ROCK FORMATION -
IGNEOUS ROCKS
IGNEOUS ROCKS
● Rocks formed from
cooling and crystallization
(solidification) of magma
● Has two types based on
where they were formed:
intrusive (plutonic) or
extrusive (volcanic)
● Most have millimeter- to
centimeter-sized crystals
but some have meter-long
crystals and others are
non-crystalline glass
● Vary from nearly white to
nearly black or they can
have mixed colors
● May contain holes,
fragments or ash that has
been compacted
TEXTURES DISPLAYED
BY IGNEOUS ROCKS
● depend mostly on over-
all crystal size, the
variation in crystal size
within that rock and the
presence of other features
such as holes and rock
fragments
○ Phaneritic igneous rocks
have large observable
crystals visible to the
unaided eye e.g. gabbro,
diorite, granite
○ Aphanitic igneous rocks
consist of microscopic
crystals due to magma
that solidified too rapidly
e.g. basalt, andesite,
rhyolite
○ Coarse grained igneous
rocks consist of very large
crystals - cm-m long e.g.
pegmatite, formed at
greater
depths where magma
cools very slowly allowing
large crystals to grow
○ Glassy igneous rocks
are made up of 100%
volcanic glass rather than
crystals, e.g. obsidian,
formed when magma
erupts on the surface and
cools quickly that crystals
have no more time to form
○ Porphyritic igneous
rocks consist of larger
crystals in a finer grained
matrix e.g. andesite
porphyry and rhyolite
porphyry, formed when
magma cools in a
subsurface chamber to
grow visible crystals
○ Volcanic breccia contain
angular fragments,
volcanic ash or fine-
grained solidified magma
(formed from explosive
eruptions of ash and
fragments, from lava flow
or volcano-triggered
mudflows)
HOW IGNEOUS ROCKS
ARE CLASSIFIED
● Igneous rocks vary in
chemical composition
(silica content) and mineral
content, but geologists
classify them according to
the size of crystals and the
kinds of mineralsin a rock.
● Felsic rocks - have light
color due to the
abundance of the light-
colored felsic minerals
quartz and feldspar
○ Granite - coarsely
grained, light-colored
igneous rock
○ Rhyolite - finely
crystalline rock but
contains glass, volcanic
ash, pieces of pumice and
variable amounts of
quartz, k-feldspar
● Intermediate rocks -
have mineral and chemical
composition that are in
between felsic and mafic
or
ultramafic igneous rocks
○ Diorite - coarsely
grained, contains
plagioclase feldspar and
amphibole and more mafic
minerals than granite
○ Andesite - fine-grained
equivalent of diorite,
commonly has
phenocrysts of cream-
colored feldspar or dark
amphibole
● Mafic rocks - are dark
and contain minerals rich
in magnesium and iron
○ Gabbro - coarsely
crystalline mafic rock,
consists of pyroxene and
other mafic minerals
○ Basalt - fine-crystalline
dark mafic lava rock
consisting of phenocrysts
of dark pyroxene, green
olivine or cream-colored
plagioclase feldspar
OTHER IGNEOUS
ROCKS
● Ultramafic rocks - are
dark and contain minerals
rich in magnesium and
iron
○ Peridotite - main
coarsely crystalline
ultramafic rock, with more
magnesium-rich and iron-
rich minerals,esp green
olivine and dark pyroxene
CHEMICAL
COMPOSITION OF
IGNEOUS ROCKS
SILICA CONTENT OF
IGNEOUS ROCKS
OTHER IGNEOUS
ROCKS
● OBSIDIAN - shiny
volcanic glass medium
gray to black in color and
forms when lava flow cools
too rapidly
● PUMICE- volcanic rock
containing many vesicles
or holes
● SCORIA- dark gray,
black, or reddish rock with
many vesicles
● TUFF- rock with a mix of
volcanic ash, pumice,
crystals and rock
fragments, not compact as
it contains fragments of
older rocks
● BRECCIA- with
fragments of rocks and
mix of ash and mud
● PEGMATITE-has very
large crystals formed deep
in the crust
MAIN MINERALS
PRESENT IN FELSIC,
INTERMEDIATE, MAFIC
AND ULTRAMAFIC
ROCKS
PROCESSES INVOLVED
IN FORMING IGNEOUS
ROCKS
● Melting - partial melting
at the source area,
typically 40-150 km
beneath the surface
● Separate pockets of
magma may accumulate
to make a larger volume of
magma, which then rises
because it is less dense
● Accumulation of magma
to form magma chamber,
which grows from the
injection of smaller sheets
of magma. The magma
may: solidify in the
chamber and never reach
the surface (plutonic rock,
and form plutons); or may
reside in the chamber
temporarily. There could
be a series of magma
chambers as magma rises
to the top
● Intrusion - body of
molten rock below the
surface, it literally invades
or intrudes into the
surrounding rocks.
