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Magma: molten or
melted
rock; lurks underground and/or comes to surface
parts of magma:
liquid
with solids (minerals) and gases (H2O, CO2,
H2S...)
how primary
magma is produced: decompression (lower the pressure) or
heating
partial
melting of the dry mantle-- produces dark/mafic magmas
(richer
in Fe, Mg, Ca)
happens at mid-ocean ridges, continental rifts, continental and oceanic
hot spots....
partial
melting of the wet mantle-- produces intermediate magmas
happens at subduction zones only, where water is dragged down into the
mantle
partial
melting of the continental crust--produces light/felsic
magmas
(richer in Si, Na, K)
continental rifts, continental hot spots, continental arcs, continental
collisions
how secondary magma is produced by modification of the primary
magmas
1. contamination with older rocks
2. mineral settling from magma
3. mixing of two magmas
Igneous Rocks: made from
magma that's cooled and turned to solid minerals
only about 10
minerals are commonly found in igneous rocks, almost all are silicates
mafic/dark
minerals (Fe, Mg rich):
olivine, Ca-feldspar, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite, magnetite
felsic/pale
minerals (Si, Na, K rich):
quartz, Na-feldspar, K-feldspar, muscovite
dark minerals
grow from dark magma (rich in Fe, Mg....), pale minerals from pale magma
Properties and classification of
igneous rocks: only 3 things to classify most igneous rocks
1. Gray
Scale: aka "color index"; dark/mafic vs intermediate vs
pale/felsic
gray scale=mineral content, related to chemical composition of magma
and
hence source
2. Mineral
Size: size of minerals; small minerals vs medium vs large
minerals
mineral size related to rate/speed of cooling
volcanic (fast cooling) vs plutonic (slow cooling)
3. Texture:
arrangement of minerals within the rock (not how smooth the rock is)
porphyritic versus uniform mineral size; glassy to crystalline;
vesicular
(bubbly) to dense
pyroclastic = shot into the air during violent eruption: pumice,
ash, bombs...
Plate Tectonics and Igneous Rock
Associations:
where do we find certain magmas/igneous rocks
Rifts-Oceanic;
basalt, diabase, gabbro, etc. of the oceanic crust (mafic/dark rocks
only)
Rifts-Continental;
bimodal (mafic and felsic)-- basalt-rhyolite and gabbro-granite
Hot
Spots-Oceanic;
basalts and related rocks (mafic/dark rocks only)
Hot
Spots-Continental;
bimodal (mafic and felsic), basalt-rhyolite and gabbro-granite
Subduction
Zones; andesite to rhyolite, diorite to granite (mostly
intermediate
but all kinds)
Continent-Continent
Collisions; rhyolites and granites (felsic/light rocks)
Volcanic and Plutonic Objet
d'Igneous:
volcanic = formed above ground, plutonic = underground
Shield
volcanoes:
made of basaltic/mafic lava flows. examples: Mauna Kea and Mauna
Loa
runny magma, erupt quietly, flow downhill long distances, form
shallow/low
angle slopes
Stratovolcanoes/composite
volcanoes: andesitic/intermediate rocks. Pinatubo, St. Helens.
sticky magmas, erupt violently, pyroclastics, pile up close to
vent,
steep slopes, cones
Mt. St. Helens: magma caused bulge and earthquake caused landslide
caused
eruption
Flood basalts:
big sheets of lava. columnar basalts on land, pillow basalts form
underwater
lava flows: flow bottoms and flow tops, vesicles, pahoehoe, aa,
etc.
case study: Columbia River flood basalts, 15 million years old,
all
of eastern WA
Plutons:
large bodies of magma that solidify underground, then later are exposed
batholiths, dikes, sills, xenoliths
how does magma push its way through crust and mantle?
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