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Intermediate Also Apply To Igneous Rocks.: Diorite Is An Intermediate Rock Containing
Intermediate Also Apply To Igneous Rocks.: Diorite Is An Intermediate Rock Containing
. If this takes place underground, crystalline plutonic rocks develop. If the magma erupts as lava or fragmental (pyroclastic) materials, then the resulting rocks show few if any crystals and are called volcanic. Granite and basalt are two common types of igneous rocks. Each igneous rock type has a plutonic and volcanic equivalent. For example, granite, which is a plutonic rock, is chemically identical to rhyolite, a volcanic rock, even though these two rocks have very different physical appearances. Magma forms under restricted conditions of high temperature and low pressure inside Earth. Although rock is hot throughout the planets interior, there are only a few zones where the pressure is low enough for the rock to melt. One is the outer core, and the other is the asthenosphere. Most of the molten rock produced at shallow levels in Earth originates where upwelling currents of hot mantle material rapidly rise into the lower-pressure environment of the asthenosphere. Magma transfers not only matter toward the surface but heat as well. Heat from mantle-derived magma contributes to melting continental sedimentary and metamorphic rocks at convergent plate margins to generate granitic magmas. The sedimentary and metamorphic rocks contain trapped water, which lowers the melting temperature of the rock in some cases by hundreds of degrees. Magma may be defined chemically as mafic, with high magnesium and iron contents, or felsic, with high silica, aluminum, sodium, potassium and water contents. Intermediate magmas have compositions between those of mafic and felsic. The terms mafic, felsic, and intermediate also apply to igneous rocks. Magma rises buoyantly because of the difference in density between the molten rock and the surrounding country rock. At the level of neutral buoyancy, where this density difference disappears, magma stagnates. Volatiles, including carbon dioxide, water vapor, sulfur gases, chlorine, fluorine, and other gases, build up in the magma reservoir and expand into bubbles whenever pressure drops. The force of expanding gases is the primary agent of volcanic eruptions. Viscosity, the resistance
to flow, greatly influences the way that magmas erupt. High-viscosity molten rock oozes across the surface slowly. Low-viscosity lava flows can travel rapidly for tens of kilometers. Some volcanic eruptions are triggered by the collision of two magma bodies. Different magmas can mingle, or they can mix to produce hybridized rocks of intermediate composition. Bowens reaction series describes the crystallization of magma. It consists of two branches. The discontinuous reaction series describes the reaction of minerals with the magma at specific temperatures, leading to the formation of new minerals that are stable at lower temperatures. The continuous reaction series describes minerals that are continuously adjusting their compositions as the magma cools. The specific arrangement, sizes, and shapes of mineral grains in a rock define the rocks texture. Examples of igneous rock textures include aphanitic rocks, which are fine-grained, and phaneritic rocks, which are coarsegrained. Porphyritic rocks include large crystals set in a bed, or groundmass, of finer grains. Pyroclastic texture typifies explosively erupted igneous rocks. Mineral content and texture are both important features in classifying igneous rocks. Texture determines whether a rock is called plutonic or volcanic. Mineral content allows further classification. Ultramafic rocks are characterized by a high content of olivine and pyroxene. Most ultramafic rocks are plutonic; very few lavas are known in the young geologic record. Mafic rocks contain large amounts of plagioclase as well as olivine and pyroxene. Gabbro is the most abundant mafic plutonic rock; basalt is the lava equivalent. Most gabbro and basalt develop at mid-oceanic ridges.
Diorite is an intermediate rock containing plagioclase, hornblende, biotite, and minor quartz formed at oceanic continental convergent plate boundaries. Andesite is the volcanic equivalent of diorite, and it contains abundant plagioclase crystals with minor olivine, pyroxene, and hornblende. Partial melting in the mantle above subducting slabs and interaction with the lower crust contribute to the formation of these rocks.
Granite and rhyolite are felsic rocks formed by melting entirely within Earths crust, mostly at convergent plate boundaries. Granites contain abundant quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase, hornblende, and biotite. Rhyolite may contain minor amounts of each of these minerals as phenocrysts. Obsidian is a glassy form of rhyolite.
The largest igneous intrusions are batholiths
magma?
