INTERNAL PROCESSES OF THE EARTH

The Earth is a very unique planet in the solar system. It consists of four major environmental
segments namely, the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, and Biosphere which are attached
to one another due to the earth’s gravitational attraction. The Lithosphere is the basic solid part of
the earth which consists of hard rock masses and hot fluids, and extends to well over 6000km to
the center of the earth. A study of the lithosphere will give a very good understanding of the
lithology, structure, composition, internal processes that affect the external surface features, the
concept of plate tectonics and the natural resources that are contained in various rock bodies that
make up the earth.

The Earth’s Internal Structure

During the course of earth’s origin, the earth's interior has been sorted out by Gravity. The heavier
elements like iron tend to sink toward the center of the earth. The lighter materials, the silicates,
oxygen compounds and water have risen upward to become part of the surface mass. This action
has created very distinct layers within the earth’s interior. Based on these variations, the Earth’s
interior is found to have three major solid layers. They are the outermost Crust, the middle Mantle
and the central Core.

The Crust
The Crust is the outermost layer of the earth on which the living exists. This is a very thin and
brittle layer which ranges from 5 km under the oceans to 100 km under the mountainous areas of
continents. The crust is about 0.5 % of the earth’s total mass and usually, it’s about 40 km thick
under the flat continents.

The crust is made of many types of rocks and thousands of minerals. These rock and minerals are
made from just 8 elements namely: Oxygen (46.6%), Silicon (27.72%), Aluminum (8.13%), Iron
(5.00%), Calcium (3.63%), Sodium (2.83%), Potassium (2.70%) and Magnesium (2.09%).
The rocks present in the earth’s crust are solid, rigid and brittle in nature. They are also highly
variable, including rocks of molten origin, rocks of sedimentary origin, and rocks that have
undergone all sorts of structural and chemical alterations through metamorphism. The crust itself
is divided into two sub-layers as continental crust and oceanic crust. The continental crust is much
thicker than the oceanic crust.

Oceanic crust
The crustal mass existing under the oceans is about 10 km thick. It is generally made up of rocks
which are rich in iron and magnesium. The oceanic crust is denser than continental crust. The
reason is that this layer is dominated by relatively heavy, dark, dense rocks of “mafic” composition.
Most of these mafic rocks are of volcanic in origin and are called “basalts.” This dense, heavy
mafic layer is sometimes called as “SiMa” denoting its chemistry as silica and magnesium
Continental crust
This is also known as the continental cratons and makes up the continental layer. The continental
crust is about 30 to 50 km in thickness. It is made up of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
rocks. The continental crust is less dense than the oceanic crust. When the continental crust collides
with oceanic crust, through plate movement, the continental crust rides over the top of the oceanic
crust while the oceanic crust is pushed back down towards the mantle. This process is called as
subduction.
The continental crust is made up of light colored rocks. These rocks are primarily composed of
silicates, enriched in lighter elements, such as aluminum (Al), potassium (K), and sodium (Na).
Hence, this layer is called as “SiAl” as it is dominated by silicate rocks with lighter elements mixed
with aluminum. These rocks are granitic masses. Hence, this layer is normally called as a granitic
layer. This is considerably thicker, around 40 km, than the oceanic crust containing the basaltic
lower layer.
Mafic rocks contain denser minerals and therefore, oceanic crust is denser than continental crust.
The average density of basalt is 3.0 g/cm3 and granite is 2.7 g/cm3.
Peridotite is denser than crustal rocks, with an average density between 3.2 - 3.4 g/cm3.

Zone of Transition
Below this crust, the earth’s solid constituents have shown a zone of transition.
The density of the mass is very high and very rigid. Seismic soundings have identified a
discontinuity between the crust and this layer. There seems to be a sharp increase in the velocity
of seismic waves as they pass into this layer of differing density and rigidity. It was actually a
discontinuity and these discontinuities are named after the inventor who has identified it.

