"The Magma Chamber"

A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock beneath the

surface of the Earth. The molten rock, or magma, in such a
chamber is under great pressure, and, given enough time, that
pressure can gradually fracture the rock around it, [clarification needed][citation
needed]
 creating a way for the magma to move upward. If it finds its
way to the surface, then the result will be a volcanic eruption;
consequently, many volcanoes are situated over magma
chambers. These chambers are hard to detect deep within the
Earth, and therefore most of those known are close to the surface,
commonly between 1 km and 10 km down.
Magma rises through cracks from beneath and across the crust
because it is less dense than the surrounding rock. When the
magma cannot find a path upwards it pools into a magma
chamber. These chambers are commonly built up over time, [1][2] by
successive horizontal[3] or vertical[4] magma injections. Influx of new
magma causes reaction of pre-existing crystals [5] and the pressure
in the chamber to increase.

Dynamics of magma chambers

Magma chambers above a subducting plate

The residing magma starts to cool, with the higher melting point
components such as olivine crystallizing out of the solution,
particularly near to the cooler walls of the chamber, and forming a
denser conglomerate of minerals which sinks (cumulative rock).
Upon cooling, new mineral phases saturate and the rock type
changes (e.g. fractional crystallization), typically forming
(1) gabbro, diorite, tonalite and granite or
(2) gabbro, diorite, syeniteand granite. If magma resides in a
chamber for a long period, then it can become stratified with
lower densitycomponents rising to the top and denser materials
sinking. Rocks accumulate in layers, forming a layered intrusion.
[6]
 Any subsequent eruption may produce distinctly layered
deposits; for example, the deposits from the 79 AD eruption of
Mount Vesuvius include a thick layer of white pumice from the
upper portion of the magma chamber overlaid with a similar layer
of grey pumice produced from material erupted later from lower in
the chamber.
Another effect of the cooling of the chamber is that the
solidifying crystals will release the gas (primarily steam) previously
dissolved when they were liquid, causing the pressure in the
chamber to rise, possibly sufficiently to produce an eruption.
Additionally, the removal of the lower melting point components
will tend to make the magma more viscous (by increasing the
concentration of silicates). Thus, stratification of a magma
chamber may result in an increase in the amount of gas within the
magma near the top of the chamber, and also make this magma
more viscous, potentially leading to a more explosive eruption than
would be the case had the chamber not become stratified.
Main article: Igneous differentiation
If the magma is not vented to the surface in a volcanic eruption, it
will slowly cool and crystallize at depth to form
an intrusive igneous body, one, for example, composed
of granite or gabbro (see also pluton).
Often, a volcano may have a deep magma chamber many
kilometers down, which supplies a shallower chamber near the
summit. The location of magma chambers can be mapped
using seismology: seismic waves from earthquakes move more
slowly through liquid rock than solid, allowing measurements to
pinpoint the regions of slow movement which identify magma
chambers.[7]
As a volcano erupts, surrounding rock will collapse into the
emptying chamber. If the chamber's size is reduced considerably,
the resulting depression at the surface can form a caldera.