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LESSON 4.2
Igneous Rocks
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Competency 2
Learning Objectives 2
Warm-Up 2
Learn about It 3
Formation of Igneous Rocks 3
Bowen’s Reaction Series 5
Types of Igneous Rocks 6
Extrusive Igneous Rocks 6
Intrusive Igneous Rocks 7
Other Ways of Classifying Igneous Rocks 8
Types of Igneous Rocks Based on Texture 8
Types of Igneous Rocks Based on Mineral Composition 9
Naming Igneous Rocks 9
Key Points 11
Photo Credits 13
Bibliography 13
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Lesson 4.2
Igneous Rocks
Igneous rocks
Introduction
The rocks surrounding a campfire do not usually melt. Rocks need a very high temperature
for it to melt. Igneous rocks need high rock-melting heat similar to the temperature of the
primitive earth. The term igneous comes from the Latin word ignis which means fire. It is
formed in temperatures not lower than 700 °C. How can a geologist differentiate one
type of igneous rock from the other?
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Learning Competency
At the end of this lesson, the given DepEd learning competency should be met
by the students.should be met by the students.
Classify rocks into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
(S11/12ES-Ib-10).
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● Identify and differentiate the different types of igneous rocks.
● Describe the origin and environment of formation of igneous rocks.
Warm-Up
Crystallize!
Materials
● Colored tags for each student, made from colored papers pasted on a folder. A
yarn should be placed to serve as a holder for wearing it.
Procedure
1. Each student should wear the tag before the game
begins.
2. Students should spread out. Make sure each person is
as far apart as possible.
3. After spreading out, a person (it could be your teacher)
is assigned to yell “crystallize!”. All students should then
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look for other students who have the same tags as theirs.
4. After five seconds, the assigned person will yell “stop!”. The students should now stop
moving and searching.
5. Count how many members were formed in each set of colored tags.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 with different time intervals (10, 30, and 60 seconds).
Guide Questions
1. How many members were formed after the different time intervals?
2. What is the relationship of the time interval to the number of members formed after
the time allotted to “crystallize”?
3. Based on this activity, what can you infer about the formation of crystals in rocks?
Learn about It
Minerals such as quartz, feldspar, pyroxene, olivine, amphibole, and mica are the
components of almost all types of igneous rocks. Studying this rock type is like studying
magma since igneous rocks come from cooled magma. Aside from temperature of the
magma, pressure also contributes to the formation of igneous rocks.
Igneous rocks are formed from solidification of magma or lava which flows out from depth.
There are two types of igneous rocks based on the temperature-pressure condition during
the solidification of magma: extrusive and intrusive rocks. In addition, the time duration is
also a factor in the formation of crystals of igneous rocks. Let us deal with this formation
and types of igneous rocks in detail.
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to the surface giving it longer time to cool down at a very slow rate. On the other hand,
magma cools quickly (fast cooling) near the surface that causes formation of smaller crystals
since it is given little time to form.
Fig. 1. A model that shows how cooling rate affects crystal size
An example of a rock with large crystals is a diorite while those with smaller crystals is an
obsidian.
Fig. 2. Diorite (left) and obsidian (right) are examples of igneous rocks.
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In the early 1900’s, Bowen came up with this idea by analyzing what minerals were formed if
igneous rocks were subjected to varying temperatures. He started with melting igneous
rocks at about 1200 °C. Then, let the magma cool down giving time for crystals to crystallize.
After doing it at varying temperatures, he found out that there are two different branches.
The first one is the discontinuous branch shown at the left side of Fig. 3. The first mineral,
olivine, will form if the chemistry of magma (at about 1200 °C) has everything that these
minerals need. If the magma is allowed to cool down further, olivine will melt and create
pyroxene which is the next mineral in the sequence. Further cooling will form amphibole,
and then biotite mica.
Tips
For you to easily remember the order of the four minerals in the
discontinuous branch, you may use a mnemonic for example “Old People
Are Bright”. The first letter of each word represents a mineral in the
discontinuous branch of the reaction series.
On the other hand, the continuous branch does not include the transformation of different
minerals. It only shows the development of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar to its
sodium-rich counterpart.
As it proceeds down the series, the two branches eventually merge and the magma starts
to crystallize into potassium feldspar, muscovite mica, and quartz.
