Quote Originally Posted by jbgibson View Post
I wouldn't expect the lava to flow all over creation either - more of a few channels than a finely divided mesh. I *would* figure it to be temporary enough for the multiple outlets bit not to matter. Check your scale, and think of how fast lava cools -- if the volcano area is one mile across or twenty, I could buy it easier than if it is 150 or 200 miles across.
I'd imagine real lava behaves in relatively the same manner as water just with quicker pattern changes since it cools quickly and ends up blocking it's self. That said for a lake of lava or anything of that nature as depicted here I think it's pretty safe to say the rules don't apply. On Earth that would have cooled and formed new land pretty much immediately. The way I take this representation is that surface area of the crust is extremely thin and or extremely hot through some means. To me it appears as if it is a cooling surface on a huge lake of lava, like when you see a lake dry up and you get that wonderful cracked pattern on top with mud underneath with maybe some freestanding water in the middle.