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volcanic glass

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volcanic glass

Any glassy rock formed from lava or magma that has a chemical composition close to that of granite. Such molten material may reach very low temperatures without crystallizing, but its viscosity may become very high. Because high viscosity inhibits crystallization, the combination of sudden cooling and loss of volatiles, as when lava extrudes from a volcanic vent, tends to chill the material to a glass rather than crystallize it.


volcanic glass [väl′kan·ik ′glas]
(geology)
Natural glass formed by the cooling of molten lava, or one of its liquid fractions, too rapidly to allow crystallization.


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Saal's analysis involved polishing tiny grains of volcanic glass in the rocks to get to the chemical composition inside.
The soil also contained round, black glassy specks that could be volcanic glass, said mission scientist Tom Pike of Imperial College in London.
At right, a glass beaker holds orange microbial material slurped up by Camper's vacuum sampler, as well as tiny black shards of volcanic glass that covered large areas of the Gakkel Ridge seafloor.
 
 
 
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