volcanoes made up of oozy lava flows that erupt from multiple vents.

Image caption, This is lava running from a shield volcano - a volcano formed where the tectonic plates move away from each other. Shield volcanoes on the other hand form at constructive tectonic ...

Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, is an example of a composite volcano. Shield volcanoes do not have such violent eruptions. These volcanoes tend to have gentle slopes and their runnier lava spreads ...