IGNEOUS

LANDFORMS
A d v a n c e P e t r o l o g y
(Lectured by Dr. Ulva Ria Irfan, S.T., M.T.)

Angga AL-Amin Husain† – D062 19 1 006

† Magister Geological Engineering Study

Program Hasanuddin University, 2019

1 INTRODUCTION
(Morgan, 2002)

It is important to remember that volcanoes are not scattered randomly over the
surface of the Earth. They are usually, but not always, located near the margins of
the huge lithospheric plates that makeup the Earth's surface. The shapes of
volcanic landforms are a reflection of the composition of the lavas that are
extruded by the volcano.
Lava composition also affects the type of activity exhibited by the volcano. Before
we return to the types of volcanoes, we should revisit the nature of the magma and
how lavas reach the surface. Figure 1a illustrates a hypothetical crustal section
extending about 10 to 15 km under a volcano. Magma originates under heat and
pressure deep beneath the Earth's surface in magma chambers or batholiths
(bottom of Figure 1). The rock types seen when the magma cools in a batholith
might be granite (if the rock type is acidic), perhaps syenite or diorite (if
intermediate) or gabbro (if basic) - (see the igneous rock classification elsewhere
in this issue).
Magma rising from the batholith makes its way toward the surface. When solidified
the rock type (at 1) would be very coarse grained or phaneritic (because of slow
cooling and abundant elements). Fragments as well as much larger pieces of the
roof of the batholith can be seen subsiding into the magma chamber. Frequently
these completely melt or are substantially altered. In some cases, smaller
fragments can be carried rapidly to the surface in an almost unchanged form
where they can tell us about the nature of the rocks at depth. These "strange rocks"
are known as xenoliths.
The magma rising to the surface cools more rapidly as
it ascends to regions of lower temperatures and
pressures. Fluid offshoots from the main feeder work
their way into the country rock forming dykes and sills.
Sills are long, flat intrusions that run parallel to the
"grain" of the country rock. Dykes cut across the grain
of the country rock. A transgressive sill, is where a flat
intrusion moves up from one level to a different level in
the country rock. The area at 2 illustrates a smaller
chamber or reservoir where magma might gather
below the near-vertical conduit to the surface. Crystals
forming here are smaller and may contain isolated
larger crystals that have been transported from below.
This two-sized igneous rock texture is "hypabyssal". A
small offshoot where the magma has forced the
bedrock upward into a domed structure is illustrated as
a laccolith. The grain-size is medium in rocks that
solidify at this level.
Magma continues upward, penetrating cracks and
expanding joints in the country rock to a point where it
eventually escapes at the surface. This is the position
of the volcano. At the surface under relatively low
temperature and pressure conditions, the magma
degasses and chills rapidly, producing lava with very
small (fine-grained or aphanitic) crystals (at 3). The
shape of the volcano is reflected by the chemical
composition of the lava and this is seen in Figure 1b.
Three volcanoes are illustrated. At the top is Skalbreid,
north of Thingvellir in south-central Iceland. This is a
typical example of a "Shield" volcano. (So-called,
because it resembles an old Viking shield resting on its
base). Here the basalt lavas are very fluid and run
rapidly across the landscape. These are volcanoes with
"Montezuma's revenge", and can be easily compared to Figure 1 Crustal section of
humans with "the runs"! Because the lava flows readily, approximately 15km