The temperature must be high enough and the pressure low enough for rock to melt. Also important is the convective upwelling of hot mantle rock beneath mid-oceanic ridges. The rock rises so quickly that it cannot release heat fast enough to keep from melting with the reduction of pressure during ascent. The most common lava in the world, basalt, results from this process. _ What is unique about the origin of granitic
and stocks. These are the surface expressions of eroded plutons. If the area of exposure is larger than 100 km2, then the body is a batholith. It is a stock otherwise. Plutons have diverse, irregular geometry inside the crust. Many are bulbous and kilometers wide. Sheetlike intrusions include dikes, sills, and veins. Dikes are discordant, cutting across preexisting layering. Sills are concordant, developing along the contacts between pre-existing layers. Veins are thin versions of dikes and sills and often are very irregular in geometry. Laccoliths are sill-like bodies that inflate into arching mounds, which may create hills and even mountains at Earths surface. Sheetlike intrusions are common around volcanoes and in the roof crust overlying magma chambers. Volcanic sheet intrusions radiate from volcanic pipes, which erosion can expose.
magma?
Granitic magma forms in continental crust, and it is a secondary product of heat introduced by deeper-seated mantle magmas into the lower crust. Bonded mineral and pore water play an important role in generating granitic magma by enabling the melting of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that might remain solid if they were dry. _ Why and how does magma rise? Molten rock is less dense than solid rock, and so it is buoyant. Initially, the rate of magma ascent is related to the difference in density between the melt and the surrounding country rock. Later the magma may stall out and crystallize at a level of neutral buoyancy. A large body of magma can push aside the overlying crust and stope and thus assimilate blocks of crust on its way toward the surface. _ What are volatiles and why are they
important?
Volatiles are dissolved substances in magma that emerge as gases at low pressures. Increasing volatile pressure in a shallow magma chamber can help wedge open fractures in the chamber roof and drive the magma to the surface. In particular, expanding water vapor is a major agent in explosive volcanic eruptions. _ What is the chemical composition of magma? Most magma, like most minerals, consists of silicon and oxygen with lesser amounts of other elements, such as magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), sodium (Na), potassium (K), and aluminum (Al). Mg-Ferich magma is called mafic, and magma rich in Na, K, Al and H2O is felsic. Gabbros and basalts are products of mafic magmas; granites and rhyolites are products of felsic magmas. _ How hot is magma? No one knows for sure, but measured temperatures of lavas suggest that typical mafic magma is somewhat hotter than 1200C, and felsic magma is somewhat hotter than 900C.
escape Earth?
Magma transfers heat from Earths deep interior as it rises. Magma carries heat up faster than the other main processes of heat release: conduction and solid-state convection. It is a very efficient way for heat to escape Earth.
_ What is viscosity and what controls it? Viscosity is a measure of a substances resistance to flow. The higher the viscosity, the stiffer and thicker the flow. Tar and glacial ice are good examples of highly viscous substances. Water and syrup have low viscosities and flow readily. The viscosity of magma is controlled by temperature, silica content, loss of volatiles, crystallinity, bubble content, and shear stress during movement. Characteristically, mafic magmas are less viscous than felsic magmas, primarily because they are hotter and have less silica. _ What is Bowens reaction series? Bowens reaction series describes the sequence of mineral crystallization in a cooling magma. There are two branches in the reaction series. Minerals that form by the reaction of other minerals with the magma at certain specific temperatures belong to thediscontinuous series, whereas minerals that react continuously with the magma to adjust their compositions during cooling belong to the discontinuous series. The reverse of Bowens reaction series describes the melting of rock. _ How does magma change as crystallization
coarse-grained, and porphyritic, meaning scattered large crystals set in a finer-grained groundmass. Layered volcanic ash and pumice deposits display pyroclastic texture. _ Why is mineral content important for
occurs?
During crystallization, the remaining melt becomes progressively more silica-enriched. This is shown by Bowens reaction series, in which quartz (SiO2) is the last mineral to crystallize from a cooling magma. _ What happens when two magmas come together? Two different magmas can blend together (mix) if their viscosities are very similar, or they can mingle without blending if their viscosities are very different. Mingling of magmas beneath a volcano can trigger a volcanic eruption. _ What are zoned plutons? Characteristically, zoned plutons have multiple igneous rock compositions, ranging from mafic to felsic. Many zoned plutons show evidence of partial blending of different magmas to produce hybrid igneous rocks. The different compositions in the pluton are not randomly distributed. For example, one rock type may predominate near the top and on the sides of a pluton, with another type in the interior and near the base. 4.3 Igneous RocksTheir Characteristics and Classification _ What does the term texture mean with respect
intrusions?
