Igneous Processes and Volcanism 2/10/2014 10:12:00 AM

-Ignous rocks texture is linked to rate and therefore place of cooling.

Slow cooling of magma in interior allows time for growth of large,
coarse crystals, characterizing intrusive igneous rocks.
Intrusive igneous rock is one that forced its way into surrounding rock.
o Surrounding rock called country rock.
o Porphyry- an igneous rock that has a mixed structure, crystals
float in mostly fine-grain matrix.
Large crystals called phenocrysts form while magma is
below Earths surface.
Extrusive Igneous Rocks- Form when lava erupts from volcanoes.
o AKA Volcanic rocks.
o Lavas- Volcanic rocks formed from lava vary from smooth to
spiky.
o Pyroclasts- Rocks made from fragments of lava thrown high in air
-Felsic Rocks- Poor in iron and magnesium, rich in silica high minerals (Quartz).
Tend to be light in color.
Granite- One of the most abundant intrusive igneous rocks.
Rhyolite- Extrusive equivalent of granite, much more fine-grained.
-Intermediate Igneous Rocks- Midway between felsic and mafic rocks.
Minerals of medium amount of silica (plagioclase).
Granodiorite and diorite.
-Mafic Rocks- Contain large proportions of minerals poor in silica but rich in
magnesium and iron.
Dark colors.
Gabbro- intrusive example, coarse-grained,
Basalt- Extrusive Equivalent
-Ultramafic rocks- Consist of mafic minerals with barely any feldspar.
Peridotite example.
o Dominant in earth mantle.
Rarely found as extrusive because they form at high temperature and
are rarely liquid.
-Viscosity- Measure of liquids resistance to flow.
Increases as silica increases.
-Partial melting- Rock does not melt completely at given temp, because
minerals melt at different temps.
-Pressure increases with depth, and higher pressure=higher temp required to
melt.
Decompression melting- Melting as material rises due to pressure
decreasing, without introduction of heat.
o Produces greatest volume of magma.
-Water varies melting as well, by lowering the melting temperature.
-Large pools of molten rock forms magma chamber- magma filled cavities in
lithosphere that form as rising pools of magma push aside other rocks.
-Magmatic differentiation- Process by which rocks of diff. composition can arise
from uniform parent magma.
Occurs due to different minerals crystallizing at different temps.
-Fractional Crystallization- Process by which crystals formed in cooling
magma are segregated from the rest of the liquid.
o Crystals formed in magma chamber settles to floor and is
removed from further reaction to liquid. Magma migrates to diff.
location, forming new chambers.
Thus crystals are segregated.
Magmatic differentiation can be achieved by partial melting over a
range of temps and water content.
Magmas do not cool uniformly. Diff temps within chambers may cause
chem. composition to change from one region to another.
Some magmas immiscible- do not mix together.
-Plutons- large igneous bodies formed deep in Earths crust.
-Magmatic stoping- Magma rising through crust makes space for itself in three
ways.
Wedging open overlying rock.
Breaking off large blocks of rock.
Melting surrounding rocks.
Batholiths- The largest plutons
Stocks- Smallest plutons
-Sill- A sheetlike body formed by injection of magma between parallel layers of
bedded rock.
Differ from most lava flows in that
o They lack blocky structures characterizing volcanic rocks.
o More coarse-grained than volcanics because they have cooled
more slowly.
o Rocks above and below sills show effects of heating (color
change).
o Many lava flows overlie older flows. Sills do not.
-Dikes- Major route of magma transport in the crust.
Like sills in being sheetlike igneous bodies, but dikes cut across layers in
bedded country rock.
Often create channels by pressure of rising magma.
-Veins- deposits of minerals found within a rock fracture foreign to the country
rock.
Pegmatites- Veins of extremely coarse granite cutting across finer
country rock.
-Raw material involved in seafloor spreading is peridotite from asthenosphere.
Melts by decompression melting as plates pull apart.
This forms magma chamber beneath mid ocean crest.
o Some magma rises through narrow cracks that open where
plates separate and erupts into ocean, forming pillow lavas.
o Some magma freezes in cracks asvertical sheeted dikes.
o Remaining magma solidifies as massive intrusions of gabbro as
magma chamber pulled apart by seafloor spread.
