Figure 9.48 Lake Sabrina, a Glacially Carved Lake in the Eastern Sierra.

Image by Jeremy Patrich

is used under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

UNIT 9: IGNEOUS ROCKS

Goals & Objectives of this unit
➢ Describe the rock cycle and the types of processes that lead to the formation of igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, and explain why there is an active rock cycle on
Earth.
➢ Describe, in general terms, the range of chemical compositions of magmas.
➢ Discuss the processes that take place during the cooling and crystallization of magma,
and the typical order of crystallization according to the Bowen reaction series.
➢ Explain how magma composition can be changed by fractional crystallization and partial
melting of the surrounding rocks.
➢ Apply the criteria for igneous rock classification based on mineral proportions.
➢ Describe the origins of phaneritic, porphyritic, and pegmatitic textures.

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THE ROCK CYCLE
The rock components of the crust are slowly but constantly being changed from one form to
another and the processes involved are summarized in the rock cycle. The rock cycle is driven
by two forces:
➢ Earth’s internal heat engine, which moves material around in the core and the mantle
and leads to slow but significant changes within the crust.
➢ The hydrological cycle, which is the movement of water, ice, and air at the surface, and
is powered by the sun.
The rock cycle is still active on Earth because our core is hot enough to keep the mantle moving,
our atmosphere is relatively thick, and we have liquid water. On some other planets or their
satellites, such as the Moon, the rock cycle is virtually dead because the core is no longer hot
enough to drive mantle convection and there is no atmosphere or liquid water.

Figure 9.49 The Rock Cycle. Image is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In describing the rock cycle, we can start anywhere we like, although it’s convenient to start
with magma. Magma is a rock that is hot to the point of being entirely molten. This happens at

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between about 800° and 1300°C, depending on the composition and the pressure, onto the
surface, and cool quickly (within seconds to years), forming extrusive igneous rock.

Magma can either cool slowly within the crust (over centuries to millions of years), forming an
intrusive igneous rock or can erupt onto the surface and cool quickly (within seconds to years)
forming an extrusive igneous rock. An intrusive igneous rock typically crystallizes at depths of
hundreds of meters to tens of kilometers below the surface. To change its position in the rock
cycle, intrusive igneous rock has to be uplifted and exposed by the erosion of the overlying
rocks.

Through the various plate-tectonics-related processes of mountain building, all types of rocks
are uplifted and exposed at the surface. Once exposed, they are weathered, both physically (by
the mechanical breaking of the rock) and chemically (by weathering of the minerals), and the
weathering products, mostly small rock and mineral fragments are eroded, transported, and
then deposited as sediments. Transportation and deposition occur through the action of
glaciers, streams, waves, wind, and other agents, and sediments are deposited in rivers, lakes,
deserts, and the ocean.

Crystallization
Igneous rocks form when molten material cools and hardens. They may form either below or
above the Earth’s surface. They make up most of the rocks on Earth. Most igneous rock is
buried below the surface and covered with sedimentary rock, and so we do not often see just
how much igneous rock there is on Earth. In some places, however, large areas of igneous rocks
can be seen at Earth’s surface. The first figure of this unit is California’s Sierra Nevada that
consists entirely of granite, an igneous rock.

Igneous rocks are called intrusive or plutonic when they cool and solidify beneath the surface.
Because they form within the Earth, cooling occurs slowly. Such slow cooling allows time for
large crystals to form, therefore, intrusive or plutonic igneous rocks have relatively large
mineral crystals that are easy to see. Granite is the most common intrusive igneous rock.

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Figure 9.3 Collecting Diorite (Granite) Samples from a Fresh Rockslide near Lone Pine CA. Image by Jeremy Patrich is
used under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

Granite is nearly always massive, hard, and tough. These properties have made granite a
widespread construction stone throughout human history. The term "granitic" means granite-
like and is applied to granite and a group of intrusive igneous rocks with similar textures and
slight variations in composition and origin. In most cases, a body of hot magma is less dense
than the rock surrounding it, so it tendsto move very slowly up toward the surface. It does so in
a few different ways, including filling and widening existing cracks, melting the surrounding rock
(called country rock), pushing the rock aside (where it is somewhat plastic), and breaking the
rock. Where some of the country rock is broken off, it may fall into the magma, a process
called stoping. The resulting fragments are known as xenoliths (Greek for “strange rocks”).