Dikes and sills are the most common sheetlike igneous intrusions. Dikes are discordant features (meaning they cut across layering in the country rock), whereas sills are concordant. Laccoliths are sill-like bodies with inflated cores. Volcanic pipes are magmafilled, cylindrical feeder channels beneath volcanoes. Pipes can become volcanic necks with deep erosion. Dikes, sills, and laccoliths radiate from many volcanic pipes and necks.
to rocks, and what are some examples of igneous textures? Texture refers to the size, shape, and
arrangement of mineral grains composing a rock. Examples of igneous textures include aphanitic, meaning very fine-grained, phaneritic, meaning very
dense than the surrounding solid rock. Dike - is a discordant intrusion that appears as a band of igneous rock slicing across strata.
Discordant - the intrusions cut across pre-
that crystallizes from magma intruded into or formed in place within Earths crust.
Porphyritic texture - an igneous texture with
and considerable sodium, potassium, and aluminum but little calcium, iron, and magnesium.
Igneous rock - any rock formed by cooling and
intrusion.
Stock - an irregularly shaped discordant pluton with
between 53% and 65% and an overall composition intermediate between felsic and mafic magmas.
Intrusive - refers to magma and rocks that formed
like geometry.
Lava - magma at Earths surface. Mafic - magma containing between 45% and 52%
a few centimeters thick that may be concordant or discordant; many veins are composed of quartz or quartz and potassium feldspar.
Vesicle a small hole or cavity formed by gas
silica and proportionately more calcium, iron, and magnesium than intermediate and felsic magmas.
Magma - molten rock material generated within
Earth.
Magma chamber (reservoir) - a reservoir of magma
formed from magma that reached the surface as lava or pyroclastic materials.
Volcanic neck - an erosional remnant of the
that come together do not mix and there is a destabilizing exchange of heat that results in explosive eruptions.
Magma mixing - the process of mixing magmas of
rock formed when magma is extruded onto Earths surface where it cools and crystallizes, or when pyroclastic materials become consolidated.
CHAPTER 5
Interactions among systems are demonstrated by large volcanic eruptions because they have an impact on the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere.
A volcano is a landform, whereas volcanism
erupted in Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, some of them many times. The largest volcanic outburst since the late 1800s took place at Novarupta in Alaska in 1912.
The Cascade Range includes volcanoes in
and
its
gas, but several others, including carbon dioxide and sulfur gases, are also emitted.
Aa lava flows are made up of jagged, angular
northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada. Only three eruptions have occurred since 1914, one at Lassen Peak in California (19141917) and two at Mount St. Helens in Washington (1980 and 20042006).
blocks, whereas pahoehoe flows have a taffylike texture. Lava tubes, pillow lava, and columnar joints are found in some lava flows . Pyroclastic materials are particulate matter ejected from volcanoes during explosive eruptions.
All volcanoes, regardless of size or shape,
The large volcanoes Cascade Range are volcanoes, although some present and both areas cones.
in Alaska and the mostly composite shield volcanoes are have many cinder
plutons or that rises to the surface as lava at divergent plate boundaries is mafic, even where divergence takes place on land, as in East Africa.
form where lava and pyroclastic materials are erupted. Most have one or more craters or a caldera, a large oval to circular structure formed when a volcanic peak collapses into a partially drained magma chamber.
Shield volcanoes have low, rounded profiles
Igneous activity at convergent plate boundaries involves mostly intermediate and felsic magma and lava. Huge plutons such as batholiths as well as composite volcanoes are common in this geologic setting.
and are made mostly of fluid lava flows; cinder cones are small, steep-sided volcanoes composed of pyroclastic materials; and composite volcanoes consist of lava flows, pyroclastic layers, and lahars.
Viscous bulbous masses of lava, generally of
Geologists have devised a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) to indicate the size of an eruption. VEI values depend on the volume of material erupted and the height of an eruption plume; fatalities and property damage are not considered.
Although lava flows and lava fountains are
felsic composition, are lava domes, which are dangerous because they erupt explosively.
Fluid mafic lava erupted from fissures spreads over large areas to form a basalt plateau.
impressive, the most dangerous manifestations of volcanoes are eruptions of pyroclastic materials, especially nue ardentes, as well as mudflows and debris flows, which may take place even when a volcano is not erupting.
