CE/SC 10110-20110

Up from the Inferno: Magma & Igneous Rocks

Earth
Portrait of a Planet
Fifth Edition

Chapter 6

Introduction
Volcano: vent through
which magma erupts to the Magma: molten rock
Earth s surface . containing dissolved
volatiles.

Lava: Molten rock at the

Earth s surface that has lost
some volatiles.
Igneous Rock: Rock
solidified from magma/
lava.

Lava
Flow
 Introduction

3
Lava.mov

Introduction
Heat Sources:
Accretion Energy: kinetic energy --> heat on impact during Earth s
formation.
Gravity: As Earth grew, gravity increased and squeezed the planet
together - heated it up.
Core Formation: heavy iron sank to the center to form the core -
potential energy was converted to heat.
Radioactive Decay: Generates heat and if insulated by rock,
temperature increases.
Gravitational Pull: of the Moon and Sun (mainly).

Igneous rocks broadly divided into two types:

1.  Extrusive: erupted onto the Earth s surface (above ground);
2.  Intrusive: magma cools within the Earth (belowground).
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 Introduction
Extrusive igneous rocks cool at the
surface.

Intrusive igneous rocks cool underground.

Introduction
Basalt flows easily;
two main types of basalt
flow -
A a

Aa_lava.mov

aa.mov
Pahoehoe (Pa-hoy-hoy) lava: ropes , fast

pahoehoe.mov

Introduction
Extrusive igneous rocks include lava flows and deposits of pyroclastic
debris.
Chunks of lava freeze and
hit the ground.
Fine spray of lava freezes
to form ash.
This can billow upward and
drift down as ash fall.
Also it can flow down the
side of the volcano as an
ash flow (nueé ardente).
Pyroclastic debris can be
remobilized into a
volcaniclastic debris flow.
If ash, it can become a mud
flow or lahar.
 St. Pierre, Martinique. Mt. Peleé.
May 8th, 1902: Nueé Ardente (glowing cloud) erupted.
Temperature ~700 ˚C and the cloud was comprised of ash and
pyroclastics (volcanic rocks fragmented by explosion)
on a cushion of air.

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St. Pierre was incinerated, 28,000 people killed, 2 survivors.

Formation of Magma
Decompression melting: P decreases, T remains constant.

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 Formation of Magma
Decompression melting: P decreases, T remains constant.
Mantle plume

Geologic environments where

decompression melting occurs

Continental rift

Mid-ocean ridge 11

Formation of Magma
Addition of volatiles (H2O and CO2) – flux melting.

Help break bonds so the material

melts at a lower temperature.
 Formation of Magma
Heat transfer.
Sometimes called heat transfer melting , or
more commonly assimilation .

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Formation of Magma
Mixtures of Minerals can have a melting point that is
lower than those of the pure phases.

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 What is Magma Made of?
Primarily Si and O.
Also Al, Ca, Ti, Mg, Fe, Na, and K.
Dry magmas = no volatiles (<1%).
Wet magmas = ≤15% volatiles (N2, H2, SO2, H2O, CO2,
etc.).

Different amounts of elements = different magma types.

Compositions reported as weight % oxide :
SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, etc.
Chemicals present can dictate minerals that form. Main
magma types reflect the proportion of silica (SiO2).
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What is Magma Made of?

Felsic Intermediate Mafic

Rhyolite Diorite Gabbro

Felsic Magma: 66-76% SiO2. feldspar and quartz. Sometimes called silicic ;
Intermediate Magma: 52-66% SiO2.
Mafic Magma: 45-52% SiO2 - ma = magnesian, fic = iron (ferric).
Ultramafic Magma: 38-45% SiO2.
% = weight % - the proportion of the magma’s weight that consists of silica
Magma = clusters of short Si-O chains that move around.
More SiO2: longer the chains and the greater the viscosity.
lower melting temperature (650-800˚C = felsic; ≤1,300˚C = ultramafic.
Greater viscosity = more SiO2 and lower temperature. 16
 What Controls Magma Composition?
Source Rock Composition
Generally, the composition of the melt reflects the source from
which it came.

Partial Melting
Higher the degree of partial melting,
the more the melt resembles the
source rock composition.

Generally, the melt is more

silicic than the source:
Basalt (mafic) is a partial
melt of Mantle Peridotite
(ultramafic). 17

What Controls Magma Composition?

