Martian lava tube Martian lava tube Martian lava tubes are natural sub-surface lava tube caverns on Mars that are believed to form as a result of fast-moving, basaltic lava flows associated with shield volcanism. Lava tubes usually form when the external surface of the lava channels cools more quickly and forms a hardened crust over subsurface lava flows. The flow eventually ceases and drains out of the tube, leaving a conduit-shaped void space which is usually several meters below the surface. Lava tubes are typically associated with extremely fluid pahoehoe lava. Gravity on mars is about 38% that of Earth's, allowing Martian lava
Lava Creek Tuff tuff layer is approximately . Lava Creek Tuff The Lava Creek Tuff is a tuff formation in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, United States, created during the Lava Creek eruption around 630,000 years ago, which formed the Yellowstone Caldera. The Lava Creek Tuff is distributed in a radial pattern around the caldera and is formed of of ignimbrites. The tuff has been exposed by erosion at Tuff Cliff along the Gibbon River. Lava Creek Tuff ranges in color from light gray to pale red in some locales. Rock texture of the tuff ranges from fine-grained to aphanitic and is densely welded.