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basalt

Mafic igneous rock

Instance of: rock type
Subclass of: volcanic rock
, basic rock

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Basalt ; buh-SALT) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt has the same chemical composition and mineralogy as slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars.

Overview

All data

69 statements · 23% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Awards: Rock of the Year(2009)
Named after: Black Tortoise applies to name of subject: 玄武岩
Made from material: plagioclase
pyroxene
olivine mineral group nature of statement: sometimes
feldspathoid nature of statement: sometimes

On other databases

55 identifiers linking basalt across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

23%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 4, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). basalt (Q43338). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/basalt-Q43338