With a Geological Twist

Kilauea Iki Lava Lake

Kilauea Iki is a small pit crater just southwest of the summit of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. The pit crater was the site of an eruption in 1959. The main vent was located on the south wall of the pit crater where a cinder cone was constructed.

Volcanic Petrology
Theory and Analysis
Magmatic Histories
Computer Programs
Current SelectionStudies of Rock Types
    Felsic Rocks and Obsidians
    Basalts and Basaltic Rocks
  Current SelectionExplosive Volcanism, Pyroclastic Rocks, and Calderas
  Current SelectionLarge Intracontinental Basaltic Provinces
  Current SelectionVolcanoes Associated with Divergent Plate Boundaries
Teaching Volcanic Petrology
Maps of Volcanoes

Felsic Rocks & Obsidians (FelsicObsid.zip)
Kilauea Iki Lava Lake

 Studies of Rock Types

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You need to look at rocks to master volcanic petrology. In a traditional petrology course, you would spend hours in the lab looking at hand samples and thin sections. In some courses, maps and references to journal articles about the rocks being studied are also provided. The grain sizes of volcanic rocks precludes extracting much information in hand specimen; microscope study of thin sections is required. This electronic text substitutes photomicrographs for thin sections.

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