Abstract
SINCE pillow structures were first observed, their origin has been controversial and diverse suggestions have been put forward (for excellent summaries see refs. 1 and 2). Despite a number of fairly recent papers favouring a sub-aerial origin, the consensus of opinion falls heavily on an aqueous environment for pillow formation. This conclusion is based mainly on field association, and also on the idea that the pillows are akin to emulsions, with the magma dispersed in the aqueous phase1,3,4. Fuller3, and Snyder and Fraser4, briefly mention the role of surface tension. Fuller suggests that “As in all emulsions, the dispersal of the fluid with the higher surface tension may have been attained either by the agitation of the two phases or by its entry as detached units”. Snyder and Fraser, however, suggested that “some force akin to surface tension is instrumental in the formation of the Unalaskan pillows”.
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References
Lewis, J. V., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 25, 591 (1914).
Snyder, G. L., and Fraser, G. D., U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper, 454C (1963).
Fuller, R. E., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 51, 2022 (1940).
Snyder, G. L., and Fraser, G. D., U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper, 454B (1963).
Morey, G. W., The Properties of Glass, 519 (Reinhold Pub. Corp., New York, 1954).
Rittmann, A., Volcanoes and their Activity, 305 (John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1962).
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SOLOMON, M. Origin of Pillow Structure in Lavas. Nature 211, 399 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211399a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/211399a0
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