Earth Sciences Commons^™

The Morphology Of Lava Flows In Planetary Environments: Predictions From Analog Experiments, Ross W. Griffiths, Jonathan H. Fink

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The rates of surface cooling and lateral spreading are evaluated for lava flows on the surface of Earth, Venus, Mars, the Moon, and 10. Differences between the flow morphologies expected in these environments are then predicted under the assumption that the results of recent laboratory simulations oflavas using wax extruded beneath cold water (Fink and Griffiths, 1990) can be carried over. These experiments involved the spreading of viscous liquid under gravity in the presence of a solidifying surface crust and revealed a set of four distinct surface morphologies. Transitions from one morphology to the next occurred in a well-defined sequence …