Lava Flows - when rocks flow like molten toothpaste
Lava Flows - molten toothpaste - a lava flow tells its story
My Story - Pretty Hot Stuff!
I'm a basalt lava flow in North Queensland.
I'm just 8000 years old so the First Australians were around when I emerged from the earth and they have stories to prove it!
I'm hot stuff at around 1200 degrees celsius!
You could outrun me as I flow at a walking pace and am a bit like molten toothpaste!
Because I am a liquid I tend to flow down old stream beds and if you look in the image below you can see where I picked up some rounded pebbles from the stream...
Though I am liquid rock I contain water and give off steam. This water is called Juvenile water and comes from deep in the earth NOT from weather.
Often this water falls back down as rain and instantly cools my surface turning it into glass as you can see below:
On top I have a ropy leathery skin but underneath I am still flowing red hot lava!
Where the leathery skin splits I ooze out like ropy toothpaste!
I can also ooze out of cracks called fissures.
Learn more about VOLCANOES and BRECCIAS