Monogenetic volcanism: personal views and discussion

Monogenetic volcanism produces small-volume volcanoes with a wide range of eruptive styles, lithological features and geomorphic architectures. They are classified as spatter cones, scoria (or cinder) cones, tuff rings, maars (maar–diatremes) and tuff cones based on the magma/water ratio, dominant eruption styles and their typical surface morphotypes. The common interplay between internal, such as the physical–chemical characteristics of magma, and external parameters, such as groundwater flow, substrate characteristics or topography, plays an important role in creating small-volume volcanoes with diverse architectures, which can give the impression of complexity and of similarities to large-volume polygenetic volcanoes. In spite of this volcanic facies complexity, we defend the term “monogenetic volcano” and highlight the term’s value, especially to express volcano morphotypes. This study defines a monogenetic volcano, a volcanic edifice with a small cumulative volume (typically ≤1 km 3 ) that has been built up by one continuous, or many discontinuous, small eruptions fed from one or multiple magma batches. This definition provides a reasonable explanation of the recently recognized chemical diversities of this type of volcanism.