This is an image of flowing lava.
Click on image for full size
S. Rowland/LPI
Flowing Lava
Lava can move in broad flat lava flows, or it can move through constrictive channels or tubes. Lava flows have a large surface area so they tend to cool quickly and flow slowly. The fastest unconstricted lava flows at about 6 mi/hr (an easy jog), but rarely do they exceed speeds of between 2/3 and 1/3 mi/hr.
Lava in channels or tubes on the other hand can move quite quickly. It tends to stay hotter and maintain a lower viscosity. It can typically move up to 23 mi/hr, a sprinter's top speed. It has, however, been clocked at up to 35mi/hr, which is faster than is humanly possible to run.
You might also be interested in:
This is an example of terrain of Europa which has been flooded by fresh water which subsequently re-froze on the surface. The edges of the flow are "lobate" meaning rounded like a puddle of water. This
...more
Ash is made of millions of tiny fragments of rock and glass formed during a volcanic eruption. Volcanic ash particles are less than 2 mm in size and can be much smaller. Volcanic ash forms in several ways
...more
Cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet above their surroundings. They usually are created of eruptions from a single vent,
...more
Lava can move in broad flat lava flows, or it can move through constrictive channels or tubes. Lava flows have a large surface area so they tend to cool quickly and flow slowly. The fastest unconstricted
...more
Earth’s center, or core, is very hot, about 9000 degrees F. This heat causes molten rock deep within the mantle layer to move. Warm material rises, cools, and eventually sinks down. As the cool material
...more
Many kinds of surface features provide evidence of a sliding lithosphere. When two plates move apart, rising material from the mantle pushes the lithosphere aside. Two types of features can form when
...more
Magma consists of remelted material from Earth's crust and fresh material from the aesthenosphere, relatively near the Earth's surface. When magma is erupted onto the surface in the form of lava, it becomes
...more
