Specimen of highly porous pumice from Teide volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Density of specimen approx 0.25 g/cm³. Scale is in centimeters.

Illustrates the porous nature in detail

Pumice is a term for a lightweight volcanic rock.

It is a solidified frothy lava, created when highly-heated, pressured molten rock is shot out from a volcano. Its light weight is due to air spaces, which are caused by fast cooling and loss of pressure. The loss of pressure makes bubbles by lowering the boiling point of the lava (like the bubble-creation when a carbonated drink is opened). The cooling then freezes the bubbles in the matrix. view more...