Assimilation
This commonly occurs after a magma
has formed and migrated.
May selectively melt out minerals of
lower melting point or if the
temperature differential is high, total
melt the wallrock of a magma chamber
or conduit.
STOPING

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 NORMAN BOWEN (1887-1956)
Studied crystallization of a mafic magma in the lab – The Father
of Experimental Petrology.
He proposed that a granitic composition magma can be
derived from a basaltic magma by fractional crystallization.
The crystals that form from
Fractional Crystallization: the altered melt are felsic.
Crystals are isolated from
magma they formed from,
so the magma composition
evolves (crystal settling).
Bowen: evolving magma
becomes more felsic (but
less volume).
Difficult to go to completion
and cannot account for the
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abundance of granite.

Bowens Reaction Series

Discontinuous Series – mineral phase Continuous Series – solid solution
changes. Silica polymerization is series (mineral phase continuously
progressive down the series olivine to changes composition – plagioclase
biotite = increase in Si from single starts off Ca-rich and ends up Na-
tetrahedra, to chains to double chains to rich).
sheets.
 Bowens Reaction Series
How far Bowen s Reaction Series proceeds
depends upon the initial magma composition:

Very Mafic – stops at the top (olivine, pyroxene, Ca-

plagioclase). Generally Dark Color.
Intermediate – stops lower down (pyroxene,
amphibole, Ca,Na-plagioclase ±
biotite). Intermediate Color.
Felsic – biotite, K-feldspar, Na-plagioclase,
muscovite, quartz. Light Color.
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Changing a Magma Composition

Fractional
crystallization

Via crystal settling.

 Changing a Magma Composition
Mixing of two compositionally distinct magmas:

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Magma Rise
Magma is less dense than
rock.
Magma is hotter and
molecules are farther apart.
Contains dissolved gas under
pressure - gas exsolves at
lower pressures. Magma
contains bubbles so density
is lower still.

Pressure of overlying rock squeezes the magma out.

Rate of rise depends on viscosity.
Viscosity dependent upon temperature, volatile content, and silica
content: hotter mafic lavas are less viscous than cool silicic lavas.
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 Extrusive Igneous Settings
Fluid lava flow eruptions or
explosive ash flow/fall eruptions
depend upon silica and volatile
content.
Fluid eruption = lava flows =
mafic (basaltic) & volatile poor.
Eruptions through shield
volcanoes, fissures.
Spatter1.mov

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LavaFlowCreation.mov

Extrusive Igneous Settings

Explosive eruption =
ash flow/fall = silicic
and volatile rich.

St_Helen.mov
 Intrusive Igneous Settings
Intrude older rocks
(generically known as
countyrock – can be
igneous, sedimentary,
or metamorphic) and
bake them = contact
metamorphism.
Intrusion also has a
chilled margin.
Stoping (fracturing and assimilation)
Intrusion creates space by:
Shouldering (pushing)

Intrusive Rocks
Intrusive rocks recognized by:
Coarse grain size, interlocking
crystals, typically lacking a
fabric (oriented texture).
Baked contacts (country rock)
and chill zone (finer grain size)
at the edges of the intrusion.
Inclusions of country rock =
xenoliths .
They cross-cut features in the
country rock.
Veins protrude outward into country rock.

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 Intrusion Types
CYLINDRICAL: Volcanic neck – removal of more
easily weathered volcano leaves more resistant intrusion.
LENTICULAR: Laccolith, < 2 Km, concordant.
IRREGULAR:
Stock: outcrop < 100 km2
Batholith: outcrop > 100 km2
Both are deep.
Intrusive rocks currently exposed at the surface were
intruded at depth (i.e., in the roots of mountains, which
were eroded). Larger intrusions (laccolith, stock, 29
batholith) = have the generic term “Plutons”.

Ship Rock, New Mexico

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 Batholith +
Lacolith

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Batholiths and Volcanoes

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 Intrusion Types
TABULAR: typically shallow, < 2 km.
Discordant = dike; Concordant = sill

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Dikes

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 Sills

How to distinguish
a sill from a flow:
•  baked contacts above and below;
•  vesicles (gas bubbles) in flow often filled in
with flows;
•  smaller dikes present above sill and emanating
from it intruding the overlying countryrock. 35

Intrusion Formation

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 Controls on Cooling Rate
Extrusive = fast = small grain size;
Intrusive = slow = larger grain size.
Three factors control cooling rate:
Depth of intrusion;
Size and shape of intrusion;
Presence of circulating groundwater.
Textures also related to cooling rate:
Glassy = fast cooling. Conchoidal fracture.
Interlocking texture = slower cooling = crystalline igneous rocks.
Phaneritic = coarse grained - crystals seen with naked eye;
Aphanitic = fine grained - need hand lens/microscope.
Porphyritic = two cooling regimes - slow then fast.
Fragmental = fragmental - welded/cemented volcanic fragments.
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Controls on Cooling Rate

Pegmatite: very coarse grained, but crystallized from a water-
rich magma. Doesn t quite fit in the cooling rate-grain size
scheme.

