earth science

Lava pillars

Lava pillars is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lava pillars rather than just read about it. In short: Lava pillars are common within collapsed sheet flow terrain. Lava pillars are hollow inside forming a pipe-like channel between the bottom and the top of a lava flow.

Key takeaways

Lava pillars belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lava pillars to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lava pillars from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lava pillars are common within collapsed sheet flow terrain. Lava pillars are hollow inside forming a pipe-like channel between the bottom and the top of a lava flow. They sometimes coalesce to form walls or can be attached to other pillars by natural bridges. Lava pillars originate as gaps between lava lobes as a lava flow initially advances. Water that is trapped beneath the flow is heated and channeled upward through these gaps. This cold water promotes rapid growth of the lava crust around the gaps. Then during flow inflation the hollow pillars continue to act as escape-routes for seawater trapped beneath the lava flow, and so the gaps between lobes grow upwards into pipe-like pillars. The height of the lava pillars is a measure of the maximum thickness the lava flow attained. After lava inflation ends and the eruption wanes, the molten interior of the sheet flow typically subsides leaving a series of "bathtub rings" along the sides of the pillars. These rings are formed as the crust on the subsiding lava repeatedly adheres to and then breaks off from the pillar's sides. Lava pillars may continue to act as fluid conduits for years after an eruption. In uncollapsed lobate terrain, diffuse hydrothermal venting is typically focused in the depressions within the lobate lavas, which are probably underlain by pillars. Circ Vent is one example of this vent style, and is but one of dozens of similar vents within the same lobate terrain near the eastern edge of the flow from the Axial Seamount eruption in January 1998. Lava pillars exposed within collapse areas are visible in the Rumble and Marker 33 areas.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lava pillars

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lava pillars claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lava pillars before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lava pillars ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lava pillars

In research: Lava pillars appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lava pillars in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lava pillars is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Igneous rocks, Volcanology, Volcanology stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lava pillars outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lava pillars in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lava pillars means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lava pillars out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lava pillars in simple terms?

Lava pillars are common within collapsed sheet flow terrain. Lava pillars are hollow inside forming a pipe-like channel between the bottom and the top of a lava flow.

Why does Lava pillars matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lava pillars?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lava pillars.