Intrusive igneous rocks
solidify below the surface,
and may be called plutonic
rocks.
● When magma chambers
are only several km below
the surface, and may
crystallize there, while
some magma may carry
early-formed crystals all
the way to the surface
forming porphyritic
igneous rock.
● Eruption of magma as
lava or as volcanic ash.
When magma forms on
the surface, it is called
extrusive igneous rock.
(Volcanic ash forms when
dissolved gases in the
magma expand and blow
the magma apart into
smaller fragments of vol.
glass)
PROCESSES THAT
INFLUENCE THE
COMPOSITION OF A
MAGMA
● Partially and Nearly
Complete Melting of
magma at the source
region
○ If a more felsic source
area such as the
continental crust, is
melted, the magma will be
felsic.
○ If an intermediate source
is nearly completely
melted, the magma will
have an intermediate
composition
○ Partial melting of the
source produces felsic
magma
● Crystallization
○ Magma cools and
solidifies from the outside
in. As the magma cools,
mafic minerals crystallize
first, sinks and collects at
the bottom of the magma
chamber
making the bottom
chamber more mafic and
the upper chamber more
felsic
● Assimilation and Magma
Mixing
○ Magma Mixing -
happens when two
different magmas come in
contact with each other
and produces magma that
has intermediate
composition
○ Assimilation occurs
when the wall rocks
around a magma melt and
then incorporated into the
magma
● Magma (melt) is less
dense than the original
rock because it is 10%
greater than its volume
● It rises if the overlying
rock will let it through
● Pressures from the
magma (which push the
rocks apart to form
fractures) and tectonic
forces (which push and
pull crustal rocks) help
produce fractures/fissures
through which magma can
move.
FACTORS THAT
INFLUENCE HOW FAR
MAGMA CAN RISE
THROUGH THE
SURFACE
● Magma Pressure -
confining pressure on the
magma (by overlying
rocks) pushes it into any
available openings. It is
greater when magma is at
depth and decreases as
magma rises
● Density - differences in
density drive the flow of
magma. Mafic magma is
less dense than the
surrounding solid rocks
and so rises
● Gas Pressure - magma
contains dissolved gases
(CO2,
SO2, and water vapor). As
the magma pressure
decreases when the
magma rises, decreasing
pressure allows gases to
form in the magma. The
gases decrease the
density of the magma
making it rise faster.
● Tectonic stress - helps
magma to open steep
fractures that provide a
pathway to the surface.
Alternatively, it can trap a
magma at depth by
keeping the fractures
closed
Viscosity is a measure of
the material’s resistance to
flow. A viscous magma
does not flow easily.
Viscous magma does not
spread out but piles up,
forming mounds or domes
of lava.
Less viscous or more fluid
magma flows more easily
and spread out in thin
layers on the surface and
can travel long distances
from its source.
● Temperature
○ Low temperature
controls the viscosity of
magma making it flow with
great difficulty
○ High temperature makes
magma very hot, less
viscous and flows easily
■ Mafic magma is hotter
than felsic magma, hence
less viscous
● Composition
○ Abundant silicate chains
(strongly linked silicon and
oxygen tetrahedra in
magma) do not bend or
move easily out of the way
of one another.
■ Felsic and most
intermediate magmas
have silicon and oxygen
content hence very
viscous
○ Few silicate chains (less
connected silicon-oxygen
tetrahedra) makes magma
less viscous
■ Mafic magma
○ Volatiles - water and
other volatiles in magma
decrease its viscosity
● Percentage of Crystals
○ Abundant Crystals - the
crystals in the flowing
magma get in each others
way and cause the magma
to flow more slowly
○ Few crystals makes the
magma flow easily and
less viscous.
HOW DOES MAGMA
SOLIDIFY?
● A magma can cool very
rapidly that crystals do not
have time to form and
solidifies into a volcanic
glass
● The rate of cooling
affects the size and shape
of crystals that form
● The temperature at
which magma solidifies
depends largely on its
composition -mafic magma
begins solidifying at high
temperatures (>1,100℃)
than does an intermediate
magma (~950℃), and
felsic magma begins
solidifying at even lower
temperatures (~800℃).
