Lava
hideLava is molten rock expelled by a volcano during eruption. When first expelled from a volcanic vent, it is a liquid at temperatures from 700 °C to 1,200 °C (1,300 °F to 2,200 °F). Although lava is quite viscous, with about 100,000 times the viscosity of water, it can flow great distances before cooling and solidifying, because of both its thixotropic and shear thinning properties.
A lava flow is a moving outpouring of lava, which is created during a non-explosive effusive eruption. When it has stopped moving, lava solidifies to form igneous rock. The term lava flow is commonly shortened to lava. Explosive eruptions produce a mixture of volcanic ash and other fragments called tephra, rather than lava flows. The word "lava" comes from Italian, and is probably derived from the Latin word labes which means a fall or slide. The first use in connection with extruded magma (molten rock below the Earth's surface) was apparently in a short account written by Francesco Serao on the eruption of Vesuvius between May 14 and June 4, 1737. Serao described "a flow of fiery lava" as an analogy to the flow of water and mud down the flanks of the volcano following heavy rain.
For more information about Lava, read the full article at
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News tagged with lava
Do lava lamps and actual lava share similar characteristics?
Oct 14, 2009 |
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When Imre Jánosi's teenage daughter asked him how her new lava lamp worked, she probably expected a quick explanation. But her innocent question sent Jánosi, a physicist at Loránd ...
Researcher hunts for new planets, seeking clues on solar system's origin
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Cornell assistant professor of astronomy works on instrumentation that searches the night skies for planets outside our solar system, called extrasolar planets.
Scientists obtain rocks moving into seismogenic zone
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 09, 2009 |
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An international group of scientists aboard the Deep-Sea Drilling Vessel CHIKYU, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), ...
Lava flows in Daedalia Planum
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Mars Express imaged Daedalia Planum, a sparsely cratered, untextured plain on the Red Planet featuring solidified lava flows of varying ages.
New ancient fungus finding suggests world's forests were wiped out in global catastrophe
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists beleive extinct fungus species capitalised on a world-wide disaster and thrived on early Earth.
Cloudy with a chance of pebble showers: Simulation suggests rocky exoplanet has bizarre atmosphere
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- So accustomed are we to the sunshine, rain, fog and snow of our home planet that we find it next to impossible to imagine a different atmosphere and other forms of precipitation.
Robotics desert test provides NASA with new set of wheels for moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, for two weeks in the Arizona desert at Black Point Lava Flow, NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies group (Desert RATS) conducts technology development tests in anticipation ...
Study on effect of electricity on liquids bucks conventional science (w/ Video)
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether gazing into lava lamps or watching balsamic vinegar mix with olive oil, people have long been transfixed by the seemingly mystical way that droplets of one liquid find each other within ...
Flashback to Neptune's Moon Triton (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Newly released images commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the Voyager flyby of Neptune's moon Triton on Aug. 24, 2009.
Scientists discover new species of crustacean on Lanzarote
Aug 24, 2009 |
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They gracefully swim through the complete darkness of submarine caves, constantly on the lookout for prey. Instead of eyes, predatory crustaceans of the class Remipedia rely on long antennae which search the li ...
'Immersive Dome' -- don't just watch, join the action
Aug 14, 2009 |
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The "Immersive Dome" puts viewers at the heart of the action and lets them actively participate. Instead of the conventional surround sound, a three-dimensional aural experience awaits visitors. At IBC, the ...
Planet Smash-Up Sends Vaporized Rock, Hot Lava Flying (w/ Video)
Aug 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found evidence of a high-speed collision between two burgeoning planets around a young star.
Oxidized lava may help explain Earth's evolution
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 30, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Material from volcanoes where the Earth's plates squeeze together is more oxidized than in regions where the seafloor splits apart, a finding that helps shed light on some of the basic processes in ...
Scientists eye glowing volcano crater in Hawaii
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 07, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The summit of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is glowing brightly as molten lava swirls 300 feet below its crater's floor, bubbling near the surface after years of spewing from the volcano's side.
Scientist says volcanic eruption in Congo imminent
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 07, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Scientists found evidence of intense volcanic activity - including tremors, pools of lava and plumes of smoke - at two volcanoes near a major city in eastern Congo, and said some residents had fled ...
