Conical hill
A conical hill (also cone or conical mountain) is a
Conical hills or mountains occur in different shapes and are not necessarily geometrically-shaped cones; some are more tower-shaped or have an asymmetric curve on one side of the hill. Typically, however, they have a circular base and smooth sides with a gradient of up to 30°. Such conical mountains are found in all volcanically-formed areas of the world such as the
.Term
The conical hill as a geomorphological term first appeared in the German language, as Kegelberg, coined by Goethe and geologists of his era. From their natural appearance these were mostly basaltic or phonolitic landforms in the shape of a mathematical cone, hence why the term came to be used in the early geological literature.
The first systematic geological mapping of the
In this work, which was published by Naumann and later revised by
Today the descriptors "cone", "conical hill" or "conical mountain" are mainly used as morphological terms in geography for a steep-sided, isolated hill or mountain, because they are not always seen or described in connexion with volcanic processes.[3]
Formation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Damavand_in_winter.jpg/220px-Damavand_in_winter.jpg)
Volcanic cone
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Kodaki_fuji_frm_shojinko_refurb.jpg/220px-Kodaki_fuji_frm_shojinko_refurb.jpg)
All stratovolcanoes and shield volcanoes have a tendency to form a cone at the surface. However, stratovolcanoes are able to form steeper sides whilst shield volcanoes only form very flat cones. The reason for this is that stratovolcanoes are composed largely of solid, eruptive material, whereas shield volcanoes are built up mainly by fluid lava flows.
Over the course of time, after several
Karst cones
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Bohol_Hills%2C_Chocolate_Hills_3%2C_Philippines.jpg/220px-Bohol_Hills%2C_Chocolate_Hills_3%2C_Philippines.jpg)
Conical hills may form in tropical
Erosion-formed cones
In almost all mountain regions of the world, conical peaks may be formed by
Artificial cone hills
The artificially created hills or mounds associated, for example, with mining also tend to be cone-shaped. These artificial hills are also free-standing and, once tipping has finished, they may become conical hills overgrown with vegetation. However, as artificial features they are classed as spoil tips rather than natural hills.
See also
- Geomorphology
- Inliers and outliers
- Spoil tip
- Table hill
- Volcanic cone
References
- ^ Naumann: Section VII, pp. 61-62
- ^ Naumann: Section VII, p. 94
- ISBN 3-423-03422-X.
Literature
- Carl Friedrich Naumann (ed.), Bernhard Cotta (revisor): Erläuterungen zu Section VII der geognostischen Charte des Königreiches Sachsen und der angränzenden Länderabtheilungen oder: Geognostische Skizze der gegenden zwischen Schandau, Zittau, Kratzau, Gabel, Böhmisch-Leipe, Wernstadtel und Tetschen. Dresden und Leipzig, (Arnoldische Buchhandlung) 1840