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📘 Magma is molten rock with a route to travel

Magma is molten rock beneath Earth's surface, but it is not always a completely liquid pool.

5
lessons
~25 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Inside EarthIdentify magma, conduits, vents, and the path from reservoir to surface.Buoyant magma rises through fractures and erupts as lava, ash, and fragments.
  2. Pressure and gasExplain how falling pressure and bubbles drive eruption style.Gas escape versus trapping helps separate effusive flows from explosive fragmentation.
  3. Viscosity and lavaRelate magma viscosity to flow distance and cone shape.Runny basalt spreads widely; sticky magma piles up near the vent.
  4. Building the coneCompare cinder cones, shield volcanoes, and stratovolcanoes.Repeated eruptions add lava and fragmental layers that set a volcano's profile.
  5. Layers and changeConnect lahars, calderas, erosion, and monitoring to cone history.Volcanoes grow, collapse, erode, and can be watched for signs of new activity.

Questions this course answers

What is magma?

Magma is molten rock below the surface and may contain crystals and dissolved gas.

What does a conduit do?

A conduit is a pathway from a magma reservoir toward a surface vent.

Why can magma rise?

Buoyancy can help less-dense magma rise through fractures in solid rock.

What is a vent?

A vent is an opening where volcanic material reaches the surface.

When is magma called lava?

Magma is called lava once it reaches Earth's surface.

What happens to pressure as magma rises?

The weight of overlying rock decreases as magma moves upward.

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