April 29, 2019

Monday Geology Picture: Pillow Basalt Decor

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Lovely pillow basalt, with my hand for scale. The shiny polished surface of the decorative slab made photography a little difficult. Photo taken April 2019.

This week I’m sharing a picture of a lovely pillow basalt decorative slab that is part of the decor in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia.  In this slab, you can see pillow shapes outlined by lovely glass rinds, which formed when the basaltic lava rapidly cooled because it was erupted underwater.

I just love this decorative slab — who wouldn’t want to decorate with beautiful pillow basalt?!