Transcript Chapter 4.2: Igneous Rocks

• The term “igneous” is the Latin word for fire.
•Igneous rocks form when hot liquid rock, called magma,
cools and solidifies.
•The type of igneous rock that forms depends upon the
composition of the magma and the time it takes to cool.
•Igneous rock can form in one of three ways:
•When rock is heated to the point that it melts
•When pressure is released
•When rock changes its composition
•Magma “freezes” or solidifies around 1,000 0 C (1,800 0 F)
Change in Pressure
•When you remove the radiator cap from an over-heated
car, the liquid water immediately changes to steam.
•By the same process, when pressure on very hot solid rock
is released, it changes into a liquid.
•Pressure can be released as the rock approaches the earth’s
surface, or when a fissure or other opening occurs.
Changes in Composition
•If fluids, such as water, combine with very hot rock, it
may lower the melting point, allowing the solid rock to
liquefy.
•This is the opposite of adding salt to ice cream mix to
make it freeze.
Classification of Igneous Rocks
Felsic rocks are:
•Light-colored due to presence of quartz and feldspar
•Rich in silica (65%), aluminum, potassium, and sodium
•Began cooling at low temperatures
•May be intrusive or extrusive
•Coarse-grained: granite
•Fine-grained: rhyolite
•On the right is coarse-grained granite
•On the left is fine-grained rhyolite
•Grain size is due to cooling time; fast cooling results in
fine grains, slow cooling results in larger crystals.
•Granite is an intrusive felsic igneous rock
•Rhyolite is an extrusive felsic igneous rock
•Mafic rocks are:
•Dark-colored due to iron, magnesium
•Rich in calcium, iron, magnesium
•Began forming at high temps.
•May be intrusive or extrusive
•Coarse-grained: gabbro
•Fine-grained: basalt
Climbing intrusive basalt
columns; Devil’s Tower,
Wyoming
Basalt, a fine-grained, mafic igneous rock. Note the variation in
in color: the dark area is typical basalt, while the lighter areas
have undergone chemical reactions with air and water.
Gabbro, a coarse-grained mafic igneous rock
Obsidian is extrusive igneous rock that has cooled so
quickly that no crystals can form. Is it Mafic or Felsic?
•Intrusive igneous rock formations are called Plutons; there are
several different types:
•Batholiths are the largest bodies of magma deposits- these
measure at least 40 square miles or more for their upper surface,
but can be as large as 15,000 square miles, about the size of
Maryland and Connecticut combined
•Halfdome in Yosemite National Park
•This is part of an exposed batholith
•A stock is smaller than a batholith and typically represents
the subsurface passage that fed molten material to a
volcano or field of volcanoes over time.
•Sills and dikes are layers of igneous rock that typically
form along fault zones, fractures, or between and parallel
to sedimentary layers.
•Dome Mountains are formed from hot molten material
(magma) rising from the Earth's mantle into the crust that
pushes overlying sedimentary rock layers upward to form a
"dome" shape. Unlike a volcano, the magma typically does
not reach the Earth's surface. Instead, the magma cools
underneath the surface and forms the core of the
mountains.
•Navajo Mt.→
•Note the dark intrusion of igneous rock in the lighter
sedimentary rock.
•Is this a dike or a sill?
•Is this felsic or mafic igneous rock?
•Which rock type was there first?
•If this is an intrusive rock type, why is it now exposed?
•Shiprock, New Mexico
•Shiprock is a volcanic neck
•Note the exposed dike
•Extrusive igneous formations are created by lava flows,
which can take many forms and produce a wide variety of
rock formations.
•Capitol Reef National Park,
Utah
•Note the large, dark areas of
igneous rock.
•Pillow Lava
•Lava tube in Hawaii
•Lava tube cave near Flagstaff, Arizona
•Formed about 700,000 years ago
•Sunset Crater National Monument, near Flagstaff, AZ
•Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. How did this form? What
type of rock is it formed of ?