Basalt

Basalt lava (glowing rock) oozes over basalt lava flow

Basalt is a hard, black volcanic rock with less than about 52 weight percent silica (). Because of basalt's low silica content, it has a low viscosity (resistance to flow). Therefore, basaltic lava can flow quickly and easily move more than 20 km from a vent. The low viscosity typically allows volcanic gases to escape without generating enormous eruption columns. Basaltic lava fountains and fissure eruptions, however, still form explosive fountains hundreds of meters tall. Common minerals in basalt include olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase. Basalt is erupted at temperatures between 1100 and 1250 °C and is the most widely distributed rock in the world.[1]

## Extenral Sources[edit]

USGS Photo Glossary

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Ari Trausti Gudmundsson, Halldor Kjartansson (2007, 2015). "The Foundation: Mostly Basalt", Living Earth: Outline of the Geology of Iceland. Mág o menning. ISBN 978-9979-3-3360-9.

## See also[edit]

Age of the Earth: Evolutionists vs. “odius spectre” Kelvin