One way to find water worlds beyond our solar system could be to look for minerals — or more specifically, to study minerals mixed with cool lava on exoplanet surfaces. This is because if water ...

Left: A close-up of a crack in the volcanic surface of a cooled lava flow from the crater of Mt. St. Helens.

As it pours down the volcano, the lava at the surface is cooled by the air and solidifies, creating an elastic, skinlike outer layer. Beneath this inflating membrane, the lava continues to ooze ...

Picture: Janice Wei/NPS via AP Halema’uma’u is famous for its dramatic plumes of lava which have flowed into the ocean. The cooling lava is extending the mass of the island. The eruption is ...