● Water influences
temperatures of
solidification
UNDER WHAT
CONDITIONS DOES
MAGMA SOLIDIFY?
● It must lose enough
thermal energy to its
surroundings that it can
cool and change from a
liquid to a solid when a hot
magma has risen to a
place that is cooler,
whether on the land
surface, on the seafloor, or
still underground
○ (1) When magma
reaches the land surface,
it transfers thermal energy
through conduction and
radiation to the
atmosphere and to any
water that is on the
surface
○ (2) At depth, magma
loses thermal energy to
surrounding rocks by
conduction
○ (3) Magma also loses
heat when it releases
gases and water vapor
into wall rocks or at the
surface
○ (4) Water in rocks near
the magma receives heat
by conduction from the
magma or from hot wall
rocks near the magma. As
the water gets hotter, its
density decreases and the
water rises. The upward-
flowing water is replaced
by an inflow of cooler
water, causing convection.
This convection of water
may be the primary way
some magma cools.
○ (5) A magma solidifies
when minerals crystallize
or glass forms. The size of
any crystal largely reflects
the rate at which the
magma cools. Magma
cools slowly when it is in
hot surroundings or is
insulated by wall rocks.
○ (6) Pressure is
proportional to depth: the
greater the depth, the
higher the pressure.
○ (7) A magma forms at
depth where temperature
is high enough to
overcome pressure and to
cause melting.
○ (8) Some of the magma
rises some distance from
the mantle or crust, in a
place surrounded by
cooler rocks.
○ (9) The magma cools by
losing thermal energy to
the surrounding rock walls
and crystallizes.
○ (10) At some later time,
the now solidified magma
and its wall rocks are
uplifted to the surface
where they cool to low
temperature .
● Given the igneous
textures at the right,
arrange the rocks in order
of their cooling from the
slowest to fastest.
IN WHAT ORDER DO
MINERALS COMMONLY
CRYSTALLIZE?
● Minerals melt at different
temperatures - felsic
minerals melt before mafic
ones.
● Minerals crystallize in
the opposite order from
which they melt - mafic
minerals generally
crystallize before felsic
ones.
● The Bowen reaction
series describes how
magma's minerals change
as they cool. Itis a means
of ranking common
igneous silicate minerals
by the temperature at
which they crystallise.
● (1) Mafic minerals like
olivine and pyroxene are
the first to crystallize from
a mafic magma and not
typically from felsic
magmas because they
lack sufficient magnesium
to form these minerals.
The crystallization of mafic
minerals is making the
remaining magma less
mafic.
● (2) Amphibole and biotite
are most common in rocks
of intermediate
composition but are also
present in mafic or felsic
rocks. They crystallize at
temperatures lower than
olivine and pyroxene but
before most felsic
minerals.
● (3) Plagioclase feldspar
may be calcium-rich (Ca)
or sodium rich (Na) of
somewhere between. Ca-
rich plagioclase
crystallizes at higher
temperatures, and
plagioclase with less
calcium crystallizes at
lower temperatures.
● (4) The light-colored
felsic minerals quartz, K-
feldspar and muscovite
crystallize at the lowest
temperatures. They (along
with the Na-rich
plagioclase) may be the
only minerals formed from
felsic magmas, which lack
the chemical components
to grow abundant mafic
minerals.
● The Bowen Reaction
Series
○ Shows the evolution of
minerals based on
decreasing temperature.
○ The general progression
of the evolution is
separated into 2 branches,
forming a (Y): the
discontinuous branch and
the continuous branch
○ N. L. Bowen—devised
experiments on cooling
melts(1920s).
■ Early crystals settled out,
removing Fe, Mg, and Ca.
■ Remaining melt
progressively enriched in
Si, Al, and Na.
○ He discovered that
minerals solidify in a
specific series.
■ Continuous—plagioclase
changed from Ca-rich to
Na-rich.
■ Discontinuous—minerals
start and stop crystallizing,
and describes the
formation of the mafic
minerals olivine, pyroxene,
amphibole, and biotite
mica
○ Bowen's reaction series
is usually diagrammed as
a "Y" with horizontal lines
drawn across the "Y”
which divide the "Y" into
four compositional
sections.
○ Mineral formation is not
possible above 1800°C.
■ Between 1100°C and
1800°C, rocks are
ultramafic in composition
■ Between 900°C and
1100°C, rocks are mafic in
composition.
■ Between 600°C and
900°C, rocks are
intermediate in
composition.