Mohorovicic discontinuity
Andrija Mohorovicic, first noticed this effect, in the year 1909. He found that some of the
earthquake waves near the surface, moved slower than the earthquake waves that passed through
the interior of the Earth. He also noticed that the P (primary, first and strongest) waves that passed
through the interior of the Earth, moved in a straight line. These waves were bent or deflected by
something different below. He decided that the outside layer of Crust was made of less dense
material (Rock) and the layer existing below. This transition zone was named as Mohorovicic
discontinuity. The layer of the earth’s interior existing below the crust was named as the mantle
which was much denser. Waves of all other kinds move faster and straighter through this denser,
more solid layer. Based on this observation, the nature of the mantle was identified, further.

The Mantle
This is the middle layer which makes up the largest volume of the Earth’s interior. It is about 2900
kilometers in thickness and comprised of about 83% of the Earth’s total volume. It is also divided
into two distinct layers as upper mantle and lower mantle.
The Upper mantle
The upper mantle is about 670 kilometers in depth. It is a brittle and less dense mass and made up
of peridotites which are rocks made up of minerals like olivine and pyroxene. These are largely
silicate minerals and the rocks are basic in character. These rocks are highly enriched with iron
and magnesium, and hence they are called as “ultramafic” rocks. These ultramafic rocks are dark
in color due to the presence of iron and magnesium. These rocks are extremely heavy and dense
compared with the typical surface rocks. The rocks in the upper mantle are more rigid and brittle
because of cooler temperatures and lower pressures.
The upper mantle is also known as the asthenosphere, which flows as convection currents.
The Lower Mantle
The Lower Mantle is much thicker and denser. It is 670 to 2900 kilomteres below the Earth’s
surface. This layer is hot and plastic. The higher pressure existing in this layer causes the formation
of minerals that are different from those of the upper mantle. The mantle varies in its state of
matter. It is soft and in nearly liquid condition near its inner boundary.

The Core:
The earth’s core was the first internal structural element identified by the earlier workers. It was
discovered in 1906 by R.D. Oldham, from his study of earthquake records. It also helped to explain
the Newton's calculation of the Earth's average density. The outer core is presumed to be liquid in
nature, because it does not transmit the shear (S) waves. The velocity of compressional (P) waves
that pass through it is also found to be sharply reduced.
The inner core is considered to be solid because of the behavior of P and S waves passing through
it.

Gutenberg’s discontinuity
Beno Gutenberg discovered the boundary as a discontinuity between the mantle and the outer core.
This boundary was named after him, as Gutenberg discontinuity. The outer core is at 2890-5150
km below the earth’s surface.

Inner and Outer Core

The Earth’s central Core contains two different layers as Outer Core and Inner Core. The Outer
Core is a hot liquid layer and the Inner Core is a hot and solid layer. The outer core is about 2250
km thick and is known to exist in a liquid state because of the behavior of earthquake waves,
particularly shear body waves or secondary waves. The temperature in the outer core is about
4000-50000C. The molten, liquid iron in the outer core is important because it helps to create the
Earth’s magnetic field. Liquid cannot respond to shear forces, so it can’t transmit shear waves. As
a result, there is a seismic shadow on the side of the earth antipodal to an earthquake’s epicenter.
The inner core’s density is estimated to be between 12.7 - 13.0 g/cm3, using evidence from
seismology.

The Solid Inner Core

The inner core is 5150-6370 km below the earth’s surface. It mainly consists of iron, nickel and
some lighter elements, probably sulphur, carbon, oxygen, silicon and potassium. The temperature
in the inner core is about 5000-60000C. Because of the high pressure, the inner core is solid. The
solidity of the inner core is due to the presence of iron and nickel. The core is incredibly hot in the
centre and the pressure is so great that the melting point of iron and nickel is elevated far beyond
those high temperatures (6,500 K), leaving the nickel-iron as solid.
There is a continuous increase in the density of layers as crust, upper mantle, lower mantle, outer
core and inner core which ranges from 2.2 gm/cc to 13.1 gm/cc. The rock types also vary in these
layers. Since the average density of surface material is only around 3000 kg/m3, then we must
understand that much denser materials are existing within the Earth's core.

