Volcano – An opening (a hole) in the Earth's crust from which lava, ash and gases erupt

To remember the meaning of the term Volcano, use the following mnemonic:

VOLCANO

The 'O's in volcano are there to remind you that volcanoes occur because of an 'O' (hole) in the Earth's crust.

There are two main types of volcano – composite volcanoes and shield volcanoes. There is more about these on the following two pages.