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Pillow lava flows: Isolated sacks or connected tubes?

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Abstract

Observations in the Montgenevre Massif (French-Italian Alps) and in several other pillow basalt localities indicate that most pillowy flows are not made up of isolated spheres or sacks. In sections more or less parallel to the surface of the flow, it can be seen that pillows are in fact part of a system of interconnected fingers or tubes of lava that divide and bifurcate in the direction of flow. In transverse sections however the pillows appear to be isolated because of geometrical reasons.

If this pillow lava structure seems to be the general rule, it is nevertheless likely that in the case of very fluid lavas and on a steep slope, the end of a tube or a new bud may become detached and roll down the bank in front of the flow to form an isolated spheroid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section des Sciences de la Terre, Universite de Genève, Switzerland

    M. Vuagnat

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  1. M. Vuagnat
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Vuagnat, M. Pillow lava flows: Isolated sacks or connected tubes?. Bull Volcanol 39, 581–589 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596978

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596978

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