Pillow washed
A pillow washed (or lava in cushions ) is a Lave which was emitted by a underwater Volcan (in particular in the vicinity of the oceanic dorsal) or by an emerged volcano whose castings go until at sea or in a lake. Leaving at a temperature 1000 to 1200 degrees, it is covered with a film of Verre which, not being completely cooled, form a kind of flexible goldbeater's skin, gradually inflated by the lava which continues to be emitted. One leads thus to stackings of balls in the shape of cushions or bolsters of a size of several meters, on great thicknesses.
Underwater plungers could film the formation of pillow lavas, with only a few meters of depth, on the coasts of the island of Hawaii.
The lava composing the pillow washed is especially Basalte. The pillow washed meet in the upper part of the ophiolitic complex .
One can thus find pillow washed on the surface of the ground, where they appeared following tectonic movements (Obduction of portions of oceanic Lithosphère on the continent). Most beautiful pillow washed the Alps are undoubtedly those of Chenaillet, a top of Briançonnais (Hautes-Alpes), on the Franco-Italian border, in the south-east of the Col of Montgenèvre.
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