-Subduction zones as magma factories
Oceanic plate collides and dives beneath other oceanic plate.
Fluid-induced melting- Lower melting temp of rock.
As lithosphere moves lower, pressure squeezes water out of minerals
causing melting of oceanic crusts.
Magma rises and forms volcanic island arc.
-Mantle plumes- Sites of decompression but form within lithospheric plates, not
along borders.
Mantle plumes that reach earths surface and form hot spots cause
outpourings of basalt (produced by decompression melting.)
-Volcano- A magma chamber to which magma is transported from deep within
Earth.
Most found at convergent plate boundaries.
-Types of Lava
Basaltic Lava
o Most common.
o Produced along mid-ocean ridges and hotspots in continental
rift valleys.
Andesitic Lavas
o More viscous than basaltic lavas.
o Erupt mainly in volcanic belts above subduction zones.
Rhyolitic Lavas
o Produced in zones where heat from the mantle has melted large
volumes of crust.
-Textures of Volcanic Rocks
Obsidian- Glassy rock formed by rapidly cooling silica rich lava.
Pumice- Extremely vesicular volcanic rock.
-Pyroclastic deposits
When magma rises and pressure drops, volatiles may be released with
explosion, overlaying solidified rock into pyroclasts.
Finest fragments called volcanic ash.
Blobs of lava solidify into volcanic bombs.
Hot sticky pyroclasts weld together.
Rocks from small fragments called tuffs.
Rocks from larger fragments called breccias.
Pyroclastic flows occur when hot ash, dust, and gases ejected in
glowing cloud that rolls downhill at high speeds.
-Central eruptions- discharge lava from central vent (pipe coming from magma
chamber).
Shield volcano- Formed from copious frequent flows. Broad shield
shaped volcano.
o Gentle, lava flows, not as explosive, ocean islands, basaltic silica
composition.
Volcanic Domes- Formed from viscous lava producing rounded step
sided mass of rock.
Cinder Cones- Formed when volcanic vents discharge pyroclasts, solid
fragments form these cinder cones.
Stratovolcano- Formed when volcano blows lava and pyroclasts,
building this concave shaped composite volcano.
o Steep, layers of pyroclastic material, andesitic silica composition,
explosive, volcanic arcs.
Crater- Bowl shaped pit found at summit of most volcanoes
surrounding central vent.
Caldera- Overlying volcanic structure can collapses if magma is rapidly
discharged, forming this massive depression.
-Fissure eruptions- Volcanism along mid ocean ridges.
Basaltic silica, mid ocean ridges, not as explosive.
o Flood basalts- Flows from fissure eruptions pile up into this.
o Ash-flow deposits- Eruptions of pyroclasts on continents have
produced these sheets of volcanic tuffs.
-Volcanic disasters
Flank collapse Big piece of volcano breaks off and slides in landslide.
Caldera collapse
Eruption clouds
Reduce risk through awareness and public policy.

Sedimentation: Rocks Formed by Surface Processes2/10/2014 10:12:00 AM
Weathering and Surface Processes of Rock Cycle
-Sediments and sedimentary rocks formed are produced by weathering and
surface processes.
-Materials move from source area (created) to sink area (deposited).
-Surface processes
-Weathering- General process by which rocks are broken down at
surface to produce sediment particles.
o Physical Weathering- Takes place when solid rock is fragmented
by mechanical processes (freezing and thawing).
Does not change chemical composition.
o Chemical Weathering- Processes by which the minerals in a rock
are chemically altered or dissolved.
Erosion- Processes that dislodge particles of rocks caused by
weathering and move them away.
Transportation- Processes by which sedimentary particles moved to sink
areas.
o Water currents, wind, or moving ice to transport particles.
Deposition (Sedimentation)- Processes by which sediments settle as
water and winds slow or glaciers melt.
Burial- Layers of sediment accumulate on top of older layers.
Diagenesis- Refers to physical and chemical changes by which
sediments buried in basins are lithified into sedimentary rocks.
-Chemical weathering makes each susceptible to fragmentation, physical
weathering producers the fragments.
