Mafic The mafic rocks also typically have a higher density than felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the older "basic rock" class. Mafic lava, before cooling, has a low viscosity, in comparison with felsic lava, due to the lower silica content in mafic magma. Water and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava. As a result, eruptions of volcanoes made of mafic lavas are less explosively violent than felsic-lava eruptions. Most mafic-lava volcanoes are shield volcanoes, like those in Hawaii. Mafic Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in
Geology of Ascension Island same time as the Sister's Peak region 829,000 years ago. Bentmoreite scoria cones record evidence of mafic volcanism, although older rhyolite and trachye flows, domes and pyroclastic deposits point to felsic eruptions as well. The Central Felsic Complex (CFC), centers on Green Mountain and Middleton Ridge and is older than the Eastern Felsic Complex. Here, ash is typically welded together and breccia is laden with rhyolite and obsidian fragments. Middleton Ridge formed more than one million years ago and is accompanied trachyte and rhyolite flows. By comparison, Green Mountain formed as recently as 395,000 years ago with trachyte flows and