C H A P T E R

3
Basic Petrology
O U T L I N E

3.1. Introduction 81 3.4.1. Origin of the Earth 86

3.4.1.1. The Protoplanet
3.2. Structure of the Earth 83
Hypothesis 87
3.3. Classication of Rocks 85 3.4.1.2. The Nebular Hypothesis 88
3.3.1. Igneous Rocks 85 3.4.1.3. Age of the Earth 88
3.3.2. Sedimentary Rocks 85 3.4.2. Plate Tectonics 89
3.3.3. Metamorphic Rocks 86
Further Reading 91
3.4. Origin of Earth and Theory of Plate
Tectonics 86

3.1. INTRODUCTION
Petrology (from Greek: Petradrock and
logosdknowledge) is the study of rocks,
their occurrences, composition, origin and evolu-
tion. This research also focuses on the study of
minerals and meteorites (Fig. 3.1) as model to
unravel the interiors of planetary bodies. Petrog-
raphy deals with the detailed description and
classication of rocks, whereas petrology focuses
primarily on the rock formation, or petrogenesis.
A petrological description includes denition of FIGURE 3.1 Iron meteorite of 179 kg by weight: fragment
of a huge massive object that crashed into the Arizona desert
the unit in which the rock occurs, its attitude about 50,000 years ago and created the Barringer lunar
and structure, its mineralogy and chemical meteor impact circular crater of 1280 m diameter.
composition, and conclusions regarding its Photo source and courtesy: Grifth Observatory, Los Angeles, CA.

Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-408133-8.00003-1 81 Copyright 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
82 3. BASIC PETROLOGY
origin. The task of petrologists is to carry out
research and study rocks, independent of
geological bodies, which are integral parts of
the lithosphere and are clearly different from
their surroundings.
Meteorite, small to extremely large size, is a
natural object originating in the outer space that
falls on Earth creating great surface impact. Most
meteorites are derived from small celestial bodies
as well as produced by impacts of asteroids from
the solar system. Meteorites are composed of sil-
icate minerals and/or metallic ironenickel. The
structure of Igneous Complex at Sudbury Mining
District, Canada is formed as the result of a
meteorite (1850 Ma age) impact that produced a
150e280 km multiring crater, containing 2e5-km-
thick sheet of andesite melt. The immiscible sul-
de liquid differentiated into NiePlatinum Group
of Element dominated contact deposits by crys-
tallization. There are 100 deposits/mines having
a total resource, including past production, of
1648 million tonnes at 1% Ni, 1% Cu, and 1 g/t
Pd Pt.
The primary and most signicant processes to
be focused are the following:
1. Tectonic movements of rock masses.
2. Volcanic eruptions and injection of magma
into the lithosphere.
3. Physical, chemical and biological weathering
and deposition in the surface areas of
rocky crust and in the hydrosphere and
atmosphere.
4. Mutual chemical reactions and biological
processes in aqueous solutions.
5. Metamorphic changes due to increasing
pressure and temperature at greater depths of
covering.
6. Melting, migration, recrystallization,
degassing and similar events on rocks.
Petrology is essentially a fundamental part of
geology. Rocks, as mineral aggregates, are
composed of certain minerals, so petrology is
closely associated with the mineralogy.
Determination of mineral constituents and
chemical composition of rocks is necessary to
know and distinguish minerals, and also for
resolving the origin of rocks. It is also necessary
to have a good knowledge of the origin of min-
erals (mineral genesis). The researchers in this
area conduct eld- and laboratory-based experi-
mental modeling supported by advanced
computational tools to read the records and un-
derstand the potential of high-temperature and
high-pressure processes.
Petrology is closely associated with chemis-
try, especially mineral chemistry and geochem-
istry, for the purposes of studying the complex
chemical reactions and processes that lead to
crystallization, or conversion of minerals and
rocks, as well as studying the share of chemical
elements in minerals, rocks, lithosphere, hydro-
sphere and atmosphere.
Petrology experiments and draws conclusive
records about evolution and constitution of the
Earth beneath its rocky crust. It is primarily
based on volcanic eruptions, shape and composi-
tion of igneous bodies that have reached Earths
surface by tectonic processes and erosion. The
fundamental research of meteorites in solar sys-
tem provides additional support to these studies.
The geophysical responses of contrast in seismic
velocity propagating through certain parts of the
rocky crust and underneath have also been
acclaimed signicant importance. It has been un-
derstood that the Earth has different laminate
structures distinguished by either chemical or
their rheological properties. This is based on
remarkable geophysical response of primary
seismic wave, particularly establishing the exis-
tence of two major and a number of less pro-
nounced discontinuity obtained. The two major
planes of discontinuity are established between
 3.2. STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH 83

