On a microscopic scale, lavas commonly contain vesicles (trapped gas bubbles), crystals and other textural features that can provide clues to lava flow processes. Because our lava flows are relatively thin and cool very rapidly they are mostly composed of basaltic glass (nearly amorphous, isotropic material). With slower cooling and in specific parts of flows where nucleation is possible, crystals develop. Examples below illustrate some interesting features found in past experiments.
