Archean felsic volcanic rocks often causes pyroclastic flow (hot, dense gas with volcanic fragments) instead of fluid lava flow. However, if the rhyolitic lava is still molten during eruption, it can behave and flow like fluid flow. Felsic lava flow and lava dome are the two common types of underwater deposits formed by Archean felsic volcanic rocks (Fig. 4). Documented Archean lava structures are distinctive from post-Archean felsic lava because underwater eruptions are so rare in post-Archean. The dacitic or rhyolitic lava flows are quenched right after the eruption. When water is in touch with the flow, the lava quickly cools down. Finally, The
Craton craton. Earth's surface was probably broken up into many small plates with volcanic islands and arcs in great abundance. Small protocontinents (cratons) formed as crustal rock was melted and remelted by hot spots and recycled in subduction zones. There were no large continents in the early Archean, and small protocontinents were probably the norm in the Mesoarchean because they were prevented from coalescing into larger units by the high rate of geologic activity. These felsic protocontinents (cratons) probably formed at hot spots from a variety of sources: mafic magma melting more felsic rocks, partial melting of mafic rock, and from