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In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body[1] or simply intrusion[2]) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and compositions, illustrated by examples like the Palisades Sill of New York and New Jersey; [3] the ...
Igneous rock (igneous from Latin igneus 'fiery'), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet 's mantle or crust.
Intrusive rock. Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form intrusions, such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks. [1][2][3] Intrusion is one of the two ways igneous rock can form. The other is extrusion, such as a volcanic eruption or similar event.
Gabbro (/ ˈɡæbroʊ / GAB-roh) is a phaneritic (coarse-grained and magnesium- and iron-rich), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth 's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is chemically equivalent to rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt.
Mineral assemblage of igneous rocks. Diorite (/ ˈdaɪ.əraɪt / DY-ə-ryte) [1][2] is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silica (mafic) gabbro and high-silica ...
A batholith (from Ancient Greek bathos 'depth' and lithos 'rock') is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than 100 km 2 (40 sq mi) in area, [1] that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types, such as granite, quartz ...
Anorthosite (/ əˈnɔːrθəsaɪt /) is a phaneritic, intrusive igneous rock characterized by its composition: mostly plagioclase feldspar (90–100%), with a minimal mafic component (0–10%). Pyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, and olivine are the mafic minerals most commonly present. Anorthosites are of enormous geologic interest, because it is ...
Igneous textures are used by geologists in determining the mode of origin of igneous rocks and are used in rock classification. The six main types of textures are phaneritic, aphanitic, porphyritic, glassy, pyroclastic, and pegmatitic. Aphanitic (a = not, phaner = visible) rocks, in contrast to phaneritic rocks, typically form from lava which ...