1: Rocks Flashcards
What is a rock?
an aggregate of minerals and/or a mass of glass
How are igneous rocks formed?
formed by the soldification (cooling) of molten rock material (magma)
Igneous rocks environments of formation?
- Underground (intrusive/plutonic)
- Surface (extrusive/volcanic)
The texture of an igneous rock depends on the…
Cooling rate.
Slow cooling – Granite (coarse-grained) -> Rhyolite (fine-grained) -> Obsidian (glassy) – Fast cooling
To see if the igneous rock was above ground or under ground you look at the…
Grain size.
Extrusive (volcanic) Igneous Rocks
Basalt, Andesite, Rhyolite
Basalt
- Extrusive Igneous
- All over the solar system
- Air pockets - when this was magma there were bubbles floating around in it
Andesite
- Extrusive Igneous
- Not that common
- Finer grain texture
- Composition wise it is the same stuff as Diroite
Intrusive (plutonic) Igneous Rocks
Peridotite, Gabbro, Diorite, Granite
Peridotite
- Most abundant rock under the planet
- Make salt by melting peridotite a little bin the the mantel
- Made up of olivine
Gabbro
- Made up of pyraxene and other white minerals
- Pretty common rock
Diorite
- Amphabole
- Not that common
Granite
One of the most common rock in the continental crust
Igneous intrusions
Dikes, Plutons, Batholiths
Dikes
Tabular intrusions that cut across structures in adjacent rocks
Plutons
Irregular or blob-shaped intrusions ranging from tens of meters to tens of kilometers across
Batholiths
Vast areas intruded by numerous plutons
Why are intrusive rocks now exposed at the surface?
- Crust is being eroded away on the mountain chain
- Uplift is bring up the pluton
Sedimentary rocks are what percent of rocks at Earth’s surface?
75%
How are most sedimentary rocks are composited
They are mostly stratifed (layered)
Two types of sedimentary rocks
Detrital (clastic) and Chemical
How are Detrital (clastic) sedimentary rocks formed?
formed from fragments of pre-existing rocks
How are Chemical sedimentary rocks formed?
formed from minerals precipitated from water
Mud grain size/rock(s)?
- Feels smooth on teeth
- Mudstone
- Shale - if splits along thin layers