• Question: what is lava made out of?

    Asked by 624tema34 to Kate on 13 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Magma (beneath the surface) and Lava (one it has erupted) is made up of molten rock. When you see if flowing down the volcano it is a mixture of melt (molten rock) cryatals (that have grown as it cools) and air bubbles.

      In chemical terms it’s mainly Silcon and Oxygen (as it cools it crystallises forming crystals of mainly silicate minerals) with a bit of Aluminium, Iron, Sodium, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium, and little splash of many other elements.

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