Figure 9.50 A Xenolith in Granite, Near Rock Creek (Eastern Sierra, California). (Image on Wikimedia Commons by
Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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 Figure 9.5 Half Dome in California is an Example of Masses of Rocks, or Plutons, Creating a Batholith. Image by
DAVID ILIFF is used under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

Some upward-moving magma reaches the surface, resulting in volcanic eruptions, but most
cools within the crust. The resulting body of rock is known as a pluton.

Large irregular-shaped plutons are called either stocks or batholiths. The distinction between
the two is based on the area that is exposed at the surface: if the body has an exposed surface
area greater than 100 km2, then it’s a batholith; smaller than 100 km2 and it’s a stock.
Batholiths are typically formed only when a number of stocks coalesce beneath the surface to
create one large body. One of the largest batholiths in the world is the Coast Range Plutonic
Complex, which extends from the Vancouver region in Canada, to southeastern Alaska. More
accurately, it’s many batholiths.

Tabular (sheet-like) plutons are distinguished based on whether or not they

are concordant with (parallel to) existing layering (e.g., sedimentary bedding or metamorphic
foliation) in the country-rock. A sill is concordant with existing layering, and dyke is discordant.
If the country rock has no bedding or foliation, then any tabular body within it is a dyke. Note
that the sill-versus-dyke designation is not determined simply by the orientation of the feature.
A dyke can be horizontal, and a sill can be vertical (if the bedding is vertical).

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TEXTURES
Igneous rocks are also classified according to their textures. The textures of volcanic rocks will
be discussed later, so here we’ll only look at the different textures of intrusive igneous rocks.
Almost all intrusive igneous rocks have crystals that are large enough to see with the naked eye,
and we use the term phaneritic (from the Greek word phaneros meaning visible) to describe
that. Typically, that means they are larger than about 0.5 mm, or the thickness of a strong line
made with a ballpoint pen. If the crystals are too small to distinguish, which is typical of most
volcanic rocks, we use the term aphanitic.

In general, the size of the crystals is proportional to the rate of cooling. The longer it takes for a
body of magma to cool, the larger the crystals will be. It is not uncommon to see an intrusive
igneous rock with crystals up to a centimeter long. In some situations, especially toward the
end of the cooling stage, the magma can become water-rich. The presence of liquid water (still
liquid at high temperatures because it is under pressure) promotes the relatively easy
movement of ions, and this allows crystals to grow large, sometimes to several centimeters. As
already described, if an igneous rock goes through a two-stage cooling process, its texture will
be porphyritic, as seen below in the close-up of a granite sample.

Figure 9.6 Close-Up of a Granite Sample. This Sample, it is Easy to See & Identify the White & Black Crystals, so This
Specimen Cooled Slowly. Jeremy Patrich is used under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

Igneous rocks are called extrusive or volcanic when they form above the surface. They solidify
after molten material pours out onto the surface through an opening such as a volcano.
Extrusive or volcanic igneous rocks cool much more rapidly and therefore have smaller crystals.
Since the rapid cooling time does not allow time for large crystals to form, minerals are not easy

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to see within the rock. Some volcanic igneous rocks cool so rapidly that crystals do not develop
at all. These form a glass, such as obsidian. Others, such as pumice, contain holes where gas
bubbles were trapped when the material was still hot and molten. The holes make pumice so
light that it floats in water. The most common extrusive igneous rock is basalt, a rock that is
especially common below the oceans.

