What Is Andesitic Lava?

Marcus Vance
Marcus Vance
• • 6 min read

These Viscous Lavas Have Relatively High Aspect Ratios (Thickness/Area), Generally > 1/100, and Some Are Thick Enough to Form as Lava Domes. Andesite Commonly...

What Is Andesitic Lava?

These viscous lavas have relatively high aspect ratios (thickness/area), generally > 1/100, and some are thick enough to form as lava domes. Andesite commonly erupts from stratovolcanoes

stratovolcanoes
The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and hardens before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high-to-intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less-viscous mafic magma.
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, where they form small-volume flows that typically advance only short distances down the flanks of a volcano.

What is andesite lava?

Andesite is a gray to black volcanic rock with between about 52 and 63 weight percent silica (SiO2). ... At the lower end of the silica range, andesite lava may also contain olivine. Andesite magma commonly erupts from stratovolcanoes as thick lava flows, some reaching several km in length.

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What is the difference between andesitic and basaltic lava?

Both lavas are formed at different plate boundaries which is why they have different silica contents: the basaltic lava forms from the hot mantle material at constructive plate boundaries and hotspots whereas the andesitic lava forms at destructive plate boundaries from melting crust.

Marcus Vance

Marcus Vance

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Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.