Article
Article
Volcanic glass
Article By:
Stolper, Edward M. Division of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.
Last reviewed:December 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.735100
A natural glass formed by rapid cooling of magma. Magmas typically comprise crystals and bubbles of gas within a silicate liquid. On slow cooling, the liquid portion of the magma usually crystallizes, but if cooling is sufficiently rapid, it may convert to glass—an amorphous, metastable solid that lacks the long-range microscopic order characteristic of crystalline solids (see illustration). See also: Magma
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