• Question: what is lava made from?

    Asked by han22511 to James on 11 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: James Hickey

      James Hickey answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Hi han22511, great question! I should start by explaining what lava is…

      Underground, we call rocks that are partially melted ‘magma’. They are only partially melted, or molten, because different parts melt at different temperatures. When magma makes its way to the surface and erupts out of a volcano it changes slightly, and we call it ‘lava’.

      So lava is a mixture of 3 things: bubbles of volcanic gas, crystals and volcanic glass.

      The bubbles form because gases that were dissolved start to come out of the mixture (like when you open a bottle of coke). The crystals form because parts of the magma that were hot have started to cool down and solidify. The volcanic glass is formed by the faster cooling once the lava is on the cold Earth surface.

      I hope that answers your question 🙂

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