A mafic volcanic eruption is one characterized by lava flows low in silica and high in iron and magnesium. Rhyolitic lava flows are viscous in nature and form lava domes that are thick and blocky.

The lava flows in Hawaii are mafic, lava hotter 950 degrees Celsius. It’s low-viscosity, smoothly flowing in a runny mess. Because gas can escape readily, the eruptions are gentle and about as ...

This mafic lava allows gas to escape easily, resulting in burbling, gentle eruptions with small lava fountains and creeping lava flows building into gently-curved shield volcanoes.

An estimated 90 percent of lava flows are mafic, consisting of around 50 percent silica (SiO2). This kind of lava has the lowest viscosity and gas content; it's the classic bright-red flow you ...

Basalt, which is common in volcanic eruptions across the globe, is the most mafic (that is, lowest silica and highest magnesium) lava erupting on modern Earth.

The ongoing eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii has brought volcano jargon to the surface, like an effusion of mafic (that’s low-silica, oozing magma to you).

This is due to the low concentration of silica in the lava, and characteristic of basalt or mafic lava. Above you can see someone from the USGS sampling a lava flow from Kilauea Volcano.

That explosion and resulting flow on May 19 was only the precursory event before the main show. By the morning of May 20, new lava arrived in the vacated summit crater.

These mafic magmas heated and melted the surrounding crust, making a small and very hot batch of rhyolite magma that subsequently erupted to form features like the Obsidian Cliff flow.

Formed in 2012, Ontario-based Mafic Inc. produces composite fibers made from basalt rock, which is formed by the rapid cooling and solidification of lava exposed to the earth’s surface. The ...

All of the volcanic rocks returned from the Moon by the Apollo astronauts are mafic. Most of them are basalts – lava erupted as quiet, fissure-fed sheets.