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Essential Question
What are the types of igneous rocks?
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Examples of extrusive igneous rocks are obsidian, andesite, and pumice. Obsidian, a rock
with a glassy texture, is so smooth because it cools so quickly that crystals were not given
time to form. Others such as pumice have many holes from escaped gas making this rock so
light that it can even float. Some rocks have a porphyritic texture where one mineral is
larger than the rest. The larger one is called phenocryst while the remainder is termed as
the groundmass. An example of this type are hornblende and andesite. This type of rocks
were formed when magma started to crystallize when it was still underneath Earth’s surface
(forming phenocryst) while others (groundmass) cooled rapidly after the eruption. A hot
cocoa with marshmallow can be a good analogy to these porphyritic rocks.
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As shown in Fig. 5, sills are concordant while dikes and laccolith are discordant. Batholiths
are large intrusive bodies formed deep within Earth.
● Aphanitic rock has crystals that are too fine-grained to be seen by the naked eye or
even with the help of a hand lens.
● Phaneritic rock has grains that are coarse enough to be visible to the eye.
● Pegmatitic rock has crystals that are greater than 3 cm due to very slow cooling.
● Vesicular rock contains tiny holes called vesicles due to gas bubbles in the lava or
magma.
● Porphyritic are rocks where larger crystals are embedded in smaller crystals.
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Remember
Igneous rocks are classified in various ways:
● based on the temperature-pressure condition during the
solidification of magma (extrusive and intrusive).
● based on their texture (aphanitic, phaneritic, pegmatitic,
vesicular, porphyric, amygdaloidal, pyroclastic).
● based on mineral composition (felsic or granitic, intermediate,
mafic or basaltic and ultramafic).
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Rocks can be classified into extrusive (volcanic) and intrusive (plutonic). Extrusive rocks cool
so rapidly that crystals are unable to form. This is the reason for their fine-grained texture.
Intrusive rocks, on the other hand, cool so slow. This gives time for the crystals to form
making their texture coarse-grained.
Just by observing these two properties, a person can now name an unknown igneous rock.
For example, the unknown rock has few crystals (volcanic) and has more dark-colored
minerals than the light ones (mafic). Referring to the table above, the unknown rock is
probably basalt.
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Key Points
● Igneous rocks come from the Latin word ignis which means fire. It is formed from
solidification of magma or lava which flows out from depth.
● Igneous rocks can be classified based on the temperature-pressure condition during
the solidification of magma, based on their texture, and based on mineral
composition.
● Bowen’s reaction series shows the progression of silicate minerals crystallization at
specific temperature conditions.
● Igneous rocks can be named based on its texture and composition.
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A. Using your knowledge on Bowen’s reaction series, complete the diagram below and
answer the questions that follow.
1. Which mineral in the Bowen’s reaction series has the highest silica content?
2. Which mineral in the Bowen’s reaction has high amounts of calcium and sodium?
3. Which mineral is the lowest-temperature iron-bearing silicate mineral that can form a
melt?
4. Which minerals contain iron and magnesium?
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B. Write the name of the igneous rock based on the description given.
1. high silica content, coarse-grained texture
2. low silica content, fine-grained texture
3. high silica content, fine-grained texture
4. equal amounts of dark and light colored minerals, fine-grained texture
5. low silica content, coarse-grained texture
6. equal amounts of dark and light colored minerals, coarse-grained texture
1. Gabbro 6. Granite
2. Rhyolite 7. Peridotite
3. Basalt 8. Scoria
4. Andesite 9. Tuff
5. Diorite 10. Dacite
Photo Credits
Fig. 2. Diorite by Rojinegro81 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia commons and
Obsidian by Anonymous via Wikimedia commons.
Fig. 4. Pumice by Lassen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia commons and Sierra
Grande Andesite by James St. John is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia
commons.
Bibliography
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Coenraads, Robert R. 2005. Rocks & Fossils: A Visual Guide. Australia: Weldon Owen Inc.
Tarbuck, Edward J. and Frederick J. Lutgens. 2012. Earth Science, 13th Edition. New Jersey:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
Thompson, Graham R. and Jonathan Turk. 1997. Introduction to Physical Geology. United
States: Brooks Cole Publishing.
Williams, Linda. 2004. Earth Science Demystified. United States: The McGraw -Hill Companies,
Inc.
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