the volcanoes have low slope angles and are not usually explosive. However, they
do have spectacular lava fountains and produce prodigious quantities of lava.
These are well represented by volcanoes in oceanic areas of the planet, such as
Hawai'i and Iceland, but they also exist in continental areas elsewhere.
The middle image is of Ngauruhoe, a large (2291m-high) volcano in Tongariro
National Park, North Island, New Zealand. Intermediate volcanoes are commonly
seen in areas of plate margin subduction, where oceanic crust descends beneath
the continents. The volcanoes of the west side of North America, Central and South
America and the Caribbean are often of this type. These volcanoes are steep-sided
and, because of their explosive nature, can be very catastrophic. They are
represented by some of the
Caribbean volcanoes (and
many others elsewhere). I
often describe these as
"constipated volcanoes" and
their gaseous and explosive
nature can be easily related
to human alimentary
systems! The lava type is
commonly rhyo-dacite (a
more-intermediate
composition than rhyolite),
trachyte or andesite (named
from volcanic rocks along the
Andes). Ngauruhoe
frequently extrudes andesite,
and is one of the most active
volcanoes in the world.
At the bottom is Beerenberg
volcano, on Nord Jan, Jan
Mayen Island, North Atlantic.
Beerenberg is a classical
stratovolcano - a huge
volcanic pile that is made up
of alternating layers of lava
and ash. The volcano is 2277m Figure 2 Three volcanoes (Top) Skalbreid, Iceland, a volcano with
high, and extends another basaltic lava; (Centre) Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, a
volcano of andesitic composition and (Bottom)
three kilometers below sea Beerenberg on Jan Mayen, a composite volcano with
level. This cone also shows trachyte and basalt, alternating with ash.
 that volcanoes can vary in composition through time. Most of the modern eruptions
have been basaltic, but Beerenberg also has had a long history of trachytic
eruptions. (Also see the Jan Mayen article in this issue).
In summary, igneous rocks when formed at depth have coarse textures (large
crystals) but when they are extruded as lavas, the crystal sizes are quite small.
Volcanoes, whose position are usually determined by the boundaries of plates, or
stresses within plates especially in the vicinity of "hot spots", vary in shape and
activity by the chemical composition of the lavas that are extruded.

2 EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS LANDFORMS

(National Park Service, 2019)

Extrusive igneous landforms are the result of magma coming from deep within the
earth to the surface, where it cools as lava. This can happen explosively or slowly,
depending on the chemical composition of the lava and whether there is an easy
path for it to take to the surface. If there is not a pathway, pressure builds up over
time (like a shaken soda) until the magma forcibly explodes outward.
Volcanic processes are constantly changing the Earth. Eruptions can create new
islands, build and destroy mountains, and alter landscapes.

2.1 Shield volcanoes

Shield volcanoes are formed by lava flows of low viscosity - lava that flows easily.
Consequently, a volcanic mountain having a broad profile is built up over time by
flow after flow
of relatively
fluid basaltic
lava issuing
from vents or
fissures on the
surface of the
volcano. Many
of the largest
volcanoes on
Earth are
shield
volcanoes. The
Figure 3 Mauna Loa, Hawaiʻi, a shield volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii
largest is
 Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii rising nearly 9 km (5.6 mi) from the seafloor
(Figure 3).

2.2 Stratovolcanoes

Also known as composite

volcanoes. A stratovolcano
is a tall, conical volcano
composed of one layer of
hardened lava, tephra, and
volcanic ash. These
volcanoes are
characterized by a steep
profile and periodic,
explosive eruptions. The
lava that flows from them is
highly viscous, and cools
and hardens before Figure 4 Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in
Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest
spreading very far. The region of the United States. It is 50 miles northeast of
source magma of this rock Portland, Oregon and 96 miles south of Seattle, Washington

is classified as acidic, or
high in silica to intermediate (rhyolite, dacite, or andesite. or basalt). This is in
contrast to less viscous basic magma that forms shield volcanoes (such as Mauna
Loa in Hawaii), which have a wide base and more gently sloping profile. Many
stratovolcanoes exceed a height of 2500 m. Stratovolcanoes erupt both as flows
and violently. Mount St. Helens (Figure 4) and Mount Rainier are stratovolcanoes.

