Earth: Portrait of A Planet, 4 Edition: by Stephen Marshak © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition
by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Lecture 6: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Prepared by:
Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

Fronterra Geosciences, Denver, Colorado Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Introduction
Igneous rock is formed by cooling from a melt.
Magmamelted rock below ground. Magma Lava Lava melted rock once it has reached the surface.
Igneous rock freezes at high temperatures (T).

1100
There are many types of igneous rock.
C650C, depending on composition.
Fig. 6.1b
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton
Fig. 6.1a
Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Introduction
In this lecture:
How igneous rocks are formed. How magma and lava move. Why there are different igneous rocks. How to classify the many types of igneous rocks. Plate tectonic settings that create igneous rocks.
Fig. 6.1c
Fig. 6.1d
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak
2011, W. W. Norton
PowerPoint slides prepared by Ronald L. Parker, Fronterra Geosciences, 700 17th Street, Suite 900, Denver, CO, 80202

Igneous Rocks
Melted rock can cool above or below ground.
Extrusive igneous rocks rockscool quickly at the surface.
Lava flows flowsstreams or mounds of cooled melt. Pyroclastic debris debriscooled fragments.
Volcanic ash ashfine particles of volcanic glass. Volcanic rock rockfragmented by eruption.
Fig. 6.2d Fig. 6.2d

Fig. 6.2a
Igneous Rocks
Melted rock can cool above or below ground.
Intrusive igneous rocks rockscool out of sight, underground. Much greater volume than extrusive igneous rocks. Cooling rate is slower than for extrusives.
Large volume magma chambers. Smaller volume tabular bodies or columns.
Fig. 6.2d
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Why Does Magma Form?

Magma is not everywhere below Earths crust. Magma only forms in special tectonic settings.
Partial melting occurs in the crust and upper mantle. Melting is caused by:
Pressure release. Volatile addition. Heat transfer.
Fig. 6.1a

Geothermal Gradient
Geothermal gradient gradientT increases with depth.
Average rate of crustal T increase is 25 C per km of depth. At the base of the lithosphere T ~1280 C.
The geothermal gradient varies from place to place.
Interlude C
Causes of Melting
Decrease in pressure (P) (P)decompression.
The base of the crust is hot enough to melt mantle rock. But, due to high P, the rock does not melt. Melting will occur if P is decreased.
P drops when hot rock is carried to shallower depths.
Mantle plumes. Beneath rifts. Beneath midmid-ocean ridges.
Fig. 6.3a
Causes of Melting
P drops when hot rock is carried to shallower depths.
Mantle plumes. Beneath rifts. Under midmid-ocean ridges.
Fig. 6.3b

Causes of Melting
Addition of volatiles (flux melting).
Volatiles lower the melting T of a hot rock. Common volatiles include H2O and CO2. Subduction carries water into the mantle, melting rock.
Fig. 6.4a
Causes of Melting
Heat transfer melting.
Rising magma carries mantle heat with it. This raises the T in nearby crustal rock, which then melts.
Fig. 6.4b
What Is Magma Made of?

Magmas have three components (solid, liquid, and gas).
Solidsolidified mineral crystals are carried in the melt. Solid Liquid Liquid the melt itself is comprised of mobile ions.
Dominantly Si and O; lesser Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, and K. Other ions to a lesser extent.
Different mixes of elements yield different magmas.
Chapter 9 Opener

What Is Magma Made of?

Gas Gas variable amounts of dissolved gas occur in magma.
Dry magma magmascarce volatiles. Wet magma magmaup to 15% volatiles.
Water vapor (H2O) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) Nitrogen (N2) Hydrogen (H2)
2011, W. W. Norton
Major Types of Magma

There are four major magma types based on % silica (SiO2).
Felsic (feldspar and silica) Intermediate Mafic (Mg(Mg- and Fe Fe-rich) Ultramafic 66 to 52 to 45 to 38 to 76% 66% 52% 45% SiO2 SiO2 SiO2 SiO2
2011, W. W. Norton
Why so many magma types?

The composition of a magma reflects the composition of the solid from which it was derived Melt ice water, melt wax liquid wax BUT no way to make water by melting wax! Magmas formed from melting crust are different from those formed from mantle sources
2011, W. W. Norton

Magma Movement
Magma does not stay put; it tends to rise upward.
Magma may move upward in the crust. Magma may breach the surface surfacea volcano.
This transfers mass from deep to shallow parts of Earth.

A crucial process in the Earth System. Provides the raw material for soil, atmosphere, and ocean.
2011, W. W. Norton
Magma Movement
Why does magma rise?
It is less dense than surrounding rocks.
Magma is more buoyant. Lifts magma upward.
Weight of overlying rock creates pressure.

