Types of Rock include Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic

Igneous Rocks
Lecture 3

Marble demo, rock specimens, Petrographic Microscope, Olivine Porphyry or Gabbro

Trays of mafic and felsic minerals
 Characteristics of magma

 Igneous rocks form as molten rock cools

and solidifies
 Characteristics of magmas (molten rock)
depend on parent material and where they
crystallize
 Where determines speed of crystallization
 At surface, fast cooling makes small crystals
 Geothermal
Gradient
Cool
Silica-rich rocks (with
Quartz, K-feldspar)
melt at cooler
temperatures.
Melts are viscous

Silica-poor rocks (with

Olivine, Pyroxene,
Ca-feldspar) melt at
higher temperatures
Melts are very fluid Hot
 Characteristics of magma

 General Characteristics of molten rock

 Forms from partial melting of rocks inside
the Earth
 Rocks formed from lava at the surface are
classified as extrusive, or volcanic rocks
 Rocks formed from magma that crystallizes
at depth are termed intrusive, or plutonic
rocks
Two Geologic Environments Where Igneous Rocks Form
Igneous Rocks
Formed in Rift

Igneous Rocks
Formed Above
Sinking Plate

Both melts are "Basaltic" i.e. Olivine, Pyroxene and Ca-Feldspars

Extrusive Igneous Rock - Lava (Hawaii)
Intrusive Igneous Rock (Granite) – This granite
cooled 30 kilometers under the surface Plagioclase
Feldspar

Quartz Amphibole K Feldspar

 Characteristics of magma

Three parts:
– Liquid portion, called melt, that is
mobile ions
– Solids, if any, are silicate minerals
already crystallized from the melt
– Volatiles, which are gases dissolved in the
melt, including water vapor (H2O), carbon
dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)
 Characteristics of magma
 Crystallization of magma

 Cooling of magma results in the systematic arrangement of

ions into orderly patterns

 The silicate minerals resulting from crystallization form in

a predictable order

Rock-forming minerals crystallize with increasing complexity as the

magma cools. The most complex 3-D minerals crystallize last. The
hottest magmas can only crystallize Olivine (Independent
Tetrahedra), but as the magma cools, more complex minerals can
form.
 Bowen’s Reaction Series
Molten- VERY Hot
No solids

First mineral to crystallize out

Molten- Not so hot

100% Solid
Fine crystals
Need a microscope

Low silica, HOT, fluid Intermediate High silica, warm, viscous

Course crystals
Easily seen
 Microscope
Demo
Bowens reaction series says:
as a granitic melt cools,
Biotite Mica and Plagioclase
Feldspar
crystallize out before Quartz

Granite
Order of
Hand Sample
Crystallization

We can see the order

of crystallization
Granite under the microscope
Thin Section
Crystals can react with the melt if they touch it
If the first formed crystals of Calcium-rich (Ca) Plagioclase touch the melt they will react with it,
and will become more sodium-rich on their outer rims

Zoned feldspar (plagioclase) showing change in

composition with time in magma chamber
(calcium-rich in core to sodium-rich at rim)
 However, if early crystals are removed, the
melt becomes richer in Silica

Remove
Fe, Mg, Ca
Some Si

Left with
K and Al
Most of Si
You can start with a
Mafic (silica-poor) magma
and end up with some
Felsic (silica-rich)
Granites.
Marble Demo
A melt will crystallize its mafic components first, and the remaining melt may be granitic
 Characteristics of magma

 Igneous rocks are typically classified by

both:
– Texture
– Mineral composition

 Texture in igneous rocks is determined by the size

and arrangement of mineral grains
 Igneous textures

 Most important is crystal size

 Factors affecting crystal size

 Rate of cooling
– Slow rate promotes the growth of
fewer but larger crystals
– Fast rate forms many small crystals
– Very fast rate forms glass
 Types of Igneous textures
 Types of igneous textures
 Aphanitic (fine-grained) texture
– Rapid rate of cooling of lava or magma
– Microscopic crystals
– May contain vesicles (holes from gas
bubbles)
 Phaneritic (coarse-grained) texture
– Slow cooling
– Crystals can be identified without a
microscope
 Aphanitic texture

Fine grained because it cooled

quickly at the surface
 Phaneritic texture

Coarse crystals cooled slowly

at great depth
 Igneous textures
 Types of igneous textures
 Porphyritic texture
– Minerals form at different
temperatures as well as differing rates
– Large crystals, called phenocrysts, are
embedded in a matrix of smaller
crystals, called the groundmass
 Glassy texture
– Very rapid cooling of molten rock
– Resulting rock is called obsidian
 Porphyritic texture

Granite
Two-stage cooling?
 Glassy texture

Obsidian
Fast cooling
More types of Igneous textures
 Types of igneous textures
Pyroclastic texture
–Various fragments ejected during
a violent volcanic eruption
–Textures often appear to more
similar to sedimentary rocks
Pyroclastic Rock -
Superheated Flows
 Naming igneous rocks – pyroclastic
rocks

Composed of fragments ejected during a

volcanic eruption

Varieties
Tuff – ash-sized fragments
Volcanic breccia – particles larger than
ash
Ash and pumice layers
 Still more types of Igneous
textures
 Types of igneous textures
Pegmatitic texture
–Exceptionally coarse grained crystals
–Form in late stages of fractionation of
magmas
–This is often what prospectors are
looking for

