MAGMA, IGNEOUS ROCKS, AND
also contain about 10 percent dark silicate
INTRUSIVE ACTIVITY
1. Magma: Parent Material of Igneous Rock
a. Definitions:
i. Igneous rocks—rocks that form as molten material cools
and solidifies
ii. Magma—molten material formed by partial melting that
occurs at various levels of the crust and upper mantle to
depths of about 250 km
iii. Lava—molten rock that reaches the surface
b. The Nature of Magma
i. Magma is completely or partly molten rock, which, when
cooled, solidifies into igneous rocks
ii. Composition of magma
1. Liquid Component—melt
a. Mobile ions of the eight most common elements found
in Earth’s crust—Si, O, Al, K, Ca, Na, Fe, and Mg
2. Solid components
a. Crystals of silicate minerals
b. Size and number of crystals increases as magma body
cools
3. Gaseous Components—volatiles
a. Materials that vaporize at surface pressures
b. Commonly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur
dioxide
c. From Magma to Crystalline Rock
i. Melting converts a solid consisting of tight, uniformly
packed ions into a liquid composed of unordered ions
moving randomly about
ii. Crystallization—As the temperature of the liquid drops,
ions pack more closely together as their rate of movement
slows and chemical bonds will again confine the ions to
an orderly crystalline arrangement
1. Silicon and oxygen link together first to form
silicon-oxygen tetrahedra
2. As more heat is lost, tetrahedra join with each
other and other ions
iii. Earliest formed minerals have space to grow and thus
have better developed crystal faces
iv. Once completely solidified, the melt is transformed to
solid mass of interlocking crystals—igneous rock
d. Igneous Processes
i. Two basic settings
1. Magma crystallization at depth
a. forms intrusive igneous rocks (plutonic rocks)
b. observed at the surface in locations where
uplifting and erosion have stripped away the
overlying rocks
2. Lava solidifies at Earth’s surface
a. Forms extrusive igneous rocks (volcanic rocks)
b. Form where lava solidifies or where volcanic
debris falls to the surface
2. Igneous Compositions
a. Igneous rocks are composed mainly of silicate minerals
i. dark (or ferromagnesian) silicates are rich in iron and/or
magnesium and comparatively low in silica
1. olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite mica
ii. light (or nonferromagnesian) silicates contain greater
amounts of potassium, sodium, and calcium rather than
iron and magnesium
1. feldspars, quartz, muscovite mica
b. Granitic (Felsic) versus Basaltic (Mafic) Compositions
i. Granitic Compositions—called felsic (derived from
feldspar and silica)
1. Mostly light-colored silicates—quartz and
potassium feldspar
2.
minerals, usually biotite mica and amphibole
3. rich in silica; major constituent of continental
crust
ii. Basaltic Compositions—called mafic (derived from
magnesium and ferrum)
1. High percentage of ferromagnesian minerals
along with calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar
2. Typically darker and denser than granitic rocks
3. Make up ocean floor and volcanic islands, also
lava flows on land
c. Other Compositional Groups
i. Andesitic (Intermediate) Composition
1. Contain at least 25 percent dark silicate
minerals (amphibole, pyroxene, biotite) with
dominant plagioclase feldspar
2. Associated with volcanic activity on seaward
margins of continents and some volcanic island
arcs
ii. Peridotite
1. Contains mostly olivine and pyroxene
2. Called ultramafic—almost entirely made of
ferromagnesian minerals
3. Rare at Earth’s surface; main constituent of
upper mantle
d. Silica Content as an Indicator of Composition
i. Silica content of igneous rocks ranges from 40 percent
(ultramafic rocks) to
more than 70 percent (granitic rocks)
ii. Percentage of silica varies with abundance of other
elements
1. Rocks low in silica have large amounts of iron,
magnesium, and calcium
2. Rocks high in silica have low amounts of iron,
magnesium, and calcium
but are enriched in sodium and potassium
iii. Chemical makeup can be inferred from silica content
iv. Amount of silica present in magma strongly influences
its behavior
1. Granitic magma is high in silica and has high viscosity
(thickness)
a. May erupt at temps as low as 650°C
2. Basaltic magma is low in silica and has low viscosity
(more fluid)
a. Erupt at higher temperatures between 1050° and
1250°C
3. Igneous Textures: What Can They Tell Us?
a. Texture—the overall appearance of a rock based on
the size , shape, and
arrangement of its mineral grains
i. Geologists use to make inferences about a rock’s origin
b. Factors that influence texture in igneous rocks
i. The rate at which the molten rock cools (dominant
factor)
1. Rapid cooling creates solid mass of tiny intergrown
crystals
2. Slow cooling creates large intergrown crystals
ii. The amount of silica present
iii. The amount of dissolved gases in the magma
c. Types of Igneous Textures
i. Aphanitic (Fine-Grained) texture
1. Rapid cooling at or near the surface
2. Very small grains that are visible only with microscope
3. Characterized by color: light, intermediate, or dark
a. Representative of types of minerals in the rock
ii. Phaneritic (Coarse-Grained) Texture
1. Slow cooling at great depths
2. Mass of intergrown crystals roughly equal in size and
large enough to be
identified without a microscope
iii. Porphyritic Texture
1. Represents a change in environment from slow cooling
to fast cooling
2. Large crystals embedded in matrix of smaller crystals
a. Large crystals are called phenocrysts
b. Matrix is called groundmass
3. Rock with this texture is called porphyry
iv. Vesicular Texture
1. Contains spherical openings (vesicles) created as gas
bubbles escaped a
solidifying lava
2. Often form in upper zone of a lava flow where cooling
occurs rapidly
v. Glassy Texture
1. Molten rock is quenched and cooled extremely quickly
a. Can also form in magmas with high silica content that
forms long,
chainlike structures (polymers) before crystallization is
complete