Earth's Core is thought to be composed mainly of an iron and nickel alloy. It is the earth's ultimate
source of internal heat because it contains radioactive materials which release heat as they break
down into more stable substances

The Lithospheric Plates

The lithosphere is broken up into various tectonic plates. There are currently seven or eight major
and many minor plates existing on the earth. The lithospheric plates ride on the asthenosphere.
These plates move in relation to one another and their movements happen at one of three types of
plate boundaries which are:
a) convergent (or collisional) boundaries,
b) divergent boundaries (also called as spreading centers); and
c) conservative transform boundaries.

Dimensions of plates
The size of the tectonic Plates vary greatly. It may be from a few hundred to thousands of
kilometers across. The Pacific and Antarctic Plates are among the largest plates on earth. The
thickness of the Plates also vary widely. It ranges from less than 15 km for young oceanic
lithosphere, to about 200 km or more, for ancient continental lithosphere. Tectonic plates probably
got developed in the earlier period of the Earth's 4.6-billion-year old history.
Movement of Plates
The plates are not static bodies. They have been drifting on the surface, ever since-like slow-
moving bumper cars repeatedly clustering together and then separating each other. The movement
of plates has caused the formation and break-up of continents over time, including occasional
formation of a supercontinent that contains most or all of the continents.

Magma and its Emplacements

Emplacement of magma from the earth’s interior is another effect. Magma is a fully or partially
molten rock mass of the earth’s interior. It is usually consisting of silicate liquid. Magma migrates
either at depth or to the Earth's surface, where it is ejected as a volcanic lava. A magma is
characterized by the interactions of several physical and chemical properties.

These properties include:

a) chemical composition,
b) viscosity,
c) content of dissolved gases, and
d) temperature of the molten mass.

The properties of magma are:

1. Temperature
2. Density
3. Viscosity
4. Gas content
5. Abundance
6. Chemical composition- major and minor elements.
Formation of Rocks
Magma gets solidified to form rocks. This process is called as crystallization process. Because
oxygen and silicon are the two most abundant elements in magma, it is convenient to describe the
different magma types in terms of their silica content (SiO2).

Types of Magma
There are three types of magma:
1. Mafic Magma
2. Felsic Magma
3. Intermediate magma

The mafic magma has relatively low silica and high Fe and Mg contents.
Mafic magma will cool and crystallize to produce the volcanic rocks like basalt while the felsic
magma is characterized by relatively high silica and low Fe and Mg contents. The felsic magma
will crystallize to produce rocks like dacite and rhyolite.
The Intermediate-composition magmas will crystallize to produce the rock andesite. Because the
mafic rocks are enriched in Fe and Mg, they tend to be darker in color than the felsic rock types
which are lighter in color.

Considering the evolution of magma, there are two stages of development namely:
1. Primary melts which are derived from the mantle and
2. Parental melts which are derived from the bodies developed from primary melts

Magma is the source of all igneous rocks. Emplacement of magma could be seen from the present
day volcanic eruptions. A magma has enormous thermal and chemical energy. The magmatic melt
is less dense than its source rock and hence it is propelled upward through the lithospheric layers.
Not all the magma reaches the surface. Some may intrude and gets solidified well below the
surface. On an average, 60 of the earth’s 550 historically active volcanoes are in the eruption
process every year.

Geothermal gradient
The rate of increase in temperature of the earth’s interior is knows as geothermal gradient.
Geothermal gradient is the rate of increasing temperature with respect to increasing depth in the
Earth's interior. It varies considerably from place to place. Away from tectonic plate boundaries,
it is 25–30°C per km of depth. Away from active volcanic centres, the average gradient is nearly
300C per km. If this downward rate of increase continued uniformly, the temperature at which
basaltic rocks would melt at 1050oC at a depth of about 35 km. It is also controlled by the thermal
conductivity of the rock masses.
Radioactive Elements
There is also a heat flow generated by the radioactive elements in various rock types. The major
heat-producing isotopes in the Earth are potassium-40, uranium-238, uranium-235, and thorium-
232. Heat flows constantly from its sources within the Earth to the surface. Heat from Earth's
interior can be used as an energy source, known as geothermal energy.
IGNEOUS PROCESSES
Igneous rock is formed when liquid rock freezes into solid rock. This molten material is
called magma when it is in the ground and lava when it is on the surface. Only the Earth’s outer
core is liquid; the Earth’s mantle and crust are naturally solid. However, there are a few minor
pockets of magma that form near the surface where geologic processes cause melting. It is this
magma that becomes the source for volcanoes and igneous rocks.