■ Below 600° C, felsic
rocks form.
● The Bowen Reaction
Series Principles
○ (1)As a melt cools
minerals crystallize that
are in thermodynamic
equilibrium with the melt
(dissolution equals
crystallization; if no
equilibrium either
crystallization will
dominate[supersaturation],
or dissolution
[undersaturated]).
○ (2) As the melt keeps
cooling and minerals keep
crystallizing, the melt will
change its composition.
○ (3) The earlier formed
crystals will not be in
equilibrium with this melt
any more and will be
dissolved again to form
new minerals.
○ (3) In other words: these
crystals react with the melt
(or residual magma) to
form new crystals,
therefore the name
reaction series.
○ (4) The common
minerals of igneous rocks
can be arranged into two
series, a continuous
reaction series of the
feldspars, and a
discontinuous reaction
series of the
ferromagnesian minerals
(olivine, pyroxene,
hornblende, biotite)
○ This reaction series
implies that from a single
"parental magma" all the
various kinds of igneous
rocks can be derived by
Magmatic Differentiation.
○ The higher temperature
minerals have a higher
proportion of iron and
magnesium, and are
therefore considered to be
mafic. The lower
temperature mineralsare
related to the opposite end
of the compositional
spectrum (lower in iron
and magnesium, higher in
silicon and oxygen), and
are considered to be felsic.
Some minerals are clearly
mafic, some are clearly
felsic, and some fall in
between these two
extremes.
○ This "stepped" evolution
of minerals is due to the
dropping of temperature
that decreases the thermal
vibration of molecules, and
that allows silica to form
more complex structures.
HOW DOES MAGMA
FORM ALONG
DIVERGENT PLATE
BOUNDARIES AND MID-
OCEAN RIDGES?
● About 60% of the Earth’s
magma forms at the mid-
ocean ridges.
● At mid-ocean ridges, two
oceanic plates
diverge/spread apart.
● (1) Mantle rocks,
including those in the
asthenosphere are mostly
solid and crystalline.
● (2) As the plates
separate, solid
asthenosphere rises to fill
the area between the
plates. As the
asthenosphere rises,
pressure decreases and
the rocks partially melt
(decompression melting)
● (3) The buoyant mafic
magma rises away from
the unmelted residue in
the mantle and
accumulates in magma
chambers in the crust and
upper mantle.
● (4) Magma rises upward
through the magma-filled
fractures that form as
plates pull apart.
● (5) Older oceanic crust
moves away from the
ridge in a conveyor-belt
manner as new oceanic
crust forms along the axis
of the ridge.
● Continental rifts form
where tectonic forces
attempt to split a continent
apart.
● A continental rift has a
central trough where faults
drop down huge crustal
blocks; and is
characterized by a diverse
suite of igneous rocks
because melting takes
place in both the mantle
and the crust.
HOW ARE MAGMAS
GENERATED IN
CONTINENTAL RIFTS?
● (1) Solid asthenosphere
rises beneath the rift and
starts to melt via
decompression melting to
yield ultramafic magma.
● (2) The mantle-derived
mafic magma rises into the
upper mantle and lower
continental crust and
accumulates in larger
magma chambers. Some
of the mafic magma
reaches the surface and
erupts as mafic (basaltic)
lava flows.
● (3) Heat from the hot
mafic magma melts the
adjacent continental crust,
producing felsic magma.
Intermediate magma forms
from mixing or felsic and
mafic magmas or from the
assimilation of continental
crust by a mafic magma.
● (4) Some felsic and
intermediate magmas
solidify underground as
granite and related
igneous rocks.
HOW DOES MAGMA
FORM ALONG
CONVERGENT PLATE
BOUNDARIES?
● Many magmas are
generated along
convergent boundaries,
especially at subduction
zones.
● A Subduction zone is the
place where two
lithospheric plates come
together, one riding over
the other.
● (1) When oceanic plate
(oceanic crust and
lithospheric mantle)
converges with another
oceanic or continental
plate, subduction occurs,
with corresponding
increase in temperature
and pressure.
● (2) Due to high
temperature and pressure,
existing minerals in the
subducting plate convert
into new ones through
metamorphism. Water
liberated from minerals
rises to the overlying
asthenosphere.
● (3) The added water
lowers the melting
temperature of the mantle
above the subducting
plate. If the temperature is
high enough, melting
occurs, and mantle-
derived magmas rise into
the overriding plate. The
magma then may
crystallize at depth or
eventually erupt at the
surface.