Deep-ocean pillow basalt
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
The Museum is an early voting site (enter at 77th Street).
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
This sample was dredged from a seafloor spreading center near Japan. The shiny black surface is glass, a product of rapid cooling of lava underwater. The white crystals in the glassy crust are plagioclase, a common mineral in most rocks.
Loaned by the Geological Survey of Japan