Igneous rocks

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 Introduction
Suitability of igneous rocks for building and
foundation
Megascopic description of common igneous
rocks types:
Granite, Pegmatites,Dolerite,Basalt,andCharnockite
Relation between igneous rock and tectonic
plates.
 Suitability of Igneous Rocks for
Building and Foundation
Generally igneous rocks are very competent
and desirable for various civil engineering
purpose.
For foundations purpose the rock should be
very strong and be able to withstand
sustainable load.
For superstructure, it should be easily
workable, durable and plenty in number.
For roofing, it should be resistant to
weathering and should be resistant to
abrasion for flooring purpose.
For face work, it should be pleasant colour
and the ability to take good polish.
Thus igneous rock in general meet these
requirements to a satisfactory extent.
All the above requirements depends upon the
mineral composition, texture, structure, grain
size, porosity and permeability of the rocks.
Minerals
The presence of mineral influences the
colour, durability and strength of the rock.
Most of the time silica mineral is present in
igneous rock which are very hard, light
colored contributing to strength and
resistance to abrasion.
Structure
Since igneous rock are formed out of
solidification, they are densely compact,
massive and got no hollow or internal
openings.
The structure contributes to strength and
hardness of the rock.
Grain size
The smaller the grain size, stronger and
better. It is because the fine grain are more
homogeneous and uniformly strong in all
direction.
The fine grain size not only improves
workability, appearance and pleasant colour
but also permits good polishing and
resistance to fire.
The construction made of these igneous
rocks simply have majestic appearance.
 Megascopic description of relatively
common igneous rock types
1.Granite

Granite is a plutonic igneous rock because it is formed due to

solidification of magma at great depth.
It is a holocrystalline and leucocratic
rock because it is completely crystalline
and a light coloured rock.
It is an acidic and oversaturated rocks
because it is very rich in silica content
and free quartz.
 Minerals Present In Granite.
Feldspars accounds of 60%.
Quartz is usually present to 25%-30%.
Hornblende and biotite.
Structure.
Granite is compact,dense,massive and hard rock.
Rift and grain: two set of microfracture along with
mural joints.
Unstratified
Texture.
a. Typically exhibit an interlocking , phaneric coarse
grained texture.
b. Usually equigranular.
c. When inequigranular,porphyrictic its called
Granites porphyrys.
Appearance of granite in hand
specimen.

Granite is generally medium to coarse

grained and greyish or pinkish.
Bright lustre , white or brownish-red
coloured.
Quartz looks colourless.
Biotite is jet black,Hornblende is dark
greenish black with a subvitreous lustre.
Mode of occurrence and relative
abundance.

Occurs in the form of very large igneous

bodies such as batholiths, stocks and
bosses.
Often they occurs as cores of mountain
ranges and are thus related to mountain-
building activity.
Sial is the upper portion of the earths crust
and generally composed of granite rocks.
 Types of Granite

Granite porphyry is similar to granite

mineralogically but has a porphyritic texture.
Graphic granite is devoid of accessory minerals
and has a graphic texture.
Rhyolite is very fine grained and represents the
volcanic equivalent of granite.
Pink or Grey granite it is based on colour of
feldspar.
 Physical Properties of Granite.
Granite is massive,unstratified and dense.
Granite has an interlocking texture.
Granite is very rich in silica.
Presence of mural joints facilities easy
quarrying.
Presence of rift and grain permit easy dressing.
Ability of super polishing which is popular in
construction.
 Application or uses.
Foundation rocks
Building stones
Pillars, beams, slabs.
Being nonporous used as tunneling.
 2. Dolerite
The dolerite was coined by
Hauy to refer to a dark, heavy,
fine grained igneous rock.
its commonly found
hypabyssal rocks.
it is intermediate in
composition and
characteristically melanocratic.
 Minerals present in dolerite.

labradorite type of plagineoclase feldspar and

auginte type of pyroxene.
iron oxides, hypersthene and biotite occurs as
common accessory minerals.
mostly composed of plagioclase and augite and
accessory minerals such as quartz,iron ,biotite
Diabase=when all the minerals of dolerite are totally
altered.
Mode of Occurrence.
Occurs as an instrusive rock ie.. As sills.
In weathered area dolerite outcrops stand out as linear
rigids because it is weathered less or more compared to
the surrounding rocks.