PEGMATIT.MOV 38
 Describing Igneous Rocks

Crystalline
texture

Fragmental texture

Glassy
texture

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Describing Igneous Rocks

Crystalline Texture: Aphanitic vs. Phaneritic
Aphanitic – fast
cooling

Phaneritic – slow
cooling

Porphyritic – slow & fast cooling

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 Glassy Textures
Obsidian: felsic glass. Pumice: glassy, felsic, with abundant
pores or bubbles (vesicles). Floats on
water.

Scoria: glassy, mafic rock with >30%

vesicles. Bubbles are bigger than in pumice.
Tachylite: mafic, bubble-free mass >80%
glass. Rare compared to obsidian. 41

Crystalline Igneous Rock Classification

Light

Dark
Crystalline Igneous Rock Classification
Aphanitic texture Phaneritic texture

Felsic composition

Intermediate composition

Mafic composition

Fragmental Rocks
Pyroclastic or Volcaniclastic Rocks.

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 Pyroclastic Fragmental Textures
Dust/ash = finest.
Cinders = sand grains.
Bombs/blocks = largest. Bomb =
ejected as lava and streamlined
in air as it cools.
Tuffs = rock composed of fine-
grained pyroclastic particles. Can
Tuff be cemented or welded. Air fall
tuff or water lain.
Hyaloclastite = Lava erupts under
water/ice and shatters. Fragments
become cemented/welded.
Volcanic Breccia = rock composed of larger pyroclastic 45
materials

Tuff

Volcanic Breccia
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 Plate Tectonics and Igneous Rocks

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Igneous Rocks and Plate Tectonics

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 Plate Tectonics &
Igneous Rocks

Divergent Plate Margins –

lithosphere and asthenosphere;
pressure-release, almost all
mafic magmatism.

Pillow Basalts
Convergent Plate Margins: more
intermediate and felsic
magmatism, especially if
volcanoes are built on continents.
Plate Tectonics &
Igneous Rocks 51

Origin of Andesite: subduction zone generates ultramafic/mafic

magmas through dewatering , which evolve to andesite through
differentiation, assimilation and magma-mixing.

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 Origin of Granite: magmatic underplating.

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FISSURE ERUPTIONS
Flood lavas from long fissures.
Very hot mafic lavas = flood basalts, which form
plateaus (e.g., Columbia Plateau – Oregon and
Idaho; Deccan Traps, India).
Can form on land (continental flood basalts) or
in the sea (oceanic plateaus). For example,
Ontong Java Plateau, SW Pacific; Iceland.
Environmental Effects.
Often flows have columnar jointing upon cooling
(relatively slow cooling in thick lava flows (e.g.,
Giants Causeway, Ireland; Fingles Cave, Scotland).
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 Plate Tectonics & Igneous Rocks

Intraplate: Hawaii,
Yellowstone, LIPs
– mantle plume
activity.

YSfoot.mov

Large Igneous Provinces

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Flood Basalt Flows

Lava
Tube
Columnar Jointing

59

Giants
Causeway,
Co. Antrim,
Ireland
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 Hot Spot Tracks

HAWAII.MOV

hotspot.MOV

Summary
Introduction: Volcano, Magma, Lava, Lava Flow, Lava Fountain, Igneous Rock.
Basalt Flows: A s, Pahoehoe.
Heat Sources: Accretion, Gravity, Gravitational Pull, Radioactive Decay, Core Formation.
Igneous Rocks: Intrusive, Extrusive.
Extrusive: Pyroclastic Debris, Ash, Ash Fall, Ash Flow (Nueé Ardente), Volcanic Debris
Flow, Lahar.
Formation of Magma: Decompression, Volatile Addition, Heat Transfer, Mixing of Minerals.
What is a Magma Made of? Felsic, Intermediate, Mafic, Ultramafic.
What Controls Magma Composition? Source Rock Composition, Partial Melting,
Assimilation, Fractional Crystallization (Bowen’s Reaction Series), Magma
Mixing.
Magma Rise: Heat, Less Dense, Vesicles, Pressure of Overlying Rocks, Viscosity.
Extrusive Igneous Settings: Mafic and Felsic volcanoes.
Intrusive Igneous Settings: Stoping and Shouldering, Country Rock, Chilled Margin, Baked
Zone, Xenoliths.
Intrusion Types: Cylindrical, Lenticular, Irregular, Tabular (Dike and Sill)
Controls on Cooling Rate: Depth of Intrusion, Size of Intrusion, Presence of Circulating
Groundwater.
Plate Tectonics and Igneous Rocks: Divergent Margins (Pillow Basalts), Convergent
Margins, LIPs, Hotspots.
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