Lava cools quickly on the surface of the earth and forms tiny microscopic crystals. These are
known as fine-grained extrusive, or volcanic, igneous rocks. Extrusive rocks are often vesicular,
filled with holes from escaping gas bubbles.

Volcanism is the process in which lava has erupted. Depending on the properties of the lava that
is erupted, the volcanism can be drastically different, from smooth and gentle to dangerous and
explosive. This leads to different types of volcanoes and different volcanic hazards.

In contrast, magma that cools slowly below the earth’s surface forms larger crystals which can be
seen with the naked eye. These are known as coarse-grained intrusive, or plutonic, igneous rocks.
This relationship between cooling rates and grain sizes of the solidified minerals in igneous rocks
is important for interpreting the rock’s geologic history.

Classification of Igneous Rocks

Igneous rocks are classified based on texture and composition. Texture describes the physical
characteristics of the minerals such as grain size. This relates to the cooling history of the molten
magma from which it came. Composition refers to the rock’s specific mineralogy and chemical
composition. Cooling history is also related to changes that can occur to the composition of igneous
rocks.

Bowen’s Reaction Series

Bowen’s Reaction Series describes the temperature at which minerals crystallize when cooled, or
melt when heated. The low end of the temperature scale where all minerals crystallize into solid
rock is approximately 700°C (158°F). The upper end of the range where all minerals exist in a
molten state is approximately 1,250°C (2,282°F). These numbers reference minerals that
crystallize at standard sea-level pressure, 1 bar.

Magma Generation
Magma and lava contain three components: melt, solids, and volatiles. The melt is made of ions
from minerals that have liquefied. The solids are made of crystallized minerals floating in the
liquid melt. These may be minerals that have already cooled Volatiles are gaseous components—
such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur, and chlorine—dissolved in the magma. The presence
and amount of these three components affect the physical behavior of the magma.
Partial Melting and Crystallization
Even though all magmas originate from similar mantle rocks, other things, like partial melting and
crystallization processes, can change the chemistry of the magma. This explains the wide variety
of resulting igneous rocks that are found all over Earth. Because the mantle is composed of many
different minerals, it does not melt uniformly. As minerals with lower melting points turn into
liquid magma, those with higher melting points remain as solid crystals. This is known as partial
melting.

Volcanism
When magma emerges onto the Earth’s surface, the molten rock is called lava. A volcano is a type
of land formation created when lava solidifies into rock. Volcanoes have been an important part
of human society for centuries, though their understanding has greatly increased as our
understanding of plate tectonics has made them less mysterious. This section describes volcano
location, type, hazards, and monitoring.

IGNEOUS ROCKS

Igneous rock is any of various crystalline or glassy rocks formed by the cooling and solidification
of molten earth material. Igneous rocks constitute one of the three principal classes of rocks, the
others being metamorphic and sedimentary.

Igneous rocks are formed from the solidification of magma, which is a hot (600 to 1,300 °C, or
1,100 to 2,400 °F) molten or partially molten rock material. Earth is composed predominantly of
a large mass of igneous rock with a very thin veneer of weathered material—namely, sedimentary
rock. Whereas sedimentary rocks are produced by processes operating mainly at Earth’s surface
by the disintegration of mostly older igneous rocks, igneous—and metamorphic—rocks are
formed by internal processes that cannot be directly observed and that necessitate the use of
physical-chemical arguments to deduce their origins. Because of the high temperatures within
Earth, the principles of chemical equilibrium are applicable to the study of igneous and
metamorphic rocks, with the latter being restricted to those rocks formed without the direct
involvement of magma.

