Patterns are very common in nature and nature see to it that it doesn’t repeat patterns. If you remember, we had earlier posted an article on natural patterns found in animals. This time we have brought for you some really interesting patterns found in nature, when hot lava cools down and forms intricate designs. Lava is hot molten rocks and its temperature ranges from 700 degree Celsius to sometimes 1300 degrees. That’s really hot.
The lava reaches the earth due to volcanic activities and then cools down to form rich black colored rocks. But sometimes it is very interesting to see how lava cools down to form really amazing patterns. Lava being a very thick and highly viscous liquid doesn’t flow with speed. It moves slowly but steadily. When it takes turns, fluid mechanics come to play and the laws of physics turn and twist the hot molten lava in different ways. If at this instance, it cools down then you will get to see what I am talking about. Such patterns are mostly found on active volcanoes.
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Lichen on Slate
Slate yields to brilliant lichens in Merced Falls, California.
Photograph by Sylvia Sharnoff
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Ertale Lava Lake
Lava bubbles and oozes inside a lava lake in Ethiopia’s Ertale volcano. Molten surface temperatures range from 550 degrees Fahrenheit (288 degrees Celsius) to nearly 1000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 degrees Celsius) at the center of the pit.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
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Coyote Buttes Sandstone
Striated sandstone lines the slopes of Coyote Buttes in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona.
Photograph by Frans Lanting
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Crystal Patterns
Concentric rings of color decorate a crystal found in Albany, Oregon.
Photograph by David Boyer
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Erupting Cone
Lava spews from a newly formed cone on Italy’s Mount Etna during a 2002 eruption. The ancient name Etna may mean “burning”—it’s easy to see why the mountain earned that name.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
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Rope Lava, Hawaii
Pahoehoe lava darkens into ropy strands in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Photograph by Frans Lanting
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Rock Swirls
Lines reverberate in ever widening swirls from a rock in Moab, Utah.
Photograph by Cary Wolinsky
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Painted Hills
Minerals streak the hills of Oregon’s Painted Hills State Park.
Photograph by Sylvia Sharnoff
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Molten Lava, Etna
Red, molten lava glows on Mount Etna. At nearly 11,000 feet (3,400 meters) tall, the Italian peak is Europe’s highest active volcano.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
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Coyote Buttes, Arizona
Patterned sandstone creates an optical illusion in the Wave rock formation, part of Coyote Buttes in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona.
Photograph by Frans Lanting
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Spreading Pahoehoe Lava
Pahoehoe lava, the hottest Hawaiian lava type, may darken into ropy strands or wrinkle into silver-sheened taffy, such as this flow in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
Photograph by Marc Moritsch
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Patterned Rock
Erosion reveals swirls of color and pattern in rocks in Point Lobos State Reserve, California.
Photograph by Charles Kogod
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Cooled Lava
Cooled pahoehoe Hawaiian lava solidifies into igneous rock with a ropelike pattern. Another type of Hawaiian lava, called aa, is a creeping slag that hardens into brutally jagged pieces.
Photograph by Marc Moritsch
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Rocks, California
Eroded rocks pop with colorful designs in Point Lobos State Reserve, California.
Photograph by Charles Kogod
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Petra Sandstone
Crimson striations run through a sandstone rock face in Petra in Jordan.
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
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Swirls of Lava, Hawaii
Flowing lava in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park creates vivid swirls in this close-up shot. The relatively gentle, flowing nature of lava in Hawai’i creates mounded mountains said to resemble ancient battle shields, giving them the name shield volcanoes.
Photograph by Frans Lanting
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Boiling Lava, Etna
Lava bubbles and boils during a spectacular 2002 eruption of Italy’s Mount Etna. For 24 days, the volcano gave its most dazzling show in a decade, spewing rivers of lava and fountains of fire.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
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Mauna Ulu Vent
A fountain of lava erupts from the Mauna Ulu vent in Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. Of the state’s four active above-water volcanoes, only Kilauea and Mauna Loa have spit lava in the past 200 years.
Photograph by Robert Madden
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Source:– nationalgeographic
