WHAT HAPPENS AFTER

MAGMA IS FORMED?
 WHAT IS A MAGMA?

Magma is a molten and semi-molten rock mixture

found under the surface of the Earth. This mixture
is usually made up of four parts: a hot liquid base,
called the melt; minerals crystallized by the melt;
solid rocks incorporated into the melt from the
surrounding confines; and dissolved gases. Magma
is formed when rocks are buried and become
molten because of heat associated with depth of
burial or pressure of burial, or both.
 WHAT IS A MAGMA?

Imagine a tectonic subduction zone in which the

‘conveyer belt’ takes surface crust to depth. After
the rock is melted due to depth/ pressure to
become magma, it might come back to the surface
in an explosive continental volcano over the region
of subduction (such as the Pacific Ring of Fire), or
it might come back by way of a typically non-
explosive mid-oceanic ridge to create new oceanic
crust which is the driver of the conveyer belt of
plate tectonics. Or it might comeback as an island-
building strato-volcano at a hot spot, such as
Hawaii or Iceland.
THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF MAGMA

• Ultramafic: The temperature of the ultramafic

magma reaches up to 1500 degrees Celsius.
• Mafic: The temperature of the mafic magma
reaches up to 1300 degrees Celsius.
• Intermediate: The temperature of the
intermediate magma reaches up to 1200 degrees
Celsius.
• Felsic: The temperature of the felsic magma is
less than 900 degrees Celsius.
HOW IS MAGMA FORMED
Like solid rock, magma is a mixture of minerals. It
also contains small amounts of dissolved gases
such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur. The
high temperatures and pressure under
Earth’s crust keep magma in its fluid state.

Magma forms from partial melting of mantle rocks.

As the rocks move upward (or have water added to
them), they start to melt a little bit. These little
blebs of melt migrate upward and coalesce into
larger volumes that continue to move upward. They
may collect in a magma chamber or they may just
come straight up. As they rise, gas molecules in the
magma come out of solution and form bubbles and
as the bubbles rise they expand. Eventually the
pressure from these bubbles is stronger than the
surrounding solid rock and this surrounding rock
fractures, allowing the magma to get to the surface.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER
MAGMA IS FORMED?
Once it is formed, it moves in an upward flow
because it is less dense than other rocks under
the Earth and can feed into a volcano or cool
and crystallize into intrusive igneous rock. If it
feeds into a volcano, magma will eventually
erupt and become lava. Igneous rock has two
types to describe what happens after the
magma is formed (plutonism and volcanism).
Plutonic igneous rock cools slowly just below
the surface between other rocks through
intrusion. This is named after the Greek god of
the underworld who is Pluto.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER
MAGMA IS FORMED?

Some of the plutonic rock examples are

granite, gabbro and diorite. On the other hand,
volcanic igneous rock cools quickly at the
surface or in very shallow levels through
extrusion of lava and some pyroclastic debris
like ashes and bombs. Since volcanic rock
forms when there is an eruption of lava, it is
named after volcanoes, which is named after
Vulcan who is a Roman god of fire. Some of
volcanic igneous rocks examples are basalt,
rhyolite and andesite
LAVA IS FORMED

Lava, (molten rock) emerging as a liquid onto Earth’s

surface. The term lava is also used for the solidified
rock formed by the cooling of a molten lava flow. The
temperatures of molten lava range from about 700 to
1,200 °C (1,300 to 2,200 °F). The material can be very
fluid, flowing almost like syrup, or it can be
extremely stiff, scarcely flowing at all. The higher
the lava’s silica content, the higher its viscosity.

The viscosity (thickness) of the magma that erupts

from a volcano affects the shape of the volcano.
Volcanoes with steep slopes tend to form from very
viscous magma, while flatter volcanoes form from
magma that flows easily.
IGNEOUS ROCKS

Igneous rocks form when magma (molten

rock) cools and crystallizes, either at
volcanoes on the surface of the Earth or
while the melted rock is still inside the
crust. All magma develops underground, in
the lower crust or upper mantle, because of
the intense heat there.
VOLCANISM

Volcanism occurs in several distinct geologic settings.

Most of these are associated with the boundaries of the
enormous rigid plates that make up the lithosphere—
the crust and upper mantle. The majority of active
terrestrial volcanoes (roughly 80 percent) and related
phenomena occur where two tectonic plates converge
and one overrides the other, forcing it down into the
mantle to be reabsorbed. Long curved chains of islands
known as island arcs form at such subduction zones.
Volcanoes of the explosive type make up many of the
islands of a single arc or the inner row of islands of a
double arc. All such islands that border the Pacific
basin are built up from the seafloor, usually by the
extrusion of basaltic and andesitic magmas.
VOLCANISM
PLUTONISM

Plutonism is the geologic theory that

the igneous rocks forming the Earth
originated from intrusive magmatic
activity, with a continuing gradual
process of weathering and erosion
wearing away rocks, which were then
deposited on the sea bed, re-formed
into layers of sedimentary rock by
heat and pressure, and raised again.
It proposes that basalt is solidified
molten magma.
PLUTONIC ROCKS
QUIZ
IDENTIFICATION

1. It is the geologic theory that the igneous

rocks forming the Earth originated from
intrusive magmatic activity
2. It is a molten and semi-molten rock
mixture found under the surface of the
Earth.
3. It is a type of magma that the
temperature reaches up to 1500 degrees
Celsius.
QUIZ
IDENTIFICATION

4. Is formed when magma (molten rock)

cools and crystallizes, either at volcanoes
on the surface of the Earth or while the
melted rock is still inside the crust.

5. Once it is formed, it moves in an ________

flow because it is less dense than other
rocks under the Earth and can feed into a
volcano or cool and crystallize into
intrusive igneous rock.