Magma is thought to be generated within the plastic asthenosphere (the layer of partially molten
rock underlying Earth’s crust) at a depth below about 60 kilometres (40 miles). Because magma
is less dense than the surrounding solid rocks, it rises toward the surface. It may settle within the
crust or erupt at the surface from a volcano as a lava flow. Rocks formed from the cooling and
solidification of magma deep within the crust are distinct from those erupted at the surface mainly
owing to the differences in physical and chemical conditions prevalent in the two environments.
Within Earth’s deep crust the temperatures and pressures are much higher than at its surface;
consequently, the hot magma cools slowly and crystallizes completely, leaving no trace of the
liquid magma. The slow cooling promotes the growth of minerals large enough to be identified
visually without the aid of a microscope (called phaneritic, from the Greek phaneros, meaning
“visible”). On the other hand, magma erupted at the surface is chilled so quickly that the individual
minerals have little or no chance to grow. As a result, the rock is either composed of minerals that
can be seen only with the aid of a microscope (called aphanitic, from the Greek aphanēs, meaning
“invisible”) or contains no minerals at all (in the latter case, the rock is composed of glass, which
is a highly viscous liquid). This results in two groups: (1) plutonic intrusive igneous rocks that
solidified deep within the crust and (2) volcanic, or extrusive, igneous rocks formed at Earth’s
surface. Some intrusive rocks, known as subvolcanic, were not formed at great depth but were
instead injected near the surface where lower temperatures result in a more rapid cooling process;
these tend to be aphanitic and are referred to as hypabyssal intrusive rocks.

The deep-seated plutonic rocks can be exposed at the surface for study only after a long period
of denudation or by some tectonic forces that push the crust upward or by a combination of the
two conditions. (Denudation is the wearing away of the terrestrial surface by processes including
weathering and erosion.) Generally, the intrusive rocks have cross-cutting contacts with
the country rocks that they have invaded, and in many cases the country rocks show evidence of
having been baked and thermally metamorphosed at these contacts. The exposed intrusive rocks
are found in a variety of sizes, from small veinlike injections to massive dome-shaped batholiths,
which extend for more than 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) and make up the cores of the
great mountain ranges.

Extrusive rocks occur in two forms: (1) as lava flows that flood the land surface much like a river
and (2) as fragmented pieces of magma of various sizes (pyroclastic materials), which often are
blown through the atmosphere and blanket Earth’s surface upon settling. The coarser pyroclastic
materials accumulate around the erupting volcano, but the finest pyroclasts can be found as thin
layers located hundreds of kilometres from the opening. Most lava flows do not travel far from the
volcano, but some low-viscosity flows that erupted from long fissures have accumulated in thick
(hundreds of metres) sequences, forming the great plateaus of the world (e.g., the Columbia
River plateau of Washington and Oregon and the Deccan plateau in India). Both intrusive and
extrusive magmas have played a vital role in the spreading of the ocean basin, in the formation of
the oceanic crust, and in the formation of the continental margins. Igneous processes have been
active since the onset of the formation of Earth some 4.6 billion years ago. Their emanations have
provided the water for the oceans, the gases for the primordial oxygen-free atmosphere, and many
valuable mineral deposits.

Chemical components

The great majority of the igneous rocks are composed of silicate minerals (meaning that the basic
building blocks for the magmas that formed them are made of silicon [Si] and oxygen [O]), but
minor occurrences of carbonate-rich igneous rocks are found as well. Indeed, in 1960
a sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) lava with only 0.05 weight percent silica (SiO2) was erupted
from Ol Doinyo Lengai, a volcano in northern Tanzania, Africa. Because of the limited occurrence
of such carbonate-rich igneous rocks, however, the following discussion will consider the
chemistry of silicate rocks only. The major oxides of the rocks generally correlate well with their
silica content: those rocks with low silica content are enriched in magnesium oxide (MgO) and
iron oxides (FeO, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4) and are depleted in soda (Na2O) and potash (K2O); those with
a large amount of silica are depleted in magnesium oxide and iron oxides but are enriched in soda
and potash. Both calcium oxide (CaO) and alumina (Al2O3) are depleted in the rocks that have a
silica content of less than about 45 weight percent, but, above 45 percent, calcium oxide can be as
high as 10 percent; this amount decreases gradually as the silica increases. Alumina in rocks that
contain more than 45 percent silica is generally above approximately 14 weight percent, with the
greatest abundance occurring at an intermediate silica content of about 56 weight percent. Because
of the importance of silica content, it has become common practice to use this feature of igneous
rocks as a basis for subdividing them into the following groups: silicic or felsic (or acid, an old
and discredited but unfortunately entrenched term), rocks having more than 66 percent
silica; intermediate, rocks with 55 to 66 percent silica; and subsilicic, rocks containing less than
55 percent silica. The latter may be further divided into two groups: mafic, rocks with 45 to 55
percent silica and ultramafic, those containing less than 45 percent. The subsilicic rocks, enriched
as they are in iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg), are termed femic (from ferrous iron and magnesium),
whereas the silicic rocks are referred to as sialic (from silica and aluminum, with which they are
enriched) or salic (from silica and aluminum). The terms mafic (from magnesium and ferrous iron)
and felsic (feldspar and silica) are used interchangeably with femic and sialic.