2.3 Cinder cones

A cinder cone is a steep conical hill of loose

pyroclastic fragments, such as either volcanic
clinkers, volcanic ash, or cinder that has been
built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic
fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or
lava fountains from a single, typically cylindrical,
vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently
into the air, it breaks into small fragments that
solidify and fall as either cinders, clinkers, or Figure 5 S P Crater is a cinder cone
volcano in the San Francisco
scoria around the vent to form a cone that often volcanic field, 25 miles (40 km)
is symmetrical; with slopes between 30–40°; and north of Flagstaff, Arizona
 a nearly circular ground plan. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the
summit. Short, steep volcanoes associated with limited eruptive events. Sunset
Crater Volcano (Figure 5) and Capulin Volcano are cinder cones.

2.4 Lava Domes

In volcanology, a lava dome or volcanic dome is a roughly circular mound-shaped

protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-
building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings.
Around 6% of eruptions on earth are lava dome forming. The geochemistry of lava
domes can vary from basalt (e.g. Semeru, 1946) to rhyolite (e.g. Chaiten, 2010
(Figure 6)) although the majority are of intermediate composition (such as
Santiaguito, dacite-andesite, present day) The characteristic dome shape is
attributed to high viscosity that prevents the lava from flowing very far.

Figure 6 Rhyolitic lava dome of Chaitén Volcano during its 2008–2010 eruption

This high viscosity can be obtained in two ways: by high levels of silica in the
magma, or by degassing of fluid magma. Since viscous basaltic and andesitic
domes weather fast and easily break apart by further input of fluid lava, most of
the preserved domes have high silica content and consist of rhyolite or dacite. Lava
domes form where thick (viscous) magma erupts to the surface forming a steep
dome-shaped landform. Lava domes can form within a crater of large composite
volcano.
2.5 Maar-Diatreme Volcanoes

A diatreme (Figure 7), sometimes known as a maar-diatreme volcano, is a volcanic

pipe formed by a gaseous explosion. When magma rises up through a crack in the
Earth's crust and makes contact with a shallow body of ground water, rapid
expansion of heated water vapor and volcanic gases can cause a series of
explosions. A relatively shallow crater is left (known as a maar) and a rock-filled
fracture (the actual diatreme) in the Earth's crust. Diatremes breach the Earth's
surface and produce a steep inverted cone shape.

Figure 7 Aerial view of the Moses Rock Dike diatreme, a kimberlite-bearing dike in Cane Valley, Utah, USA

Maar-diatreme volcanoes are formed by the explosive result of subsurface magma

coming into contact with shallow ground water. The maar is the crater landform
produced by explosive eruption(s) and the diatreme is the below surface rock filled
volcanic pipe or conduit
3 INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS LANDFORMS
(National Park Service, 2019)

Magma is stored below the surface in reservoirs called magma chambers. It

creates and follows paths called conduits to the surface. This network is often
referred to as the volcano's plumbing system. These networks can cover vast
areas.
When magma cools and solidifies in these spaces, Intrusive or plutonic igneous
rocks are formed deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Intrusive features like stocks,
laccoliths, sills, and dikes are formed. If the conduits are emptied after an eruption,
they can collapse in the formation of a caldera, or remain as lava tubes and caves.
The mass of cooling magma
is called a pluton, and the
rock around is known as
country rock. Slow cooling
over thousands to millions of
years allows large visible
crystals to form. Common
igneous rock types include
granite, gabbro, and diorite.
Large plutons can form along
convergent tectonic plate
boundaries.
Plutonic rocks are hard and
erode slowly, so in many
places they have become
exposed at the surface after
the rocks above erode away
over millions of years. In the
U.S. massive granite
landforms can be found in
over 30 U.S. states, including Figure 8 Half Dome, a granite monolith in Yosemite National Park
and part of the Sierra Nevada Batholith
many that are iconic National
Park features. El Capitan in Yosemite National Park is the largest granite monolith
in the world (Figure 8).
3.1 Batholiths

A batholith (from Greek bathos, depth + lithos, rock) is a large mass of intrusive
igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than 100 square kilometres (40 sq
mi) in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust (Figure 8).
Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types,
such as granite, quartz monzonite, or diorite (see also granite dome). Batholiths
are Plutons that have been exposed on the surface through uplift and erosion.