Clastic particles- Range in size.
Siliciclastic sediments- Sediments formed from silicate minerals.
Chemical sediments- Form at or near place of deposition, produced
by chemical weathering.
Biological sediments- Form near place of deposition, result of mineral
precipitation by organisms (shells, skeletons).
o Transportation, further breaking, and deposition of these results in
bioclastic sediments.
Most sediments transported by air and water currents.
Particle size best indicator of how quickly it will settle. Large particles
settle faster than small.
As current slows, biggest particles settle first.
Strong currents carry gravel and smaller particles.
o Most common in mountains, erosion rapid.
Moderately strong currents lay down sand beds.
o Common in most rivers
Weak currents carry muds of finest clastic particles.
o Common at bottom of river valley.
As currents slow, deposition occurs in layers called sorting.
Salinity- Total amount of dissolved substances in given volume of
water- constant in ocean.
Sedimentary Basins- Depressions in crust where sedimentation formed thick
accumulations of sediment and sedimentary rocks.
Rift basins- Deep narrow, long, with successions of sedimentary and
extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks.
Thermal subsidence basins- Cooling of the lithosphere is the main
process creating sedimentary basins.
Sediments from erosion of adjacent land fill the basin nearly to sea
level along edge of the continent, creating continental shelf.
Flexural basin- Weight of the overriding in convergent collision causes
underlying plate to bend down producing this basin.
Sedimentary environment- Area of sediment deposition characterized by
combination of climate conditions and physical , chemical, and biological
processes.
Continental environment- sedimentary environments on continents.
o Lake environments- include inland body of fresh water.
Transporrt agent, small waves. Chemical sedimentation
may occur.
o Alluvial environment- Include the channel of a river, its borders
and wetlands, and flat valley floor.
o Desert environment- Arid. Wind and rivers transport sand and
dust.
o Glacial environment- Dominated by dynamics of moving masses
of ice and characterized by cold climate.
Shoreline sedimentary environments- Dominated by shoreline
environments.
o Deltas- where rivers enter lakes and oceans.
o Tidal flats- where extensive areas exposed at low tide are
dominate by tide currents.
o Beaches- Where strong waves approaching and breaking on
shore distribute sediments.
Marine environments
o Continental shelf environment- Located in shallow waters off
continental shores. Sedimentation is controlled by gentle
currents.
o Organic reefs- Carbonate structures formed by carbonate
secreting organisms.
o Continental margin and slope environments- Found in deeper
waters off edge of continent.
o Deep sea environments- Found far from continents where waters
are deeper than reach of currents.
Siliciclastic sedimentary environments Dominated by siliciclastic
sediments.
Chem and bio sedimentary environments Characterized chem and
bio precipitation.
o Siliceous environments- Unique deep sea sedimentary
environments named for remains of silica shells deposited in
them.
o Evaporite environments- Created when warm seawater of sea
evaporates more rapidly than it can mix with sea water from
open ocean.
Sedimentary structures- Include all kinds of features formed at time of
deposition.
Sediments characterized by bedding- occurs when layers with different
size particles deposit on top of each other.
Cross bedding- Consists of beds deposited by wind or water inclined at
angles.
Graded bedding- Most abundant in continental slope and deep-sea
sediments.
Ripples- Very small ridges of sand or silt whose long dimension is at right
angles to current. Form low narrow ridges.
Bioturbation- Organisms churn and burrow though muds and sands.
Bedding sequences- Built of interbedded and vertically stacked layers.
-Burial- Trapping of of sediments on ocean floor.
-Diagenesis- Many physical and chemical changes that result from increasing
temps and pressures as buried deeper in crust.
Cementation- Chemical change in which particles are binded
together.
o Decreases porosity- percentage of a rocks volume consisting of
open pores between particles.
o Compaction- Decrease in volume and porosity of a sediment.
Occurs as particles squeezed closer together by weight of
overlying sediment.
o Lithification- Hardening of soft sediment into rock.
Classification of particle size
Coarse grained siliciclastic- gravel and conglomerate
o Gravel coarsest siliciclastic sediment.
