where does some of the oldest lava come from?

Answer 1

When lava (melted rock) is extruded onto the surface of the Earth, it forms new igneous rock. Lava doesn't last long on the Earth's surface before it cools.

Is your question actually concerning the oldest igneous rocks?

Answer 2

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this question, but I'll do my best to answer it.

Lava is molten rock that is on the surface of Earth. Magma is molten rock beneath the Earth's surface.

Magma is being created every single day because of subduction along plate boundaries (plate tectonics) and natural melting of country rock deep inside the Earth. This would obviously be newer magma than some that was created thousands of years ago, but the material is still the same age as the rest of the Earth because matter is neither created nor destroyed. Also, older and new magma mix together inside Earth and crystalizes together to form different rocks, minerals, and crystals.

Basically, you would not be able to identify the magma which became molten a long time ago compared to the magma which became molten a short while ago.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Lava is a typical example of stuff with molecules being 'old' and 'young' (as far that applies anyway). As it goes through the Earth's core, it's all completely mixed up.

Answer 4

as far away as you can get from a divergent plate boundary without getting too close to a convergent plate boundary. example is the mid-atlantic ridge. lava is continuously coming up there so it would have the newest and youngest lava.