Igneous Rocks
Rock vs. Mineral Rock- a naturally formed consolidated material composed of grains of one or more minerals. Mineral- a naturally occurring element or compound with a relatively constant chemical and structural composition.
Three Rock Types 1.Igneous: Rock formed from the cooling of magma 2.Sedimentary: Rock formed from the accumulation and lithification (cementing) of weathered material. 3.Metamorphic: Rocks formed by the altering existing rock by heat and/or pressure.
The Rock Cycle
How do igneous rocks form? Intrusive Extrusive
Identification of Igneous Rocks Texture : the size of the grains that make up the rock Mineralogy : the minerals present in the rock
Textures: Phaneritic (Fan-er-itic): all large grainsAphanitic (A-fan-itic): all small grains Porphyritic (Poor-for-itic): large crystals surrounded by fine-grained matrix
Terms to explain to chemistry of igneous rocks: Mafic: (May-fik) Silica deficient igneous rocks with a high content of Magnesium, Iron, and Calcium. More dark minerals than light minerals. Felsic: (fell-sick) Silica rich igneous rock with a high percentage of potassium and sodium. Usually lots of quartz and feldspar.
Mineral content of Igneous Rocks
Intrusive Structures: Rock formations caused by the cooling of magma beneath the Earth’s Surface.
Shiprock, New Mexico Formed when a volcano goes extinct (loses its heat source). The magma that was inside the volcano cools and hardens into a rock much harder than that on the surface. Eventually the volcano is weathered away, exposing the rock.
Devil’s Tower, WY
Dikes: Magma from below is pushed up into cracks in the existing rock.
Dikes from Intrusion
Magma Formation molten rock created near the subduction zone. granitic magma ~ 650 o C geothermal gradient – 3 o C/100 m melting point increases with pressure; pressure increases with depth. mineral melting point is lowered by water under pressure.
Bowen’s Reaction Series sequence in which minerals crystallize in cooling magma.
Volcanism and Extrusive Rocks pyroclastic (pyro = “fire”; clast = “broken”) pyroclastic flow- mixture of gas and pyroclastic debris. caldera- pumice- vesicles- cinder cone-
Extrusive Rocks pyroclastic flow (click the picture below for a short video pumice with vesicles
Pyroclastic Flows
volcanos cinder conecaldera