FIGURE 3.2 (A) Schematic diagram of the Earths structure representing a three-dimensional perspective and (B) a
sectional view portraying from central core to outer surface.

crustemantle and mantleecore boundary. The 3.2. STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

minor discontinuities are set up between upper,
middle and lower mantle as well as outer and in-
ner core (Fig. 3.2). Therefore, petrology is also
associated with geophysics and has an important
role in geophysical research of the lithosphere.
The Earth is an oblate spheroid. It is
composed of a number of different layers in
spherical shells as determined by deep drilling
and seismic evidence (Fig. 3.2). These layers are
the following:

1. The Earth can broadly be modeled as an

Rheology is the study of the ow of the mantle,
outer solid silicate crust, a highly viscous
normally in the liquid state, but often as sift solids
mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less
or solids that react as plastic ow in contrast to
viscous than the mantle, and a solid inner
deforming elastically to the applied force.
core.
84 3. BASIC PETROLOGY
2. The core is approximately 7000 km in
diameter (3500 km in radius) and is located at
the Earths center.
3. The mantle surrounds the core and has a
thickness of 2900 km.
4. The crust oats on top of the mantle. It is
composed of basalt-rich oceanic crust and
granitic-rich continental crust.
The core is a layer rich in iron and nickel that is
composed of two layers: the inner and the outer
cores. The inner core is theorized to be solid with
a density of about 10.3 g/cm3 in comparison to
Earths average density of 5.52 g/cm3 and a
radius of about 1220 km. The outer core is liquid
and has a density of about 6 g/cm3. It surrounds
the inner core and has an average thickness of
about 2250 km.
The mantle is almost 2900 km thick and com-
prises about 83% of the Earths volume. It is
composed of several different layers. The upper
mantle exists from the base of the crust down-
ward to a depth of about 400 km. This region
of the Earths interior is thought to be composed
of peridotite, an ultramac rock made up of the
minerals olivine and pyroxene.
The middle layer of the mantle, 400e1000 km
below surface, is called the asthenosphere. Scienti-
c studies suggest that this layer has physical
properties that are different from the rest of the
upper mantle. The rocks in this upper portion
of the mantle are more rigid and brittle because
of cooler temperatures and lower pressures.
The lower mantle stands below the upper mantle
and extends from 1000 to 2900 km below the
Earths surface. This layer is hot and plastic.
The higher pressure in this layer causes the for-
mation of minerals that are different from those
of the upper mantle.
The lithosphere is a layer that includes the crust
and the upper portion of the mantle (Fig. 3.2).
This layer is about 400 km thick and has the abil-
ity to glide over the rest of the upper mantle. The
deeper portions of the lithosphere are capable of
plastic ow over geologic time because of
increasing temperature and pressure. The litho-
sphere is also the favorable zone of earthquakes,
mountain building, volcanoes, and continental
drift.
The topmost part of the lithosphere consists of
crust. This material is cool, rigid, and brittle. Two
types of crust can be identied: oceanic crust and
continental crust (Fig. 3.2). Both these types of
crust are less dense than the rock found in the
underlying upper layer of the mantle. Ocean
crust is thin and the thickness varies between 4
and 12 km. It is also composed of basalt and
has a density of about 3 g/cm3.
The thickness of the continental crust varies
between 40 and 70 km and composed mainly
of lighter granites, pegmatites and gneisses
(Fig. 3.2). The density of continental crust is
about 2.8 g/cm3. Both these crust types are
composed of numerous tectonic plates that oat
on top of the mantle. These plates move slowly
across the asthenosphere caused by the convec-
tion currents within the mantle.
The continental and oceanic crusts have one
common property. These tectonic plates have
the ability to rise and sink. This phenomenon,
known as isostasy, occurs because the crust oats
on top of the mantle-like ice cubes in water.
These tectonic plates deform and sink deeper
into the mantle as and when the Earths crust
gains weight due to mountain building or glaci-
ations. The crust becomes more buoyant and
oats higher in the mantle if the weight is
removed.
The Mohorovicic discontinuity (Moho) is the line
between the Earths crust and the mantle. It sepa-
rates oceanic crust and continental crust from the
mantle. The Mohorovicic discontinuity named af-
ter Andrija Mohorovicic, a Croatian geophysicist,
who has established it. The Mohorovicic disconti-
nuity is 5e10 km (3e6 miles) below the ocean