A Pegmatite with Feldspar and Zircon

Zircon is very good for obtaining radiometric ages
Show tray of Mafic Minerals

Igneous Compositions
 Igneous rocks are composed primarily of
silicate minerals that include:
 dark (or ferromagnesian) colored silicates
– Olivine
– Pyroxene “MAFIC” Magnesium and Iron
– Amphibole
– versus …
Show tray of Felsic Minerals

Igneous Compositions
 Igneous rocks also contain light colored
silicate minerals that include:
– Quartz
– Muscovite mica “FELSIC” Feldspar and Silica
– Feldspars
Igneous Rock Classification- Bowen’s Reaction Series on its side
Note Minerals in Note Minerals in

Felsic rocks crystallize from warm melts Mafic from hot melts
 Igneous compositions
 Naming igneous rocks – granitic (felsic)
rocks
 Granite
– Phaneritic
– Over 20 percent quartz, about 25 percent
or more feldspar (usually much more
feldspars).
– Plagioclase is Sodium-rich
– Abundant and often associated with
mountain building
– The term granite covers a wide range of
mineral compositions
 Igneous compositions
 Naming igneous rocks – granitic (felsic)
rocks
fine grained because extruded,
 Rhyolite so crystallized quickly

– Extrusive equivalent of granite

– May contain glass fragments and vesicles
– Aphanitic texture (means fine grained
minerals)
– Less common and less voluminous than
granite
– Phenocrysts can include quartz and
feldspar
 Igneous compositions

 Basaltic composition can be fine or coarse

– Composed of dark Olivine and Pyroxene and grey
calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar
– No Potassium-rich feldspar (no K-spar
‘Microcline’)
– Designated as being mafic (magnesium and
ferrum, for iron) in composition
– Much denser than granitic rocks - sinks
– Comprises the ocean floor as well as many volcanic
islands such as Hawaii. Also rift valley lavas
 Igneous compositions
 Naming igneous rocks – basaltic (mafic) rocks:
Fine-grained
Basalt
– Volcanic origin
– Aphanitic texture

– Composed mainly of pyroxene, some olivine and also

calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar
– Most common extrusive igneous rock
Scoria type Basalt: note Gas Bubble Pits
 Igneous compositions
 Naming igneous rocks – basaltic (mafic) rocks:
Coarse Grained
Gabbro
–Intrusive equivalent of basalt
–Phaneritic texture consisting of pyroxene
and calcium-rich plagioclase
–Makes up a significant percentage of the
oceanic crust, beneath the basalt pillow
lavas.
 Igneous compositions
 Other compositional groups

 Intermediate (or andesitic) composition

– Contain at least 25 percent dark silicate minerals
– Associated with explosive volcanic activity
– Often gray
Igneous
compositions

 Intermediate rocks
 Andesite
– Volcanic origin
– Aphanitic texture
– Often resembles rhyolite
– Intermediate silica content
– Frequent composition in volcanoes above
subduction zones, e.g. in Andes Mountains
 Igneous compositions
 Extrusive products can include:
 Pumice
– Volcanic
– Glassy texture, very light weight, mostly air
– Frothy appearance with numerous voids
(extrusive foam)
– Forms when lavas have a lot of water and other
volatiles

Common with
intermediate
compositions
 Igneous
compositions

 Intermediate rocks
 Diorite
– Plutonic equivalent of andesite
– Coarse grained
– Intrusive
– Composed mainly of intermediate feldspar and
amphibole
 Silica Content
 Silica content influences a magma’s
behavior
 Granitic magma Plutonic
– High silica content “Granite”

– Extremely viscous
– Liquid exists at temperatures as low as 700oC
– Huge explosion if it erupts (Yellowstone, Toba)

When Yellowstone
explodes, half of Wyoming Volcanic
will perish “Rhyolite”
 Silica Content
 Silica content influences a magma’s behavior
 Basaltic magma
– Much lower silica content
– Fluid-like behavior

– Crystallizes at higher temperatures

– Gurgles when it erupts (Hawaii)
 Origin of Magma

 Role of Pressure
– Reducing the pressure lowers the melting
temperature – the rock probably melts
– RIDGE: When confining pressures drop,
decompression melting occurs
 Origin of Magma

Role of volatiles - WATER

–Volatiles (primarily water) cause
rocks to melt at lower
temperatures
–This is particularly important
where oceanic lithosphere
descends into the mantle in a
subduction zone
Assimilation and magmatic
differentiation

Show Samples
Basalts forming in rifts and MORs

Decompression Melting:
Magma under lithosphere heats and cracks
it. Mantle rock is exposed to low pressures
– it partially melts
Origin of Andesite & Diorite: intermediate silica content

Basaltic here

Good diagram for the

Andes Mountains
Small blobs, not much heat in them
Assimilate some crust, fractionate
Plate Tectonics- Andesite Line

Andes

48
Andesites form above the deep portions of a subduction zone
 Origin of Granitic Rocks

Huge blobs under thick

part of continent w/ low
temps but lots of
magma, fractionation &
assimilation => Granite
Batholiths

Can also get small amounts of granites from deep felsic rock passed by ascending magma
Some intrusive igneous
structures