Particles larger than 2mm.
o Conglomerate- Lithified equivalent of gravel.
Medium grained siliciclastics- Sand and sandstone
o Sand- Consists of medium sized particles.
.062mm-2mm
Can be moved by moderate currents.
o Sandstone- Lithified equivalent of sand.
Fine-grained silciclastics- Silt, Siltstone, mud, mudstone, clay, claystone
o Silt- Most grains between .0039mm-.062mm
Siltstone- lithified equivalent.
o Mud- Siliciclastic sediment containing water in which most
particles less than .062mm.
Mudstone- Rock equivalent. Blocky with no bedding.
Shale- Composed of silt plus clay.
o Clay- Most abundant component of fine-grained sediments.
Less than .0039mm
Claystone- Rocks made of clay.
Classification of chem and bio sediments and rocks
Carbonate sediments and carbonate rocks- Formed by accumulation
and lithification of carbonate minerals secreted by organisms.
o Most abundant carbonate mineral is calcite.
o Reefs- Ridgelike organic structures composed of carbonate
skeletons and shells of millions of organisms.
o Dominant sedimentary rock lithified from carbonate sediments-
Limestone.
o Dolostone- Made of dolomite which is made of calcium
magnesium carbonate.
Evaporite sediments and evaporate rocks- Chemically precipitated
from evaporating seawater (Marine) and lake water (nonmarine)
Natural Resources
Coal- Biolgocial sedimentary rock composed of organic carbon
formed by diagenesis of swamp vegetation.
The Carbon Economy 2/10/2014 10:12:00 AM
Carbon Economy- Energy system run primarily on fossil fuels.
-Fossil Fuels
Natural gas- Simplest hydrocarbon, methane gas.
Crude oil- Diverse class of liquids composed of more complex
hidrocarbons.
Oil window- Crude oil forms at this limited range of pressure and temps.
Oil trap- Geologic structures that create impermeable barrier to
upward migration.
Alternative energy resources
Nuclear energy- Fission of uranium releases heat to make steam to
make energy.
o Uranium found in granite. Largest mineral energy resource.
Solar energy- Resource cannot be depleted by usage.
Hydroelectric energy- derived from moving water.
Wind energy- Made with wind turbines.
Geothermal energy- Depends on heating of water as it passes hot
rock.
Biofuels- Derived from biomass such as ethanol.
Earthquakes 2/10/2014 10:12:00 AM
Earthquake- Occurs when brittle rocks under stress suddenly fail along a
geologic fault.
Elastic rebound theory- Explains why earthquakes recur on active faults
Distance of displacement between blocks of earthquake- fault slip.
-Fault Rupture During Earthquakes
Focus- Point at which fault slipping begins
Epicenter- The geographic point on Earths surface directly above the
focus.
-Aftershocks- Smaller earthquakes after main event.
-Foreshocks- A small earthquake that occurs before or near the mainshock.
-Measuring Earthquakes using Seismic Waves
Seismograph- Instrument that records the seismic waves generated by
earthquakes.
P waves- First waves to arrive
o Compressional waves- pushpull.
o Very fast. Go through all materials.
S waves- Secondary waves follow P waves.
o Shear waves- displace at right angles
o Half speed of P.
o Cant travel through liquid or gas.
Surface waves- Only waves on earth surface, slower, after P and S
waves.
Magnitude scale- Seismograph measurements of earthquakes.
Intensity scales- Shows intensity of shaking directly from the effects of
the earthquake.
Fault mechanism- Tells us whether rupture is normal, reverse or strike slip
fault.
-Exploring earths interior using seismic waves
Melting in earth that causes slowness in S-wave velocity is called a low
velocity zone.
Seismic topography- Velocities of seismic waves used to sweep interior
in directions to construct three dimensional image of interior.
-Damage from earthquakes
Primary hazard is ruptures , subsidence and uplift, and ground shaking.
Secondary hazards are from landslides and other ground failure that
cause movements in earth materials.
Seismic hazard- Describes frequency and intensity of shakind and
disruption.
Seismic risk- Damage expected in region
Building code- Force a structure must withstand.
-Recurrence interval- Time required to accumulate the strain that will be
released by fault slip in the future.