27/8/2018 Test 6

Tellus II ‑ Assignment 6: Igneous rocks

Print!
I recommend that you print your answer BEFORE you click SUBMIT. Why?

To complete this assignment you need to complete all of the practical assignments below. Please note that each assessed question is preceded by
one or more questions which refer you to the reading material for the course. It is important that you take the time to use the reading material to
check your answers to each of these questions. This will be assessed in the final exam. When you have answered all of the questions, please send
your answers to me by clicking on the "Submit" button.

In addition to scientific papers referred to below, you should re‑read chapters 6 and 9 of Earth: Portrait of a Planet by S. Marshak. You might
also benefit from referring back to assignments 6 and 9 in Tellus I ‑ Geology and the MathTutor.

There is no time limit, so you might want to print this page and fill in your answers first by hand. You can then return to this page to enter and
submit your answers.

Please use '.' not ',' for decimal places and I advise you to be extra careful to give your answers in the correct units.

Please do not forget to write your NAME, SWEDISH ID NUMBER and E‑MAIL ADDRESS. This is very important, because otherwise I won't know that it is
your assignment that I have received!

Good luck!

Emelie

Name: Susana Garcia Mayo

Swedish ID number: 850817 ‑ 0944
E‑mail: susanamayog@gmail.co

Introduction
The purpose of this sixth assignment of Tellus II is for you to gain experience of describing and identifying igneous rocks. You are referred to a chart
for identification of typical specimens of common igneous rocks which you can download here. In the following assignments, I refer to rocks by
number. This number refers to the position of the mineral in your rock specimen box. If you have mixed up the specimens in your boxes you can
download images here.

Texture

In practical assignment 1, you are asked to use the texture of each igneous rock in your Tellus II rock box to determine if it is intrusive or extrusive.

What is meant by the terms intrusive and extrusive? Check your answers by referring to chapter 6 of Earth: Portrait of a Planet by S. Marshak.

We will use the terms aphanitic, phaneritic and porphyritic to describe the texture of each rock.

Which of these terms describes an igneous rocks that is partly or solely comprised of optically discernible crystals?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Which of these terms describes an igneous rocks that is partly or solely comprised of a fine‑grained matrix?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Which of these terms describes an igneous rocks that contains phenocrysts?
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1. Classify the igneous rocks in your Tellus II rock box as intrusive or extrusive based on their texture (phaneritic, aphanitic or porphyritic) (6
credits).

Enter your answers in the following table:

Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Specimen 3 Specimen 10 Specimen 14 Specimen 18

intrusive intrusive intrusive intrusive extrusive extrusive
phaneritic phaneritic phaneritic porphyritic porphyritic porphyritic

Composition

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27/8/2018 Test 6
In practical assignment 2, you are asked to use the colour of each igneous rock in your Tellus II rock box to determine if it is felsic, intermediate,
mafic or ultramafic in composition.

What is meant by the terms felsic intermediate, mafic and ultramafic? Check your answers by referring to chapter 6 of Earth: Portrait of a Planet by
S. Marshak.

We will use the terms light‑coloured and dark‑coloured to describe the colour of each rock.

Which are the 'light' colours when describing igneous rocks?

Click here to check your answer to this question.
Which are the 'dark' colours when describing igneous rocks?
Click here to check your answer to this question.

2. Classify each of the igneous rocks in your Tellus II rock box as felsic, intermediate, mafic or ultramafic based on its colour (6 credits).

Enter your answers in the following table:

Clue: 5 of 6 specimens are either light coloured or dark coloured. Only 1 specimen is 'inbetween'.

Specimen 1 Specimen 2 Specimen 3 Specimen 10 Specimen 14 Specimen 18

ultramafic intermediate felsic mafic felsic intermediate
light coloured 'inbetween' coloured light coloured dark coloured light coloured dark coloured

Identification

In practical assignment 3, you are asked to describe and identify each igneous rock in your Tellus II rock box. You should use the chart for
identification of typical specimens of common igneous rocks which you can download here.

Based on (1) texture, (2) colour and (3) mineralogy, how do you know that specimen 5 in your Tellus I rock box is basalt?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Based on (1) texture, (2) colour and (3) mineralogy, how do you know that specimen 6 in your Tellus I rock box is granite?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks are both dark coloured. How are they distinguished from each other?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Can mafic igneous rocks contain light coloured crystals?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Can felsic igneous rocks contain dark coloured crystals?
Click here to check your answer to this question.
Does a porphyritic igneous rock contain phenocrysts of all of the minerals that would be observed in a phaneritic igneous rock of the same
composition?
Click here to check your answer to this question.

3. Use the chart for identification of typical specimens of common igneous rocks provided to identify each of the igneous rock specimens in
your Tellus II rock box. Use your answers to questions 1 and 2 to guide your mineral identification (e.g. felsic rocks never contain olivine, mafic
rocks never contain quartz). You can also use the chart for identification of typical specimens of the common rock‑forming minerals and the
chart showing properties of the common rock‑forming minerals to help you with mineral identification. Motivate your identifications by
providing a list of the visible minerals for each specimen. List the 3 specimens which contain a fine‑grained matrix in order based on matrix
colour: from lightest to darkest colour. (8 credits).

Enter your answers in the following tables:

Identification List of visible minerals

1 Peridotite Ultramafic, coarse‑grained, olivine with some amphibole. It has tiny black spots.
2 Diorite In between gabbro and granite. Biotite (some redish backgrond), hornblende (black)
3 Granite Feldspar, Na‑plagioclase and mainly quartz. I'm not sure if phaneritic/porphyritic as quartz crystals are quite big
10 Gabbro Feldspar, pyroxene or amphibole (black crystals).
14 Rhyolite This is a porphyritic rhyolite. I see a few black minerals (biotite or hornblende), quartz, k‑spar, Na‑plagioclase
18 Andesite Between basalt and rhyolite. Olivine (due to its greenish color).

Light coloured
Specimen 14
Specimen 10
Specimen 18
Dark coloured
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27/8/2018 Test 6

If you have answered all 3 questions, you are now finished with assignment 6 which you should send to me by pressing the 'Submit' button below. It is
important that you have a full understanding of the techniques used to describe and identify igneous rocks. These will be used continually throughout
the course. If not, this is the time to review the reading material from Earth: Portrait of a Planet by S. Marshak.

Submit!

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