The silica content also reflects the mineral composition of the rocks. As the magma cools and
begins to crystallize, silica is taken from the magma to be combined with the other cationic oxides
to form the silicate minerals. For example, one mole of SiO2 is combined with one mole of MgO
to make the magnesium-rich pyroxene, MgSiO3 (enstatite): SiO2 + MgO → MgSiO3. Two moles
of SiO2 are needed to be combined with one mole each of CaO and Al2O3 to make the calcium-
rich plagioclase, CaAl2Si2O8 (anorthite). However, in a case where magma does not have enough
silica relative to the magnesium oxide to produce the pyroxene, the magma will compensate by
making a magnesium-olivine (forsterite; Mg2SiO4), along with the pyroxene, since
the olivine requires only one-half as much silica for every mole of magnesium oxide. On the other
hand, a silicic magma may have excess silica such that some will be left after all the silicate
minerals were formed from the combination of the oxides; the remaining “free” silica crystallizes
as quartz or its polymorphs. The former case usually occurs in subsilicic rocks that
characteristically will have silicate minerals like magnesium-olivine, sodium-
nepheline (NaAlSiO4, which requires only one mole of silicon for every mole of sodium [Na]),
and leucite (KAlSi2O6, which requires only two moles of silicon to one mole of potassium [K]).
These three minerals substitute in part for enstatite, albite (NaAlSi3O8, requiring three moles of
silicon for one mole of sodium), and orthoclase feldspar (KAlSi3O8, requiring three moles of
silicon for one mole of potassium), respectively. Quartz clearly will not be present in these rocks.
Minerals such as magnesium-olivine, nepheline, and leucite are termed undersaturated (with
respect to silica), and the subsilicic rocks that contain them are termed undersaturated as well. In
the case of rocks that have excess silica, the silicic rocks will have quartz and magnesium-
pyroxene, which are considered saturated minerals, and the rocks that contain them are
termed supersaturated.
Mineralogical components
The major mineralogical components of igneous rocks can be divided into two groups: felsic
(from feldspar and silica) and mafic (from magnesium and ferrous iron). The felsic minerals
include quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, feldspars (plagioclase and alkali feldspar), feldspathoids
(nepheline and leucite), muscovite, and corundum. Because felsic minerals lack iron
and magnesium, they are generally light in colour and consequently are referred to as such or
as leucocratic. The mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxenes, amphiboles, and biotites, all of
which are dark in colour. Mafic minerals are said to be melanocratic. These terms can be applied
to the rocks, depending on the relative proportion of each type of mineral present. In this regard,
the term colour index, which refers to the total percentage of the rock occupied by mafic minerals,
is useful. Felsic rocks have a colour index of less than 50, while mafic rocks have a colour index
above 50. Those rocks that have a colour index above 90 are referred to as ultramafic. These terms
are to be used only for the mineralogical content of igneous rocks because they do not
necessarily correlate directly with chemical terms. For example, it is common to find a felsic
rock composed almost entirely of the mineral plagioclase, but in chemical terms, such a rock is a
subsilicic mafic rock. Another example is an igneous rock consisting solely of pyroxene.
Mineralogically, it would be termed ultramafic, but chemically, it is a mafic igneous rock with
a silica content of about 50 percent.

