Tuzo Wilson Seamounts numerous smaller vents, with a total edifice volume of about 12 km. The lava emitted in eruptions at the Tuzo Wilson Seamounts is made of basalt, a common gray to black or dark brown extrusive volcanic rock low in silica content (the lava is mafic) that is usually fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava. Glassy pillow lava is found at the seamounts, a type of rock typically formed when basaltic lava emerges from a submarine volcanic vent. The viscous lava gains a solid crust on contact with the water, and this crust cracks and oozes additional large blobs or
Lava bench Lava bench A lava bench is a volcanic landform with a horizontal surface raised above the level of the surrounding area. They are created when molten lava travels away from a volcanic vent and expands an old shoreline. This is the process that creates new land in the ocean that life can eventually grow on. The Hawaiian islands are an example of land that was formed this way, and the Big Island is currently still expanding due to lava benches. The Kilauea Volcano releases lava that flows down the slope of the volcano and eventually encounters the ocean; this lava