The vast majority of lava out there falls into one of three types: mafic, intermediate, and felsic. They're also called basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic lavas, respectively. (There are other ...

This “felsic” lava is far less common than the more fluid types you tend to see at, for example, Hawaii’s continuously erupting Kilauea; it’s so gloopy that it traps plenty of gas, and ...

Pre-mission mapping and studies indicated to the geology team that the plains and mountains of Descartes are felsic volcanoes, having the morphology of lava domes and ash flows on Earth.

Once you're above 67% by weight silica, you're into "silicic" or "felsic" lava, typified by rhyolite. Eruptions of rhyolite usually form lava domes or explosive eruptions.

Lava can be typed by chemical signature as well. Basaltic lava is mafic, an abbreviation of two of its prevalent elements, magnesium and ferrum, derived from the Latin word for iron. Rhyolitic lava is ...