There are many volcanoes that form lava domes around the world. One in particular that is somewhat close to home is Mount St. Helens, located in Washington State. Mount St. Helens is a type of volcano that erupts very sticky magma (magma is the underground version of lava; once magma erupts onto the surface of earth, we call it lava). The eruption of this sticky magma is very gentle and thus begins to pile up near the site of eruption forming a lava dome. The picture below was taken of the lava dome growing in the crater of Mount. St. Helens in 1984 (courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey). Although it may not look like it, the material beneath that dome is very hot, which is why there is hot steam rising from the dome! In 2004, Mount St. Helens began forming new lava domes that we can observe today.