Pyroclastic sheet deposits result when huge eruptions of ash and other pyroclastic materials take place, especially when calderas form.
About 60% of all active volcanoes are in the
Volcano monitoring involves evaluating physical and chemical aspects of volcanoes. Especially important for anticipating eruptions is detecting volcanic tremor and determining the eruptive history of a volcano.
circum-Pacific belt, another 20% are in the Mediterranean belt, and the remaining 20% are mostly at or near midoceanic ridges or their extensions onto land.
origin of calderas are responsible for pyroclastic sheet deposits. 5.5 The Distribution of Volcanoes _ Where are the three zones or belts with most
destructive?
Volcanism may destroy houses and farmland and cause injuries and fatalities so it is destructive, but it is also constructive because it is responsible for the origin of many oceanic islands as well as the oceanic crust. 5.2 Volcanism and Volcanoes _ What gases do volcanoes commonly emit? Most volcanic gases are water vapor, with lesser amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, and very small amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and chlorine. _ How and why do aa and pahoehoe lava flows
of Earths volcanoes?
About 60% of all active volcanoes are in the circum-Pacific belt, another 20% are in the Mediterranean belt, and most of the remaining 20% are at or near mid-oceanic ridges or their extensions onto land. 5.6 North Americas Active Volcanoes _ Where is the Cascade Range and what types of
differ?
Aa is made up of angular blocks and fragments, whereas pahoehoe has a smooth surface much like taffy. The flows differ mostly because aa is viscous enough to fragment. _ What are pyroclastic materials, and how are
oceanic crust?
The oceanic crust is made up of mafic igneous rocks. Gabbro is found in the lower part of the oceanic crust, whereas vertical dikes and pillow lava, both composed of basalt, make up the upper part. _ How do plate tectonics and volcanism account
composed of?
Cinder cones are small, steep-sided volcanoes made up of pyroclastic materials that resemble cinders. _ What are lava domes and why are they so
volcanoes?
Lava dome eruptions during which huge amounts of pyroclastic materials and gases are ejected are the most dangerous volcanic eruptions. Lahars are also dangerous and they may take place long after an eruption.
dangerous?
Lava domes are bulbous masses of viscous magma that commonly erupt explosively. 5.4 Other Volcanic Landforms _ How do basalt plateaus form? Basalt plateaus are made up of numerous overlapping basalt lava flows that erupt from fissures rather than from a central vent. _ What are pyroclastic sheet deposits? Huge eruptions of pyroclastic materials, especially ash, from fissures that form during the
of a lava flow through which a molten flow continues to move. Also, the hollow space left when the lava within the tube drains away.
Mediterranean belt - a zone of seismic and
mm.
Basalt plateau - a large area built up by numerous
volcanic activity extending westerly from Indonesia through the Himalayas, across Iran and Turkey, and through the Mediterranean region of Europe.
Nue ardente - a mobile dense cloud of hot
volcanic depression usually formed by summit collapse resulting from partial draining of the underlying magma chamber.
Cascade Range a mountain range stretching
or billowy surface.
Pillow lava - bulbous masses of basalt, resembling
from northern California through Oregon and Washington and into southern British Columbia, Canada. Made up of about a dozen large composite volcanoes and thousands of smaller volcanic vents.
Cinder cone - a small, steep-sided volcano
consisting of six sided columns that form as a result of shrinkage during cooling.
Composite volcano (stratovolcano) - a volcano
composed of pyroclastic layers, lava flows typically of intermediate composition, and mudflows; also called a stratovolcano.
Crater - a circular or oval depression at the summit
eruption based on evaluation of such criteria as volume of material explosively ejected and height of eruption cloud.
Volcanic tremor - ground motion lasting from
minutes to hours resulting from magma moving below the surface, as opposed to the sudden jolts produced by most earthquakes.
Volcanism - the process whereby magma and its
of a volcano resulting from the extrusion of gases, pyroclastic materials, and lava; connected by a conduit to a magma chamber below Earths surface.
Fissure eruption - an eruption in which lava or
associated gases rise through the crust and are extruded onto the surface or into the atmosphere.
Volcano - a mountain formed around a vent as a
such as ash.
Lava dome - a bulbous, steep-sided structure