Fresh basalt from La Palma eruption (image: INVOLCAN)
Volcanologists published the first image of a lava sample from the current eruption at the volcano. The lava is of basaltic composition containing phenocrysts of plagioclase and pyroxene.
Basalt is a fine-grained, mafic igneous rock characterized by lower viscosity and lower gas content related to hawaiian and strombolian eruptions.