Structure and texture.

Very dense,massive and compact rock.
Neither porous nor permeable.
Heavier than granite.
Equigranular,phaneric fine grained.
Dolerite=white feldspar grains occurs as phenocrysts.
 Appearance of Dolerite in Hand
specimens.

Dark greenish black coloured.

Augite is subvitreous or dull and contributes to
the blackcolour of rock.
Compact nature and richness of mafic minerals
contents make the rock emit sharp metallic
sound when hit with a hammer.
Types of Dolerite.

olivine-dolerite=slightly unsaturated and olivine-bearing

type.
quartz-dolerites=slightly oversaturated and quartz bearing
type.
dolerite-porphyry=normal dolerite with porphyritic
texture.
diabase= dolerite with completely weathered minerals.
basalts= fine grained and volcanic equivalent of dolerite.
 Physical Properties and Uses

Its has merits and virtues possessed by

granite
excepts its colours.
Strongest and more competent than granite.
They are suitable for railway ballast,
concrete or bitumen aggregate because of
their greatest toughness and lack of weak
planes does not make them easily workable.
 3.Pegmatites
They extreme igneous rocks that are formed
during the final stage of maga crystallization
They are interlocking texture.
 Granite pegmatites
Acidic and oversaturated.
Resemble granites in mineralogy
Eg.Tourmaline

Syenite pegmatites
Relatively alkali rich, saturated and free from
quartz.
Eg.Uranium
 Minerals present in Pegmatites.
It is mainly composed of feldspar ,quartz and
those mineral which are rich in rare volatile
such as Tourmaline and Beyrl.
In addition to these , rare minerals of Tin ,
niobium and arsenic would be there .
Thus, Pegmatites are storehouses of valuable
and rare minerals.
 Mode of Formation and Occurrence of
Pegmatites
They are formed as products of solidification of
final magmatic residues which are rich in volatile
constituents.
Pegmatites occur as veins,sheets and dykes.
Valuable Muscovite occurs only in pegmatites
and its used for electrical insulation.
Superior muscovite, ruby mica of copper red
colour are found in Rajasthan and Bihar.
Ruby mica
 Structure and Texture
Pegmatites do not posses any specific
structure but texturally , the minerals are large
in size and interlocked.
Some of the constituent minerals develop very
beautiful crystal outlines
 Appearance of Pegmatite in Hand
specimens
Very few minerals occur in hand specimen due
to larger size.
Colourless character and absence of cleavage
help in dintinguishing quartz from feldspars.
Hornblende looks dark greenish black with a
subvitreous lusture.
Tourmaline mineral is jet black,
prismatic , and shining.
 Physical Properties and uses
It has similar to granite .
Cannot behave uniformly throughout.
It is unsuitable for building purpose .

Pegmatite rock has limited use as an

architectural stone.
Uses as industrial mineral because they often
contain gemstone
4.Basalt

