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One of the lava samples recovered in Dredge #3. The bumpy, shiny surface is the outer rind of the lava. It is glassy because the molten rock that erupts at the seafloor chills immediately on contact with the 2°C seawater. The scale bar at the upper right gives you a good idea of the size of the sample. Scientists try to quantify, or give accurate scales to, the things they study; geologists are no exception.

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