Draft:A'a

• Comment: Thank you for your submission, unfortunately I have to decline it as topic is already covered in a similar level of detail in Lava#ʻAʻā and I don't think a separate page is warranted at this time.
  Feel free to expand the relevant section on that page. Giulio 17:51, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

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A glowing A‘ā lava flow moving across hardened volcanic rock

A'ā (pronounced [ʔəˈʔaː]) is a type of basaltic lava flow that hardens into basaltic rock. It is rough, rubbly, and jagged, with a sharp, uneven surface, and is composed of basaltic volcanic rock containing calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, and sometimes olivine.

The word A'ā comes from the Hawaiian translation of "stony with rough lava" or "challenge accepted." The sound "a'a" is said to imitate the reaction when people step on the sharp and jagged A'a lava.

Native Hawaiians have used the word aʻā for centuries, long before Western geologists arrived, tracing back into ancestral Proto-Polynesian language history. The first record of "a'a" is unknown, but the earliest surviving scientific record is believed to be that of Hawaiian scholar, educator, and surveyor William DeWitt Alexander during the 1859 eruption of Mauna Loa.