Article: Pillow basalt.(Word to the Wise)(Editorial)

Basalt is a fine-grained igneous rock that is primarily composed of the iron- and magnesium-rich minerals pyroxene and olivine and calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar. It forms from the rapid cooling of mafic (Si[O.sub.2] concentration between 48 and 52 wt. %) magma. When basaltic magma is extruded slowly into water (picture extrusion of toothpaste from a tube), a chilled rind will form on all sides of the extrusion. The hot rind is solid but elastic (like a balloon), and continuous injection of lava into it leads to bulbous, spherical, or tubular lobes that eventually solidify to form pillow-shaped masses of basalt. Not surprisingly these masses are called pillow basalts, ...

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