L7: Igneous Rocks Flashcards
Define rock
A cohesive aggregate on one or more minerals, which are held firmly together in a solid mass
Intrusive
- Underground; has time to form big crystals
- Magma cools very slowly bc its covered by insulated rocks
Extrusive
- Cools above ground
- Does not have time to form crystals
In what 2 ways can rocks form?
- texture/crystal structure
2. Composition
Phenocryst
Crystals have enough time to form and grow into large grains (aka plutonic or intrusive)
Igneous = __________, sedimentary = ___________
I: Crystals
S: Grains
How are igneous rocks formed?
- Through the crystallization of a cooling magma
- Classified according to texture (intrusive, extrusive)
Define dikes
- Cut across layers of country rock
- Cross-cut the bedding
- Formed when magma forces its way through open fractures
Define sills
- Run parallel to country rocks
- Think of 2 L’s being parallel to one another
- Tubular, sheetlike body formed
- Injection of magma between parallel layers of pre-existing sedimentary rock
Define veins
- Deposits of minerals found within a rock fracture
- Big crystals
Define country rock.
Any rock into which the sill/dike has gone into
Examples of pyroclasts
- Volcanic ash
- Volcanic bomb
- Pumice
Examples of mafic rocks
- Basalt
- Gabbro
- Both differ in crystal size
Examples of felsic rocks
Rhyolite: extrusive
Granite: intrusive
What are batholiths?
- The largest forms of plutons
- They’re intrusive rocks that take on enormous sizes often exceeding thousands of km
Define lava
- Magma that flows quickly to the Earth’s surface still partially or wholly molten
- Cools quickly therefore there is less time for crystallization to take place
- Very fine grained
- Only a glass may be formed due to quick cooling
Volcanic/extrusive rock
Given to an igneous rock formed close to, or at, the Earth’s surface
What is a pyroclast?
- Any volcanic rock ejected into the air
- Viscous, siliceous rhyolitic and andesitic lavas; typically trap more gas