Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Magma becomes lava when it rises up to the Earth’s surface, like when the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in the Democratic Republic ...

T o the untrained eye, the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), in northeastern South Africa, is kind of unassuming. It’s roughly the same size as West Virginia – or, for metric users, the Republic of ...

A team of researchers has made strides in understanding the formation of massif-type anorthosites, enigmatic rocks that only formed during the middle part of Earth's history. These plagioclase-rich ...

While many rocks don’t burn, some of them do. It depends on what the rocks are made of – and that’s related to how they were formed. Rocks that burn when they get heated up are combusting. This means ...

Tectonic map of the Earth. The first continental crust on Earth formed more than 3 billion years ago. Likely the first fragments formed by partial melting and re-crystallization of the primordial ...

Pockets of microbes have been found living within a sealed fracture in a 2-billion-year-old rock. The rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, an area known for its rich ...

Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ignis meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the ...

A massive “superstructure” of igneous rock lurking below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, east of the Solomon Islands, has long puzzled scientists. The structure, dubbed the Melanesian Border Plateau ...

In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Ringing Rocks Park features unique diabase boulders that produce bell-like tones when struck. Formed 200 million years ago and fractured by Ice Age freeze-thaw cycles, ...

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - An immense reservoir of liquid water may reside deep under the surface of Mars within fractured igneous rocks, holding enough to fill an ocean that would cover the ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. To the untrailed eye, a rock on the side of the road is just that: a ...