Mount Mayon, also known as the Mayon Volcano, is an active stratovolcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, renowned for its almost symmetric conical shape. Mayon is considered to have the world's most perfectly formed cone due to its symmetry, which was formed through layers of pyroclastic and lava flows from past eruptions and erosion.
The volcano is located on the convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is driven under the Philippine Mobile Belt. The lighter continental plate floats over top of the oceanic plate, forcing it down into the Earth's mantle, and allowing magma to well up from the Earth’s interior. The magma exits through weaknesses in the continental crust, one of which is Mount Mayon. In fact, Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines having erupted over 49 times in the past 400 years. Despite this, the volcano has managed to retain its perfect cone shape without suffering any major slides or collapse.
© Amusing Planet, 2014.
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