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Magma (from Ancient Greek μάγμα (mágma) ' thick unguent ') [1] is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. [2] Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as lava) is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial ...
Magmatism is the emplacement of magma within and at the surface of the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks. It does so through magmatic activity or igneous activity, the production, intrusion and extrusion of magma or lava. Volcanism is the surface expression of magmatism.
Lava domes are formed by the extrusion of viscous felsic magma. They can form prominent rounded protuberances, such as at Valles Caldera. As a volcano extrudes silicic lava, it can form an inflation dome or endogenous dome, gradually building up a large, pillow-like structure which cracks, fissures, and may release cooled chunks of rock and rubble.
If the magma is not vented to the surface in a volcanic eruption, it will slowly cool and crystallize at depth to form an intrusive igneous body, one, for example, composed of granite or gabbro (see also pluton). Often, a volcano may have a deep magma chamber many kilometers down, which supplies a shallower chamber near the summit.
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 . Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure , or a change in composition.
In geology, a dike or dyke is a sheet of rock that is formed in a fracture of a pre-existing rock body. Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma flows into a crack then solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through a contiguous mass of rock.
Composite or stratovolcanoes often have andesitic magma and typically form the extrusive rock andesite. Andesitic magma is composed of many gases and melted mantle rocks. [2] Cinder or scoria cones violently expel lava with high gas content, [2] and due to the vapor bubbles in this mafic lava, the extrusive basalt scoria is formed. [6]
Artemis Corona is a large plume formed by the upwelling of mantle derived magma and is on a scale potentially comparable to that in the Archean mantle. [1] Models using its known characteristics showed that continued magmatism from conductive heat through the plume caused gravitational collapse.