oor and 20e90 km (10e60 miles) beneath the
continents.
The Gutenberg discontinuity, named after
German scientist Bruno Gutenberg, is located
at 2900 km depth beneath the Earths surface.
 3.3. CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS
The boundary is observed by the applications of
seismic waves. This discontinuity is due to the
differences between the acoustic impedances of
the solid mantle and the molten outer core.
Isostasy (isos is equal and stsis means
standstill) is the state of gravitational equilib-
rium between the lithosphere and asthenosphere
such that the tectonic plates oat at an elevation
which depends on their thickness and density to
explain the different topographic heights on Earth
surface (Fig. 3.3). In the event of any dynamic
change in isostasy, the plates collide or move
causing Earthquake, Tsunami and related natural
hazards and calamities.
Atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the
Earth by gravity, distributed from surface upward
as Troposphere, Stratosphere with ozone layer,
Mesosphere and Ionosphere. It protects life forms
by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation and
greenhouse effect (water vapor, carbon dioxide,
methane and ozone). Air is the part of atmosphere
used for breathing and photosynthesis.
Biosphere is the universal sum of total
ecosystem or the zone of life for plants, animals
and microbes on the Earths crust controlled by
natural self-regulating system.
Hydrosphere is the physical distribution of the
combined mass of water found under, on, and
over the surface of the Earth.
3.3. CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS
The rocks of Earths crust are divided into
three main groups (Fig. 3.4) according to the
manner of their origin.
3.3.1. Igneous Rocks
Igneous (ignis means re in Latin and
eruptive) rocks (Fig. 3.5) are the primary rocks
85
FIGURE 3.3 The Himalayan snow-capped peaks ranging
between 10,000 and 15,000 ft (3000 and 4500 m) high above
mean sea level (MSL) in the background and Deodar
(Cedrus deodara) and Chilgoza pines (Pinus gerardiana) in the
foreground, viewed from Kalpa town in Himachal Pradesh,
India. The central core of the mountain range consists of
intrusive granite rising as pointed high peaks within meta-
phyllites. The Himalaya Mountain is still young and rising
by the force of the impacting Indian plates under the Tibetan
plates and that makes the area earthquake prone.
that are originally formed in and/or on the
Earth. They occur in two main ways:
1. Underground: direct cooling, crystallization
and solidication of rocks inside the Earths
crust from molten rock mass (magma). The
type is intrusive (plutonic).
2. On surface: crystallization of the lava, i.e.
magma poured onto the surface of the Earth,
seabed or shallow under surface of the Earth.
The type is extrusive (volcanic).
3.3.2. Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary (depositional) rocks are formed
in the sea, fresh water or on land by precipita-
tion, deposition and sedimentation processes
(Fig. 3.6) of the following:
1. Solid waste material of physical and chemical
weathering of rocks formed earlier.
2. Organogenic or fossil remains and other
biochemical and chemical products extracted
from the water.
86 3. BASIC PETROLOGY
VS
MIS MS
MIS
MIS = Igneous intrusive rocks
MS = Metamorphic rocks
FIGURE 3.4 Conceptual diagram depicting the mode of formation and three fundamental genetic types of rocks that make
up the Earths crust: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic.
FIGURE 3.5 A typical light-color ne- to medium-
grained igneous rock (granite) containing interlocking min-
erals of quartz (white) and feldspar (light rosy or pink) with
minor grains (black) of actinolitic hornblende, biotite and
chlorite. Source: Prof. A.B. Roy.
3.3.3. Metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic (transformed) rocks (Fig. 3.7)
are formed by metamorphism of preexisting
igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
with changes in crystal form (texture and struc-
ture) in solid state. The mineral transformation
FAN
VS
S
S
S
VS = Vulcanic rocks
S = Sedimentary rocks
occurs under increased temperature (150 to
200  C) and pressure (1500 bars) at greater
depth of covering or at the contacts with magma
in the Earths rocky crust. The metamorphic pro-
cess accelerates with the introduction of chemi-
cally active uids.
Clarke7, an US geochemist, calculated the
lithosphere to a depth of 16 km. He opined
that the lithosphere is consisting of 95% of
igneous rocks and 5% of sedimentary rocks.
The metamorphic rock components are in-
cluded into the igneous or sedimentary group
depending from which the original rocks are
metamorphosed. He also observed that from a
total of 5% of sedimentary rocks, around 4%
are shales, only about 0.75% sandstones and
