Solar system’s longest lava flows found
The longest lava flows in the solar system formed mountain ranges across three continents, according to new geological research.
Ferrar basalts
Called the Ferrar basalts, the rocks formed by the cooling lava are now found in mountain ranges across Antarctica, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
‘It’s amazing,’ says Dr Philip Leat, a geologist at the British Antarctic Survey and author of the paper. ‘To find exactly the same rocks in Tasmania as in the Antarctic is very unusual – the Ferrar basalts are the only example of this kind that we know of.’ Read more on Planet Earth Online.