Classification of Volcanoes: According to Their Recent Activity
There are different classifications of volcanoes, and several factors go into account when attempting to classify them. Some of these factors are a volcano's size, potential impact, periodicity of eruptions, and many more; but the factor that we'll talk about is its recent activity.
Active, dormant and extinct; although these three are the only classifications that we'll take about, these terms doesn't have only one definition. They could mean different things to different people and different volcanoes.
One of the easiest ways to answer is that an active volcano is one that has erupted since the last ice age (i.e., in the past ~10,000 years). That is the definition of active used by the Global Volcanism Program in their catalogs.
( Mayon Volcano, Albay. Source: Sinjin Pineda )
The most famous active volcano here in the Philippines is the Mayon Volcano, an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol Region, on the large island of Luzon in the Philippines. Renowned as the "perfect cone" because of its symmetric-conical shape.
A dormant volcano would then be one that hasn’t erupted in the past 10,000 years, but which is expected to erupt again.
( Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Source: Wikipedia )
One of the most famous dormant volcanoes would be Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing
4,207 m above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii.
An extinct volcano would be one that nobody expects to ever erupt again.
( Lake Sampaloc, Laguna )
For example: Lake Sampaloc, an inactive volcanic maar on the island of Luzon, the Philippines. It is the largest of the Seven Lakes of San Pablo, Laguna. Nearly half of the lake's depth has a shallow depression at the bottom, indicating its volcanic origin.
And there folks, are the classifications of volcanoes according to its recent activity. We give credits to Oregon State University for these useful informations.
There are still more classifications of volcanoes that we'll tackle, so tune in for more science lessons, subscribe, comment down below if you have any suggestions... and always stay curious.