Squeezes magma upward. Like mud squeezed between your toes.
2011, W. W. Norton
Magma Movement
Speed of magma flow governed by viscosity.
Lower viscosity eases movement. Lower viscosity is generated by:
Higher T. Lower SiO2 content. Higher volatile content.
2011, W. W. Norton

Magma Movement
Viscosity depends on temperature, volatiles, and silica.
Thot = lower viscosity; cooler = higher viscosity. Volatile content:
More volatiles volatileslower viscosity. Less volatiles volatileshigher viscosity.
Silica (SiO2) content:

Less SiO2 (mafic) (mafic) lower viscosity. More SiO2 (felsic) (felsic) higher viscosity.
Fig. 6.6
How Fast Does Magma Cool?

Cooling rates Depth Depth deeper is hotter; shallower is cooler. Shape Shape spherical bodies cool slowly; tabular faster. Groundwater Groundwater circulating water removes heat.
2011, W. W. Norton
Igneous Environments
Two major categories categoriesbased on cooling locale.
Extrusive settings settingscool at or near the surface.
Cool rapidly. Chill too fast to grow big crystals.
Intrusive settings settingscool at depth.

Lose heat slowly. Crystals often grow large.
Fig. 6.2a
2011, W. W. Norton

Extrusive Settings
Lava flows cool as blankets that often stack vertically. Lava flows exit volcanic vents and spread outward. LowLow -viscosity lava (basalt) can flow long distances. Lava cools as it flows, eventually solidifying.
Interlude A
Extrusive Settings
Explosive ash eruptions.
High-viscosity felsic magma erupts explosively. HighYield huge volumes of ash that can cover large regions. Pyroclastic flow flowvolcanic ash and debris avalanche.
Races down the volcanic slope as a density current. Often deadly.
Fig. 6.8a
Fig. 6.8b,c
Intrusive Settings
Magma invades prepre-existing wall rock, by:
Percolating upward between grains. Forcing open cracks.
The wall rock rockmagma intrusive contact reveals high heat.

Baked zone zonerim of heatheat-altered wall rock. Chill margin marginrim of quenched magma at contact.
Fig. 6.11e
Fig. 6.10a

Intrusive Settings
Magma invades colder wall rock, initiating:
Thermal (heat) metamorphism and melting. Inflation of fractures, wedging wall rock apart. Detachment of large wall rock blocks (stoping), and Incorporation of wall rock fragments (xenoliths).
Magma that doesnt reach the surface freezes slowly.
Fig. 6.11e
Intrusive Settings
Geologists categorize intrusions by shape.
Tabular (sheet) (sheet)planar with uniform thickness. BlisterBlister -shaped shaped a sill that domes upward. BalloonBalloon -shaped shaped blobs of melted rock.
Geology at a Glance
Intrusive Settings
Tabular intrusions
Tend to have uniform thicknesses. Often can be traced laterally. Have two major subdivisions.
Sillinjected parallels to rock layering. Sill Dyke Dyke cuts across rock layering.
Fig. 6.9a

Intrusive Settings
Tabular intrusions
Dykes and sills modify invaded country rock.
They cause the rock to expand and inflate. They thermally alter the country rock.
Dykes:
Cut across preexisting layering (bedding or foliation). Spread rocks sideways. Dominate in extensional settings.
Fig. 6.11a
Tabular Intrusions
Sills:
Are injected parallel to preexisting layering. Are usually intruded close to the surface.
Both dykes and sills exhibit wide variability in:

Size. Thickness (or width). Lateral continuity.
Fig. 6.11b
Intrusive Settings
Tabular intrusions
Dykes Dykes cut across rock layering.
Dykes sometimes occur in swarms. Three dykes radiate away from Shiprock Shiprock, , New Mexico, an eroded volcanic neck.
Fig. 6.9c
10

Dyke swarms in northern UK

Major volcanic centres formed at ~55 Ma due to formation of North Atlantic Ocean At the same time, swarms of vertical dykes were intruded into the stretched crust between the Outer Hebrides and northern England
2011, W. W. Norton
Intrusive Settings
Tabular intrusions
Sills Sills injected parallel to layering.
Basalt (dark) intruded light sandstones in Antarctica. Intrusion lifted the entire landscape above.
Fig. 6.9b
Plutonic Activity
Plutons may merge to form a batholith. batholith .
Immense volumes of intrusives intrusives. . Form above subduction zones. May add magma for tens of myr myr. . Batholiths mark former subduction subduction. .
Fig. 6.10d
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Intrusions and extrusions: influence on the landscape
2011, W. W. Norton
Describing Igneous Rocks

The size, shape, and arrangement of the minerals.
Interlockingmineral crystals fit like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Interlocking Fragmental Fragmental pieces of prepre-existing rocks, often shattered. Glassy Glassy made of solid glass or glass shards.
Texture directly reflects magma history.
Interlocking or crystalline texture

Fig. 6.12a
Fragmental texture
Glassy texture
2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Crystalline Igneous Textures

