Lava Vesuvius between May 14 and June 4, 1737. Serao described "a flow of fiery lava" as an analogy to the flow of water and mud down the flanks of the volcano following heavy rain. The composition of almost all lava of the Earth's crust is dominated by silicate minerals, mostly feldspars, olivine, pyroxenes, amphiboles, micas and quartz. Igneous rocks, which form lava flows when erupted, can be classified into three chemical types: "felsic", "intermediate", and "mafic" (four if one includes the super-heated "ultramafic"). These classes are primarily chemical, however, the chemistry of lava also tends to correlate with the magma
Archean felsic volcanic rocks is an ancient stable continental block. Also, a craton has survived from plate tectonics that pull apart, collide or tear continents. On average, the felsic volcanic rocks only contribute to ~15-20% in volcanic rocks of greenstone belts. "See Figure 2 and Table 1 for Examples of Archean felsic volcanic rocks occurrence." All Archean felsic volcanic rocks are distributed in greenstone belts. In Archean cratons, greenstone belts represent supracrustal rocks formed at the Earth's surface and the belts are dominated by volcano-sedimentary sequences. Some volcanic sequences can be several kilometers thick, such as the Warrawoona Group of Eastern Pibara Craton. However,