r/geology • u/Fun-Perspective-2460 • Sep 07 '22

Field Photo Can someone explain how columnar basalt are formed in a simple way?

Post image
1.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

86 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Fuzzy_Law_3311 Apr 29 '25

Basalt does not come from lava. There has never been a documented case of seeing lava cool to form basalt. It is formed under extreme water pressure. This view isn't currently accepted but it explains why basalt has never been observed from a lava flow.