Lava Rose
A lava rose is a rare drip formation found on floors, with a rose-like appearance. It is a form of drip stalagmite, but instead of driblets, sheets of molten lava fall. Roses may also form, instead, from upwelled lava boiling up out of a partially solidified floor. Boiling of cooling (segregated) lava is probably what propels the upwelling, as pressure builds up under a cooled surface on the floor and molten lava escapes through a small opening.
Likely the first three images show the latter, “bottom up” type of formation while the fourth may be a rose forming from drips.
AUTHOR: Dave Bunnell
Lava roses 1 - Dave Bunnell
Lava roses 2 - Dave Bunnell
Lava rose in a lava tube in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
Photo by Dave Bunnell
This may be an example of a lava rose being built entirely by drips from above, from a Hawaiian lava tube. Photo by Dave Bunnell
