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Igneous Processes and Structures. GLY 2010 – Summer 2013 Lecture 7. Definition of Igneous. Igneous - Said of a rock or mineral that solidified from molten or partly molten material, i.e. from a magma Etymology: Latin ignis , ''fire”. Magma.
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Igneous Processes and Structures GLY 2010 – Summer 2013 Lecture 7
Definition of Igneous • Igneous - Said of a rock or mineral that solidified from molten or partly molten material, i.e. from a magma • Etymology: Latin ignis, ''fire”
Magma • Magma is naturally occurring mobile rock material “molten rock” • Capable of intrusion and extrusion • Igneous rocks are derived from magma through solidification and related processes
Viscosity • Viscosity is the property of a substance to offer internal resistance to flow; its internal friction
Flow Viscosity Initial Position After flow starts Viscosity increases from left to right
Viscosity in Magma • Video shows a rod being poked in hot, viscous magma on Kilauea, Hawaii
Factors Influencing the Viscosity of Magma • Temperature • Chemical composition • Gas content
Temperature • The higher the temperature, the lower the viscosity • Basaltic magmas at 1200°C or higher, are much more fluid (less viscous) than granitic magmas at 800°C
Low Viscosity Flow Animation Typical of basaltic magma
High Viscosity Flow Animation • Typical of Andesitic or Rhyolitic Magmas
Chemical Composition • The higher the silica content of magma, the higher the viscosity
Gas Content • As gas content increases, the viscosity decreases • Gases inhibit silica chain formation, and lower overall viscosity
Effects of Increasing Viscosity • Volcanic violence related to viscosity (magma type) • Magma type related to geologic, and often, plate tectonic setting
Partial Melting • Different minerals melt at different temperatures • As temperature increases, this leads to partial melting
Igneous Structures • Intrusive – magma freezes below the surface • Extrusive – magma erupts onto or above the surface
Intrusive Structures • Plutons are large bodies of magma that solidified well below the surface • Magma may be injected under pressure into cracks in the rock
Intrusive Structures, Cont. • Igneous sill – Parallel to existing layers
Igneous Sill • Salt River Canyon, Arizona – the dark band is basalt intruded into horizontal layers of igneous rock
Intrusive Structures, Cont. • Igneous Dike - intrusion cuts across the rock layers
Igneous Dike • Thin, pink aplite dikes cut the black basaltic dikes and the gray granite • Photo C.A. Giovanella • Location Pender Harbor, Southwest British Columbia
Aerial View of Intersecting Dikes • Intersecting dikes (Tertiary) at Spanish Peaks, Las Animas and Huerfano Counties, CO. View to east. (10Apr66)
Spanish Peak Dikes • West Spanish Peak (13,623 ft) and dikes (Tertiary), Las Animas and Huerfano Counties, CO. View to the south. (10Apr66)
Intrusive Structures, Cont. • Laccolith
Shiprock, New Mexico • The neck of an ancient volcano, which has eroded • Structure in the background is a dike
Igneous Vein • Extensional veins in a thick carbonate turbidite from the Liguride Complex in the Northern Apennines, Italy • Photo David Bice, Carleton College
Extrusive Structures • Lava Flows • Obsidian
Lava Flow From the Ground • Lava flows from Nyiragongo volcano • Eruption January 18, 2002 • City is Gomo, Congo
Newberry Caldera, Oregon • Obsidian flow from a vent along the south wall of the caldera • Road gives scale
Obsidian Domes Photo M.L. Bevier • Holocene obsidian domes, Long Valley Caldera California - obsidian is formed from very viscous magma, which is unable to flow long distances
Obsidian • Upper left: Thin piece of obsidian, showing flow banding • Lower left: Thicker piece of obsidian showing conchoidal fracture
Classification of Igneous Rocks • Mineral content • Chemical analysis • Texture • Geologic Association
Mineral Content • Igneous rocks may be classified on the basis of what minerals they contain • Essential Minerals • Accessory Minerals
Chemical Content • Rocks may be analyzed to see what elements they contain • Results are reported as weight percent oxides
Texture and Fabric • Texture is the general physical appearance or character of a rock • Fabric refers to the orientation (or lack of it) in space of the elements of which a rock is composed
Aphanitic Texture • A very fine grain texture, with crystals invisible to the naked eye • Photo M.L. Bevier
Pheneritic Texture • Grains are visible and identifiable using the naked eye • Photo M.L. Bevier
Porphyritic Texture • Large crystals in a fine-grained or aphanitic groundmass - Field of view 2 cm • Photo: E.J. Tarbuck
Pegmatitic – Black Hills, South Dakota • Coarse texture, resulting from rapid crystal growth, due to presence of water in melt at time of crystallization • Arrows point to the location of spodumenne crystals, removed during mining • Spodumene is a source of lithium
Relation of Texture to Cooling History • Aphanetic - Rapid cooling leads to very fine crystals or to glass - typical of extrusive rocks • Phaneritic - Slower cooling leads to medium or coarse grained rocks, typical of intrusive igneous rocks • Pegmatitic - Very slow cooling in a water-rich magma leads to the coarse crystals • Porphyritic - Slow cooling while the magma ascends through the earth, followed by rapid cooling after the magma erupts on the surface • Crystals are often medium to coarse • Groundmass texture will be fine-grained, or glassy, depending on the rate of cooling
Geologic Association • Rocks associated by age, position, and by characteristically being found together • Constant or regular variation of features within the rock body
Magmatic Differentiation • Fractional Crystallization (Crystal settling) • Partial Melting
Evolution of Magma • Over time, fractional crystallization changes the composition of magma from “A” to “B” to “C”
Intrusive Medium to coarse grained 100% Crystalline May contain inclusions of rock which fell into the magma (xenoliths) Extrusive Aphanitic to fine grain size Often glassy Often contain gas bubbles Intrusive Vs. Extrusive Rocks
Granite, Rhyolite • Granite has clearly visible crystals • Rhyolite has few visible crystals, and patches of glass • Both rocks are felsic