THE IMPORTANCE OF PĀHOEHOE

1998/05/01 by Stephen Self, L. Keszthelyi, T. Thórdarson · 372 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Basalt #Crust #Earth science #Flood basalt #Geochemistry #Geological and Geochemical Analysis #Geological formations and processes #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Lava #Paleontology #Petrology #Tectonics #Volcanism #Volcano

paper · doi:10.1146/annurev.earth.26.1.81

published in Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 26(1), 81-110 (Annual Reviews)

openalex publication_date 1998/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16

Abstract

▪ Abstract Pahoehoe lava flows are common in every basaltic province, and their submarine variants, pillow lavas and sheet flows, cover the bulk of the Earth. Pahoehoe flows are emplaced by inflation—the injection of molten lava underneath a solidified crust. Only in the past few years has an understanding of the inflation process and the ability to recognize ancient inflated lava flows been achieved. All large terrestrial basaltic flow fields studied to date, including flood basalts, were emplaced as thermally efficient, inflated, compound pahoehoe sheet flows. This leads us to propose that this is the standard way of emplacing large lavas (the SWELL hypothesis). The atmospheric impact of such flood basalt eruptions could have been protracted and severe, providing a plausible link between flood basalt eruptions and mass extinctions.

Citations

• Emplacement of Continental Flood Basalt Lava Flows
• A new model for the emplacement of Columbia River basalts as large, inflated Pahoehoe Lava Flow Fields
• Sulfur, chlorine and fluorine degassing and atmospheric loading by the Roza eruption, Columbia River Basalt Group, Washington, USA
• Flood Basalt Volcanism During the Past 250 Million Years

Cited by

• Large Igneous Provinces and Flood Basalt Volcanism
• Emplacement of the youngest flood lava on Mars: A short, turbulent story
• Gigantic individual lava flows in the Andean foothills near Malargüe (Mendoza, Argentina)
• The Roza Member, Columbia River Basalt Group: A gigantic pahoehoe lava flow field formed by endogenous processes?
• A Lava Flow without a Source: The Cohassett Flow and Its Compositional Components, Sentinel Bluffs Member, Columbia River Basalt Group
• Distribution and size of lava shields on the Al Haruj al Aswad and the Al Haruj al Abyad Volcanic Systems, Central Libya
• Emplacement and inflation of the Al-Halaq al Kabir lava flow field, central part of the Al Haruj Volcanic Province, Central Libya
• Large igneous provinces and silicic large igneous provinces: Progress in our understanding over the last 25 years
• Eldgjá [wikipedia]