The term basalt was first used by Pliny to refer to

a black, ferruginous rock.
They are almost unsaturated rocks.
Minerals
Basalt is mixture of augite,labradorite and iron
oxide.
It is similar to dolerite in mineral content.
 Structure and Texture
Vesicular and amygdaloidal structures are most
common in basalt.
Columnar structure and flow structure are also
observed in some cases.
The rare pillow structure appears in some
spillitic(soda rich) basalt.
The texture observed in most case is
aphanitic,(the minerals are too fine to be seen by
our naked eye).
Ophitic tecture also occurs often.
 Types of Basalt
i. Massive basalt-very fine grained rock.
ii. Vesicular basalt-with empty cavities or vesicles.
iii. Amygdaloidal basalt-vesicular basalt with filled
cavities.
iv. Dolerite basalt-the hypabyssal equivalent of basalt.
v. Gabbro basalt-plutonic equivalent of basalt.
vi. Trachylite basalt-rare and glassy equivalent of basalt.
vii. Quartz basalt-quartz is accessory mineral.
viii. Olivine basalt-olivine is accessory mineral.
ix. Spillite basalt-soda rich .
x. Alkali basalt-unsaturated basalt.
xi. Tholeite basalt- oversaturated basalt.
 Appearance of Basalt in Hand
Specimens.
Basalt is melanocratic with uniform black or
greenish grey with brown or purple tinge.
Non-vesicular,massive basalts breaks with a
conchoidal fracture.
They are unstratified,unfossiliferrous, and donot
react with acids.
 Availability and Mode of Occurrence.
Basalts are most abundant among volcanic
rocks.
Their quantity is five times greater than all
other volcanic rocks put together.
They occur mainly as flat or slightly inclined
lava flows.
 Properties and uses
Massive basalts have the highest load-bearing capacity
or crushing strength.
But being dark in colour,they are not used that much.
Baslat is used for construction purposes( The Gateway
of India.)
As a road metal(excellent for macadam and bitumen
roads.)
Used as storehouse of quartz, amethyst,and geodes
etc.
Used as gemstones.(beads ,rings .)
The Gate way of india
 5.CHARNOCKITE
The term was coined by sir Thomas holland in
honor of job charnock,the founder of calcutta
city.
It is refer to the group of widely varying
composition from acidic to ultrabasic.
It is also characterize by the invariable
presence of hypersthenes.
Its related rock are called charnockite series.
It is also called as nilgiri or mountain gneiss.
 Mineral present
It is characterize by the presence of feldspar and
pyroxene group particularly hypersthene.
It mainly contain feldspar, quartz and
hypersthene.
Basic type are norites and intermediate are
quartz norites.
Norites is like a gabbro and pyroxene presence in
the gabbro is augite but in the noritesthe
pyroxene is hypersthene.
The ultrabasic type of charnokite is pyroxenite.
 Mode of origin
Its shows peculiar characters of both igneous and
metamorphic rocks.
It is very difficult say about their origin.
Charnokite are formed by recrystalization of of
igneous rocks under condition of high
temperature and pressure.
It occur in form of gneissose structure and typical
metamorphic mineral like cordierite and garnet.
It occur in the form sporadic round quartz grain.
Appearance, structure and texture
Charnokite are black in colour that is
melanocratic.
All are phaneric coarse grained and
equigranular with shining and acidic are
greasy looking bluish grey quartz occur.
It is compact ,massive,dense and non porous.
It is phaneric coarse grained. foliation and
banding occur in short length.
 Availability, properties and uses
It is widely distributed in peninsular india and
also distributed in the nilgiri hill and southern
parts of the eastern and western ghats.
Also found in Tamil nadu , karnatakaand
Andhra Pradesh.
It is strong and durable rock with high load
bearing capacity. It is also non porous and
impermeable.
It is suitable for all civil engineering works.
 Normally it is use for construction.
Mahabalipuram temple were constructed
using charnockites.
Chanockites of peninsulr india are most
strongest and durable stone in the world
 Relationship between Igneous Rock
and Tectonic Plate
The plate like section of earth crust are called
tectonic plate.
These massive tectonic plate move and float
on the hot deep layer of the earth where
magma formation occur.
Igneous rock can form where tectonic plate
diverge or converge.
Diverging Tectonic plate and Igneous
rock

The massive tectonic plate of the earth crust

slowly separates from each other ,magma
below squeeze up the gap and reach the
surface.
As the magma squeeze through openings
created by diverging plates, magma meets with
cooler temperature ,allowing it to solidify into
igneous rock.

Converging Tectonic plate and

Igneous rock
When the plate collides, one plate is pushed
under another plate and these area is called
subduction zone
The subducting plate is pushed into hotter,
deeper layer of the earth where it melts.
This newly melted rock is less denser than solid
rock it orginated from,so starts to rise toward
earth surface.
It will solidify under ground or makes way to the
surface as lava but either way will form igneous
rock.
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