Interlocking mineral grains from solidifying melt. Texture reveals cooling history.
Aphanitic (fine(fine-grained).
Rapid cooling. Crystals do not have time to grow. Extrusive.
Phaneritic (coarse(coarse-grained).
Slow cooling. Crystals have a long time to grow. Intrusive.
Fig. 6.12a
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Crystalline Textures
Texture reveals cooling history.
Porphyritic texture texturea mixture of coarse and fine crystals.
Indicates a twotwo-stage cooling history.
Initial slow cooling creates large phenocrysts. Subsequent eruption cools remaining magma more rapidly.
2011, W. W. Norton
Fragmental Textures
Preexisting rocks that were shattered by eruption. After fragmentation, the pieces fall and are cemented.
2011, W. W. Norton
Glassy Textures
Solid mass of glass or crystals surrounded by glass. Fracture conchoidally. Result from rapid cooling of lava.
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Crystalline Classification
Classification is based on composition and texture.
Compositionfelsic, intermediate, mafic, ultramafic. Composition Texture Texture fine (aphanitic), coarse (phaneritic).
C1 A B
C2
Composition
Felsic Intermediate Mafic Ultramafic
Aphanitic (fine)
Rhyolite Andesite Basalt Komatiite
2011, W. W. Norton C2 A
Phaneritic (coarse)
Granite Diorite Gabbro Peridotite
Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks C1 B
Crystalline Classification
Fig. 6.13
Pyroclastic Classification
Pyroclastic Pyroclastic fragments of violent eruptions.
Tuffvolcanic ash that has fallen on land. Tuff Volcanic breccia brecciamade of larger volcanic fragments. Volcanic agglomerate agglomerateaccumulations of lapilli or bombs.
Volcaniclastic rock rockcomprised of volcanic fragments.
2011, W. W. Norton
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Where Does Igneous Activity Occur?

Igneous activity tracks tectonic plate boundaries. Volcanic arcs mark subduction zones.
Fig. 6.15
2011, W. W. Norton
Igneous Activity Distribution

Igneous activity occurs in four settings.
Volcanic arcs bordering deep ocean trenches. Isolated hot spots. Continental rifts. MidMid -ocean ridges.
Established or newly formed tectonic plate boundaries. Except: hot spots, which are independent of plates.
Fig. 6.15
Volcanic Arcs
Most subaerial volcanoes on Earth reside in arcs. Mark convergent tectonic plate boundaries.
Deep oceanic trenches and accretionary prisms. Subducting oceanic lithosphere adds volatiles (water). Rocks of the asthenosphere partially melt. Magma rises and creates volcanoes on overriding plate
Examples:
Aleutian Islands Japan Java and Sumatra
Fig. 6.15
15

Hot Spots
About 50 50100 mantle plume hothot-spot volcanoes exist. Independent tectonic plate boundaries. May erupt through oceanic or continental crust.
Oceanicmostly mafic magma (basalt). Oceanic Continental Continental mafic and felsic (basalt and rhyolite).
Burn a volcano chain through overiding tectonic plate.

Creates a hothot-spot track.
Fig. 6.15
Large Igneous Provinces

LIPs LIPs unusually large outpourings of magma.
Mostly mafic, include some felsic examples. Mantle plume first reaches the base of the lithosphere. Erupts huge volumes of mafic magma as flood basalts.
Low viscosity. Can flow tens to hundreds of kms. Accumulate in thick piles.
Fig. 6.17 and 6.18a

Continental Rifts
Places where continental lithosphere is being stretched. Rifting thins the lithosphere.
Causes decompressional melting of mafic rock. Heat transfer melts crust creating felsic magmas.
Example: East African Rift Valley
Fig. 6.15
16

MidMid -Ocean Ridges

Most igneous activity takes place at midmid-ocean ridges.
Rifting spreads plates leading to decompression melting. Basaltic magma wells up and fills magma chambers. Solidifies as gabbro at depth. Moves upward to form dikes or extrude as pillow basalt.
Fig. 6.15 and 6.19a

Useful Web Resources

Read Marshak Chapter 6 USGS Volcano Hazards Program
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/
Oregon State University Volcano World

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/
Geology.com, Pictures of Extrusive and Intrusive Igneous Rocks

http://geology.com/rocks/igneoushttp://geology.com/rocks/igneous -rocks.shtml
EARTHCHEM Rock Geochemistry Database

http://www.earthchem.org/
Large Igneous Provinces Commission

http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/
MantlePlumes.org
http://www.mantleplumes.org/
UNC Atlas of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks, Minerals, and Textures

http://www.geolab.unc.edu/Petunia/IgMetAtlas/mainmenu.html
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Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

Igneous rock freezes at high temperatures (T).

There are many types of igneous rock.

C650C, depending on composition.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Fig. 6.2d Fig. 6.2d

Why Does Magma Form?

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

The geothermal gradient varies from place to place.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

What Is Magma Made of?

Different mixes of elements yield different magmas.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

What Is Magma Made of?

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Major Types of Magma

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Why so many magma types?

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

This transfers mass from deep to shallow parts of Earth.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Weight of overlying rock creates pressure.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Silica (SiO2) content:

How Fast Does Magma Cool?

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Intrusive settings settingscool at depth.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 6: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

The wall rock rockmagma intrusive contact reveals high heat.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks

Magma that doesnt reach the surface freezes slowly.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 6 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks