Igneous rock the partial melting of rocks within the mantle and crust. Extrusive igneous rocks cool and solidify quicker than intrusive igneous rocks. They are formed by the cooling of molten magma on the earth's surface. The magma, which is brought to the surface through fissures or volcanic eruptions, solidifies at a faster rate. Hence such rocks are smooth, crystalline and fine-grained. Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock and forms lava flows, lava sheets and lava plateaus. Some kinds of basalt solidify to form long polygonal columns. The Giant's Causeway in Antrim, Northern Ireland is an example. The molten rock, with
West Crater imply that they resulted from the same movement of magma and were possibly fed by the same magma chambers. The lava dome likely formed before the lava flows erupted, suggested by its steep western side and the appearance of rock from the dome on the western lava flow. The dome's deep depression may have formed when the dome's top collapsed as lava moved out of the volcano during the eruption of the two flows. The human population within of West Crater is slightly more than 500 people, but more than 14,000 people live within of the volcano, and more than