The influence of supersaturation and undersaturation on the mineralogy of a rock was noted above.
During the crystallization of magmas, supersaturated minerals will not be formed along with
undersaturated minerals. Supersaturated minerals include quartz and its polymorphs and a low-
calcium orthorhombic pyroxene. These cannot coexist with any of the feldspathoids (e.g., leucite
and nepheline) or magnesium-rich olivine. In volcanic rocks that have been quenched (cooled
rapidly) such that only a small part of the magma has been crystallized, it is possible to find a
forsterite (magnesium-rich olivine) crystal surrounded by a glass that is saturated or
supersaturated. In this case, the outer rim of the olivine may be corroded or replaced by a
magnesium-rich pyroxene (called a reaction rim). The olivine was the first to be crystallized, but
it was in the process of reacting with the saturated magma to form the saturated mineral when an
eruption halted the reaction. Had the magma been allowed to crystallize fully, all the forsterite
would have been transformed into the magnesium-rich pyroxene and quartz may have been
crystallized.

Accessory minerals present in igneous rocks in minor amounts include monazite, allanite, apatite,
garnets, ilmenite, magnetite, titanite, spinel, and zircon. Glass may be a major phase in
some volcanic rock but, when present, is usually found in minor amounts. Igneous rocks that were
exposed to weathering and circulating groundwater have undergone some degree of alteration.
Common alteration products are talc or serpentine formed at the expense of olivine, chlorites
replacing pyroxene and amphiboles, iron oxides replacing any mafic mineral, clay minerals and
epidote formed from the feldspars, and calcite that may be formed at the expense of any calcium-
bearing mineral by interaction with a carbon dioxide (CO2)-bearing solution. Glass is commonly
altered to clay minerals and zeolite. In some cases, however, glass has undergone
a devitrification process (in which it is transformed into a crystalline material) initiated by reaction
of the glass with water or by subsequent reheating. Common products of devitrification include
quartz and its polymorphs, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, pyroxene, zeolite, clays, and chlorite.

Textural features

The texture of an igneous rock normally is defined by the size and form of its constituent mineral
grains and by the spatial relationships of individual grains with one another and with any glass that
may be present. Texture can be described independently of the entire rock mass, and its geometric
characteristics provide valuable insights into the conditions under which the rock was formed.

Crystallinity

Among the most fundamental properties of igneous rocks are crystallinity and granularity, two
terms that closely reflect differences in magma composition and the differences between volcanic
and various plutonic environments of formation. Crystallinity generally is described in terms of
the four categories shown in the Table.

Crystallinity categories of igneous rocks

crystallinity rock term

entirely crystalline holocrystalline

crystalline material and subordinate glass hemicrystalline or hypocrystalline

glass and subordinate crystalline material hemihyaline or hypohyaline

entirely glassy holohyaline or hyaline

Those holocrystalline rocks in which mineral grains can be recognized with the unaided eye are
called phanerites, and their texture is called phaneritic. Those with mineral grains so small that
their outlines cannot be resolved without the aid of a hand lens or microscope are termed aphanites,
and their texture is termed aphanitic. Aphanitic rocks are further described as
either microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline, according to whether or not their
individual constituents can be resolved under the microscope. The subaphanitic, or hyaline, rocks
are referred to as glassy, or vitric, in terms of granularity.

Aphanitic and glassy textures represent relatively rapid cooling of magma and, hence, are found
mainly among the volcanic rocks. Slower cooling, either beneath Earth’s surface or within very
thick masses of lava, promotes the formation of crystals and, under favourable circumstances of
magma composition and other factors, their growth to relatively large sizes. The resulting
phaneritic rocks are so widespread and so varied that it is convenient to specify their grain size as
shown in the Table.

Categories of rock grain size

general grain size

terms in common use igneous rocks in
Pegmatites
general

fine-grained <1 mm <1 inch

medium-grained 1–5 mm 1–4 inches

coarse-grained 5 mm–2 cm 4–12 inches

very coarse-grained >2 cm >12 inches