Definition
Thick extrusion of viscous lava representing the transition between and exhibiting the characteristics of both lava dome and lava flow.
Description
Lava extrusion with characteristics of both a lava dome and a lava flow; composed of viscous lava (Fink and Anderson 2000).
Morphometry
Coulées range in length from a few km (Big Obsidian Flow (Fig. 1), North and South Coulées at Mono Craters) to well over 10 km (Chao coulee, northern Chile), with thicknesses of flow fronts ~50–400 m. They often exhibit distinct bulbous lobes of thick lava that can be traced back to an elevated “summit” that lies directly above the volcanic vent. Thick flow lobes may be mostly obsidian, have blocky surfaces, and possibly produce levees. Lobes typically exhibit large pressure ridges (ogives) that run perpendicular to flow direction, and where interiors are exposed, they display ramp structure, formed when extruding lava forces earlier...
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References
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Hughes, S.S. (2014). Coulée. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_70-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_70-1
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