remaining 0.25% limestone.
3.4. ORIGIN OF EARTH AND
THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS
3.4.1. Origin of the Earth
There are many different hypotheses on the
origin of the solar system, including the Earth
 3.4. ORIGIN OF EARTH AND THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS
as a planet of this system. The most famous and
accepted among them are the following:
3.4.1.1. The Protoplanet Hypothesis
The protoplanet hypothesis suggests that a
great cloud of gas and dust of at least 10,000
million kilometers in diameter rotated slowly in
space about 5,000 million years ago. As time
87
FIGURE 3.6 A classical example of sedi-
mentary rock formation of shale (gray) and
limestone (yellowish brown) with sharp
contact at the snow capped summit of
Jungfrau, one of the main peak of Bernese
Alps, Switzerland. Photo from top of Europe
at 11,782 ft or 3571 m above mean sea level,
September, 2009. The position of the in situ
rock at high altitude is due to mountain
building process of Alps.
passed, the cloud shrank under the pull of its
own gravitation or was made to collapse by the
explosion of a passing star. Most of the clouds
material gathered around its own center. Its
shrinking made it rotate faster, like a spinning
whirlpool. The compression of its material
made its interior so hot that a powerful reaction,
hydrogen fusion, began and the core of the cloud
FIGURE 3.7 A typical metamorphic rock
composed of biotite, quartz, feldspar gneiss
displaying strong uxion banding with
numerous white porphyroblasts and por-
phyoclasts of feldspar showing varying de-
grees of attening into the fabric. This
implies blastesis during the mylonitization
of sediments.
88 3. BASIC PETROLOGY
blazed into a newborn Sun. About 10% of the
material in the cloud formed a great plate-like
disk surrounding the Sun far into space. Friction
within the disk caused most of its mass to collect
in a number of huge whirlpools or eddies. These
eddies shrank into more compact masses called
protoplanets and later formed planets and
moons. Some uncollected material remains
even today as comets, meteoroids, and
asteroids.
3.4.1.2. The Nebular Hypothesis
The nebular hypothesis is the most widely
accepted model explaining the formation and
evolution of the Solar System. It was rst pro-
posed in 1734 by Emanuel Swedenborg, a
Swedish scientist with occupation as mining
engineer, anatomist and astronomer. The hy-
pothesis was originally applied only to our
own Solar System. This method of planetary
system formation is now thought to be
at work throughout the universe. The nebular
hypothesis postulates that the stars form
in massive and dense clouds of molecular
hydrogendgiant molecular clouds. They are
gravitationally unstable, and matter coalesces
to smaller and denser clumps within, which
then proceed to collapse and form stars. Star
formation is a complex process, which always
produces a gaseous protoplanetary disk
around the young star. This may give birth to
planets in certain circumstances, which are
not well known. Thus the formation of plane-
tary systems is thought to be a natural result
of star formation. A Sun-like star usually takes
around 100 million years to form.
The protoplanetary disk is an accretion disk
which continues to feed the central star. The
disk is initially very hot and cools later in what
are known as the T Tauri Star (TTS) stage by
possible formation of small dust grains made
of rocks and ices. The grains may eventually
coagulate into kilometer-sized planetesimals.
Planetesimals are solid objects thought to exist
in protoplanetary disks and in debris disks. A
protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar
disk of dense gas surrounding a young newly
formed star, i.e. a TTS. If the disk is massive
enough, the runaway accretions begin resulting
in the rapidd100,000e300,000 yearsdformation
of Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos. The
planetary embryos undergo through a stage of
violent mergers, producing a few terrestrial
planets near the star. The last stage takes around
100 millione1,000 million years.
Star is a massive and luminous sphere of vast
plasma held together by gravitational forces.
Sun is the nearest star to the planet Earth and is
the source of most of the energy on the planet.
Stars are innumerable in number and can be
seen glowing and twinkling far away in the
night. Stars are grouped together forming
constellations.
A planet is an astronomical or celestial object
orbiting a star. Planet is massive enough to rotate
in its own axis by its own gravity.
The Solar System consists of the Sun (Star) and
its planetary system of eight, their moons formed
4,600 million years ago from the collapse of a giant
cloud. The eight planets from nearest to the Sun
outwards are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars (rocks
