Carl Klingaman, age 8, of Williamsport, Penna., for his question:

What is basalt?

The solid earth with its hills, its valleys and its plains is made of rocks. There are a great number of different rocks and. each one has a long, long story of adventures to tell. A white pebble on the beach has a different story from a lump of granite.

Basalt is one of the rocks which make the solid earth. It was made when the old earth w&s in a fiery mood. For it was born in a seething volcano and poured forth as lava, which is rock hot enough to melt.

The lava cooled and became dark, heavy basalt rock. It may be black or brown and is so tough that we sometimes break it up to use as a road bed. When it is used this way it is called traprock.