Igneous Rocks

& Volcanoes

REVIEW: How Rocks Melt

and Crystallize

Intrusive rocks

Volcanoes & Volcanic Hazards

Igneous Rocks
Molten rock that
solidifies/freezes at high temp
~1300C to 650C
(depends on composition)
Earth is mostly igneous rock.
Magma Subsurface melt
Lava Melt at surface

1100-1200 C

Volcanic/extrusive, rapid
cooling at surface

Lava

Intrusion

Plutonic/intrusive,
slow cooling at depth

How to form magma

Take HOT ROCKS and:
Decrease pressure
Decompression melting

Add volatiles
Volatile-enhanced melting

Increase temperature
Heat transfer and melting

Combination of the above

Magma Compositions
magma types based on silica (SiO2) percentage.
Felsic (feldspar and silica)
Intermediate
Mafic (Mg and Fe-rich)
Ultramafic

>63% SiO2
52 to 63% SiO2
45 to 52% SiO2
<45% SiO2

 Mafic rocks/minerals are rich in iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg)

typically dark colored minerals & rocks

Felsic rocks/minerals are rich in silica & feldspars.

typically light colored minerals & rocks

Magma Compositions

Composition controls magma density, T, and viscosity.

The most important factor is silica (SiO2) content.

Silica-rich magmas are thick and viscous.
Silica-poor magmas are thin and runny.

These characteristics govern eruptive style.

Type

Density

Temperature

Viscosity

Felsic

Very low

Very low (600 to 850C)

Very High: Explosive eruptions.

Intermediate

Low

Low

High: Explosive eruptions.

Mafic

High

High

Low: thin, hot runny eruptions.

Ultramafic

Very high

Very high (up to 1300C)

Very low.

Igneous Environments
Two major categories Based on cooling location
Extrusive (volcanic) Cool at or near the surface.
Cool rapidly
Small to no crystals
Intrusive (plutonic) Cool at depth
Lose heat slowly
Crystals grow large

Most mafic magmas extrude

Most felsic magmas intrude

Intrusive and Extrusive Rocks

commonly co-occur
magma chambers feed overlying volcanoes, cooling to
become plutons

Mid-Ocean Ridges
Sea-floor spreading opens the axial rift valley.
Rising asthenosphere melts, forming magma.
Pooled magma solidifies into oceanic crust.

Extrusive Settings
More on these next lecture
Lava flows: exit volcanic vents and spread outward,
stack vertically
Low-viscosity lava (basalt) can flow long distances

Extrusive Settings
Explosive eruptions
High-viscosity volatile-rich magma builds pressure
Violent eruptions yield huge volumes of pyroclasts

Intrusive Activity
Magma intrudes into other rocks in two
ways
As planar, tabular bodies (dikes and sills)
As balloon-shaped blobs (plutons).

Size varies widely

Plutons can be massive
Dikes and sills tend to be smaller.

Intrusive settings

Volcanic neck
Volcanic
pipe

Country
rock

Dike

Laccolith
Dike

Sill

Stock

Batholith
Xenoliths

Intrusive Characteristics
Intrusive contacts preserve evidence of high heat.
Baked zone Rim of heat-altered country rock.
Chill margin Magma at contact that cooled rapidly.

Xenolith - Country rock fragment in magma.

Magma cooled before xenolith could be assimilated.

Tabular Intrusions
Tend to have a uniform thickness.
Two major subdivisions.
Sill Parallels rock fabric.
Dike Crosscuts rock fabric.

Large Sill--Antarctica

Pt. Mugu

Tabular Intrusions

Dike emplacement

Sill emplacement

Volcanic neck:
Devils Tower, WY

Volcanic neck

Shiprock, NM

Fig. 4.10d

Batholiths
of
western
North
America.

Coast
Ranges
batholith

Idaho
batholith

Sierra Nevada
batholith

Peninsular
batholith
batholith

Yosemite
Sierra Nevada Batholith

Ancestral Sierra Nevadas

(~100 Ma)
Future Coast Range

Future Central Valley

During
intrusion

Landscape Evolution

During
erosion

Time

After
erosion

Igneous rock classification

Based upon texture and composition:
Texture reveals cooling and eruptive history of magma
Composition Si % (felsic, intermediate, mafic, and ultramafic)

C2

Type

Aphanitic (fine)

Phaneritic (coarse)

Felsic

Rhyolite

Granite

Intermediate

Andesite

Diorite

Basalt

Gabbro

Komatiite

Peridotite

Mafic
Ultramafic

Coarse-grained (phaneritic)
Intrusive
cooled slowly
Minerals grains are large
enough to be seen with
the naked eye

Crystalline textures: fine-grained

(aphanitic)
Extrusive
cooled fast
Mineral grains can
barely be seen
without hand lens or
microscope

Porphyritic
Larger minerals
(phenocrysts)
surrounded by a finergrained groundmass
(matrix).
Large minerals
crystallized 1st slowly,
then rest of rock cooled
more rapidly

Glassy Igneous Rocks

Lava cools too

rapidly for crystal
growth to occur
obsidian

Glassy Igneous Rocks

vesicular
Magma cools too
rapidly for all gases to
escape.
Trapped bubbles form
vesicles.
pumice or scoria

Pyroclastic
Rocks that have been
assembled from
erupted material

From pyro meaning

fire and clast
meaning fragment

Welded tuff

Classification is based on composition and grain size

Grain Size

Fast
cooling
Silica Content
of Magma

Intermediate
(= 60%)

Low
(= 45% - 50%)

Resulting
Plutonic Rocks

Rhyolite

Granite

Andesite

Diorite

Felsic
(silicic)

Silica Content

High
(= 70% - 75%)

Resulting
Volcanic Rocks

Mafic
Basalt

Gabbro

Slow
cooling

BOWENS REACTION SERIES

Temperature

Magma
composition

(low silica)

~1200C

~600C

(high silica)

extrusive

intrusive

Basalt

Minerals

Gabbro

Olivine
Pyroxene
Andesite

Diorite

Hornblende
Biotite

Rhyolite

Granite

Biotite
Muscovite
Quartz

intrusive

extrusive

Basalt

Feldspar
composition

Gabbro

Ca Plagioclase

Andesite

Diorite
Na Plagioclase

Rhyolite

Granite
K Feldspar

Extrusive

Intrusive

Basalt

Composition

Tetrahedron structure
isolated

Mafic

Olivine
Pyroxene

Pyroxene
Hornblende

Increasing Viscosity

Andesite

single
chain
double
chain

2D
frame

Rhyolite
Felsic

Biotite
Quartz
40

3D frame

extrusive

intrusive