and metals), Jupiter, Saturn (hydrogen and heli-
um), Uranus, and Neptune (watereammonia and
methane). All planets rotate in almost circular
orbits that lie within a nearly at disk called the
ecliptic plane.
Star, planets and solar system are originated
from the same giant massive parent cloud and
dust and complimentary to each other.
3.4.1.3. Age of the Earth
Some of the oldest surface felsic rocks on
Earth had been found in the Canadian Shield,
Australia and Africa with age varying between
2,500 and 3,800 million years. The oldest rock
from Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt on the coast
of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec was dated as
 3.4. ORIGIN OF EARTH AND THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS
3,800e4,280 million years at McGill University.
In 1999, the oldest-known rock of the Acasta
Gneiss of the Slave craton in northwestern
Canada was dated to 4,031  3 million years.
The age of the Earth is estimated as 4,540 million
years based on evidence from radiometric age
dating of meteorite materials. This has been
corroborated by the age dating of the oldest-
known rocks of granulites gneissesedimentary
siliciclasticemac/ultramac sequence (zircon
crystal) from Jack Hills, Western Australia as
4,404 million years. Basaltic rock samples,
collected from the Moon surface and from the
highlands during 1993 space mission, have
been measured by radiometric dating techniques
and age reported as 3,160 and 4,500 million years
old, respectively.
The recent estimate by the astrophysicist as well
as dating of meteorite can be summarized that the
upper limit of the Solar System including the Earth
is 4,567,000,000 years or 4,567 million years.
3.4.2. Plate Tectonics
The upper part of the Earth is composed of a
solid rock mass and divided into continental
crust, oceanic crust and upper mantle or the lith-
osphere as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.2. The lith-
osphere is underlain below by a melt or
asthenosphere. Since the formation of the Earth,
more than 4,500 million years ago, the surface
and its interior are constantly undergoing
rebuilding processes that create, release and
transfer heat energy, and the process of cooling
of parts of its surface. While the Sun heats the at-
mosphere and the very surface of the Earth, the
primary heat sources for the Earths interior are
radioactive processes which release a very
high-temperature. Thus the emerged heat is
transferred from the interior to the Earths sur-
face and in the lithosphere leads to remelting of
rocks. The melting of rocks and minerals in the
lithosphere is endothermic reaction, i.e. absorp-
tion of heat. The crystallization of minerals is
exothermic reaction, i.e. heat release process.
89
The lithosphere portrays the Earths evolution
history which is constantly changingdit was
changing yesterdaydit is changing today and
will continue to change in the future. It is assumed
that initially the lithosphere was a uniform contin-
uous mass (Supercontinent) during late Paleozoic
era and known as Pangaea. The lithosphere was
gradually separated and rifted into several parts,
and then in the Carboniferous and Permian era
(about the 350e250 million of years) recollected.
The separation repeated again during the Triassic
period (before w250e200 millions of years) to cur-
rent conguration of the component continents
consisting of multiple faults separated plates of
different thickness and extension. However,
from the Triassic to the present, there is a global
tendency of reapproaching these plates. The term
plate includes some solid parts of the oceanic or
continental crust which are apart from each other
with large horizontal (transform) faults, mountain
chains, oceanic arcs, oceanic ridges and trenches.
There exist seven such primary plates on the Earth
today with roughly dened boundaries: the Pa-
cic Plate, the North American Plate, the South
American Plate, the African Plate, the Eurasian
Plate, the Indo-Australian plate and the Antarctic
plate. There is equal number of smaller secondary
plates on Earth: Arabian Plate, Caribbean Plate,
Cocos plate, Indian Plate, Juan de Fuca Plate,
Nazca Plate, Philippine Plate and Scotia plate. In
addition, there are several small tertiary plates
that are grouped with major primary plates,
without having distinct identity. Some related def-
initions are the following:
1. Transform faults are the horizontal
displacements, or spaces, between plates and
also the main place of earthquakes that have
shallow epicenter under the surface of the
Earth.
2. Oceanic ridges stand as boundaries between
the divergent plates movement. In that
process, magma is injected between plates or
poured on the ocean oor forming growth of
oceanic crust. The mid-oceanic ridges and
90 3. BASIC PETROLOGY

