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What Color is Lava?

A volcano's temperature depends on what it's doing. Most volcanoes are inactive most of the time, and aren't any warmer than other mountains. When a volcano erupts, the temperature of its lava and/or ash depends a lot on its chemistry. The most common type of lava - called basalts - usually have temperatures of about 1150°c-1200°c. Rocks that contain more silica are cooler: 790°c-990°c. As lavas cool their colors change. Lavas have different colors at different temperatures:

Satellite photo of Mt. Etna in Italy

Mt St. Helens before the top blew off.

Go to the web site below for more information about lava.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/frequent-questions/grp8/question134.html