Magma

volcanoes · earth science · molten rock · planet building

Molten rock mixture. Magma is melted rock buried deep beneath Earth's surface. It's not pure liquid, but a mix of molten rock, solid crystals, and gas bubbles all swirling together.

Builds all igneous rocks. When magma cools down, it hardens into igneous rocks like granite and basalt. Most of the rocks on Earth came from magma at some point in time.

Found everywhere underground. Magma exists under the surface of Earth right now, mostly in a hot layer called the mantle. It's the reason volcanoes erupt and why the ground can shake during earthquakes.

Not just on Earth. Scientists have found evidence that other planets and moons have magma too. Studying magma on other worlds helps us understand how planets form and change over billions of years.

Contains trapped gases. The gas bubbles inside magma (like water vapor and carbon dioxide) help push it upward toward the surface. When a volcano erupts, these gases escape explosively into the air.