growth of the oceanic crust represent in the
form of effusive volcanic rocks. In this way,
for example, Middle-Atlantic ridge at the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was originated.
In the lithosphere, this growth of oceanic
crust, however, compensates with convergent
plate movement (subduction) or underscores
one plate under another, which leads to
narrowing of areas of the ocean or even
disappearance of the ocean.
3. Subduction zone is a place where the Earths
crust is broken down and consumes part of
the oceanic crust or oceanic plate, which
underscores (subduction) under a continent
or island arc (Fig. 3.8). Subduction zone is
slope surface tilted in the direction of
subduction, along which the main focus of
earthquake takes place and along which
remelting of rocks occur.
Plate movement, mobility of mountain
ranges and oceanic ridges are recognized under
the common names such as plate tectonics or
global tectonics. Plate tectonics and global tec-
tonics explain almost all the geological phenom-
ena on large scale, particularly closely

FIGURE 3.8 Illustrations of the three types of plate boundaries such as transform (top), convergent (middle) and divergent
(bottom) associated with the relative process of plate tectonics.
 FURTHER READING
associated with earthquakes, faults, volcanic
areas, the origin of mountain chains (orogeny),
oceanic arcs, oceanic ridges and the deep ocean
trenches or furrows.
Orogenetic movements, i.e. orogeny or pro-
cesses of forming mountain chains in the Earths
crust, are a direct consequence of plate tectonics
and subduction. There are two basic types of
orogeny: collisional and noncollisional.
1. Collisional orogeny includes long-term
underscore or subduction zone where it has
consumed and melted much of the oceanic
crust and oceanic plates. This leads to a
mutual approach of two continents, or even
up to their clash or the clash of the continent
and the island arc. In this type of orogeny,
clastic ysch sediments do not occur, and
overthrust structures have only one direction.
Subduction zone reaches deep into the
lithosphere and along with it the magma
inject from very deep source (from the
asthenosphere), forming ophiolite igneous
rocks. The ophiolite groups and assemblages
are the community of basic, ultrabasic/
ultramac intrusives (gabbro, peridotite, and
pyroxenite) and effusive igneous rocks that
originate from oceanic crust (Sections 4.3.1.3,
4.3.1.4 and 4.3.2.3).
2. Noncollisional orogeny is associated with the
converging trends by pinch of the plates and
subduction. The orogeny takes place over part
of the oceanic crust and the oceanic plate is
subducted under the island arc, as, for
example, the case in the present oceanic
trenches in the western Pacic. The andesite
volcanism is strong above the subduction
zone and the basaltic volcanism is most active
on the ocean bottom. Metamorphic zones
exist on both sides of the subduction zone and
91
the resulting overthrust structures are the
consequence of pulling in both directions. The
uplift causes deposition of clastic ysch
sediments on both sides of the mountain
areas.
Ophiolite is the thrust sheets of ancient oceanic
crust and upper part of mantle rocks that has been
uplifted and exposed above sea level and often
emplaced on top of the continental lithosphere.
Ophiolite is composed of green colored altered
spilite (ne-grained oceanic basalt), pillow lava,
serpentinites, gabbros and chert. It occurs close to
the oceanic ridges, orogenic belt, within mountain
belts of Alps and Himalayas, documenting the
existence of former ocean basins that have now
been absorbed by thrusts, subduction zone and
plate tectonics.
The main volcanoes on Earth are located in
areas of divergent and convergent plate move-
ment, and the most signicant places of forma-
tion of igneous (volcanic) rocks are now
divergent plate margins, especially middle
oceanic ridges, which makes annually over
20 km3 of basalt rocks.
FURTHER READING
The Principles of Petrology-An Introduction to the
Science of Rocks by G.W. Tyrrell56 is worth
reading for the beginners in this subject. Blatt
et al.2 will be a good reference for overall
petrology. The interior of the Earth by Bott5 is
informative.