Figure 9.7 Close-Up of an Obsidian Sample. This Extrusive Rock Cooled Quickly from Felsic Lava. Jeremy Patrich is
used under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

MAGMA
Magma is a complex high-temperature fluid substance. Temperatures of most magmas are in
the range of 700°C to 1300°C. Magma can get forced into adjacent rocks (intrusion or plutonic)
or forced out to the surface (extrusion or volcanic) as lava or blown out in explosions which
include rock pieces (tephra).

Magma is made up of atoms and molecules of melted minerals. When magma cools
the atoms and molecules rearrange to form mineral grains. Rock forms when mineral grains
(often crystals) grow together. Granite, diorite, gabbro, and basalt are a few types of igneous
rock. Quartz is one of the chief minerals produced by igneous action; it is made of silica (SiO2),
the most common molecule in igneous minerals. Some examples of igneous volcanic rock
are pumice, obsidian (volcanic glass), and scoria, and much more. Once Magma reaches the
surface, geologists identify it as lava.

COMPOSITION
Igneous rocks are classified according to how and where they formed, in other words, if they’re
plutonic or volcanic, and their mineral composition, describing the minerals they contain. The

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mineral compositions of igneous rocks are usually described as being felsic, intermediate, mafic,
or ultramafic.

As a mafic magma starts to cool, some of the silica combines with iron and magnesium to make
olivine. As it cools further, much of the remaining silica goes into calcium-rich plagioclase, and
any silica left may be used to convert some of the olivine to pyroxene. Soon after that, all of the
magma is used up and no further changes take place. The minerals present will be olivine,
pyroxene, and calcium-rich plagioclase. If the magma cools slowly underground, the product
will be gabbro; if it cools quickly at the surface, the product will be basalt.

Felsic magmas tend to be cooler than mafic magmas when crystallization begins (because they
don’t have to be as hot to remain liquid), and so they may start out crystallizing pyroxene (not
olivine) and plagioclase. As cooling continues, the various reactions on the discontinuous
branch will proceed because silica is abundant, the plagioclase will become increasingly
sodium-rich, and eventually, potassium feldspar and quartz will form. Commonly even very
felsic rocks will not have biotite or muscovite because they may not have enough aluminum or
enough hydrogen to make the OH complexes that are necessary for mica minerals. Typical felsic
rocks are granite and rhyolite.

The image below shows some common igneous rocks classified by mode of occurrence and
mineral composition.

Figure 9.8 List of Common Igneous Rocks. Image is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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The rocks listed in the table above are the most common igneous rocks, but there are more
than 700 different types of igneous rocks. Granite is perhaps the most useful one for humans.
We use granite in many building materials and art. As discussed in the introduction to this
lesson, pumice is commonly used for abrasives. Peridotite is sometimes mined for peridot, a
type of gemstone used in jewelry. Diorite is extremely hard and is commonly used for art, as it
was used extensively by ancient civilizations for vases and other decorative artwork.

UNIT 9 SUMMARY
Igneous rocks form either when they cool very slowly deep within the Earth or when magma
cools rapidly at the Earth’s surface. The composition of the magma will determine the minerals
that will crystallize forming different types of igneous rocks.

Intrusive, or plutonic, igneous rock forms when magma is trapped deep inside the Earth. Great
globs of molten rock rise toward the surface. Some of the magma may feed volcanoes on the
Earth's surface, but most remain trapped below, where it cools very slowly over many
thousands or millions of years until it solidifies. Slow cooling means the individual mineral
grains have a very long time to grow, so they grow to a relatively large size. Intrusive rocks have
a coarse-grained texture.

Extrusive, or volcanic, igneous rock is produced when magma exits and cools above (or very
near) the Earth's surface. These are the rocks that form at erupting volcanoes and oozing
fissures. The magma, called lava when molten rock erupts on the surface, cools and solidifies
almost instantly when it is exposed to the relatively cool temperature of the atmosphere. Quick
cooling means that mineral crystals don't have much time to grow, so these rocks have a very
fine-grained or even glassy texture. Hot gas bubbles are often trapped in the quenched lava,
forming a bubbly, vesicular texture.

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