3.2 Sills and Dikes

Figure 9 Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh, Scotland, a sill partially exposed during the Quaternary glaciation

In geology, a sill is a tabular sheet intrusion that has intruded between older layers
of sedimentary rock, beds of volcanic lava or tuff, or along the direction of foliation
in metamorphic rock (Figure 9). A sill is a concordant intrusive sheet, meaning that
a sill does not cut across preexisting rock beds. Stacking of sills builds a sill
complex and a large magma chamber at high magma flux. In contrast, a dike is a
discordant intrusive sheet, which does cut across older rocks. Sills are fed by
dikes, except in unusual locations where they form in nearly vertical beds attached
directly to a magma source. The rocks must be brittle and fracture to create the
planes along which the magma intrudes the parent rock bodies, whether this
occurs along preexisting planes between sedimentary or volcanic beds or
weakened planes related to foliation in metamorphic rock. These planes or
weakened areas allow the intrusion of a thin sheet-like body of magma paralleling
the existing bedding planes, concordant fracture zone, or foliations.
 A dike or dyke (Figure 10), in
geological usage, is a sheet of rock
that is formed in a fracture in a pre-
existing rock body. Dikes can be
either magmatic or sedimentary in
origin. Magmatic dikes form when
magma flows into a crack then
solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either
cutting across layers of rock or
through a contiguous mass of rock.
Clastic dikes are formed when
sediment fills a pre-existing crack.
Sills and Dikes are tabular bodies of
magma that intrude into a fracture.
Sills follow bedding planes, whereas
Figure 10 A magmatic dike cross-cutting horizontal
dikes cross-cut beds. layers of sedimentary rock, in Makhtesh
Ramon, Israel
3.3 Monadnocks

An inselberg or monadnock
(/məˈnædnɒk/) is an
isolated rock hill, knob,
ridge, or small mountain
that rises abruptly from a
gently sloping or virtually
level surrounding plain. In
southern and south-central
Africa, a similar formation
of granite is known as a
koppie, an Afrikaans word
("little head") from the
Dutch word kopje. If the
inselberg is dome-shaped
and formed from granite or
gneiss, it can also be called
Figure 11 Devils Tower (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) is a butte,
a bornhardt, though not all
possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear bornhardts are inselbergs.
Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and
Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above Monadnock, isolated hill of
the Belle Fourche River
bedrock standing
conspicuously above the general level of the surrounding area. Monadnocks are
left as erosional remnants because of their more resistant rock composition;
commonly they consist of quartzite or less jointed massive volcanic rocks. In
contrast to inselbergs (island mountains), a similar tropical landform, monadnocks
are formed in humid, temperate regions. They take their name from Mt. Monadnock,
a solitary mass of rock (3,165 feet [965 metres]) in Monadnock State Park,
southeast of Keene, in Cheshire County, southwestern New Hampshire, U.S. A
well-known example is Stone Mountain in Georgia, U.S
Monadnocks, also called Inselbergs, are isolated rock hills standing in a level plain.
These are often the result of softer sedimentary rocks eroding around a hard-
intrusive igneous body. Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming) is an example
of a monadnock (Figure 11).
Bibliography
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Available at: https://uwaterloo.ca/wat-on-earth/news/igneous-rocks-features-
and-landforms
[Accessed 12 November 2019].
National Park Service, 2019. Volcanic Landforms: Extrusive Igneous. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/volcanic-
landforms.htm#onthisPage-5
[Accessed 22 November 2019].
National Park Service, 2019. Volcanic Landforms: Intrusive Igneous. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/intrusive-igneous-
landforms.htm
[Accessed 11 November 2019].