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In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz. [1] It is contrasted with mafic rocks, which are richer in magnesium and iron. Felsic refers to silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium ...
Felsic magmas are thought to form by addition of heat or water vapor to rock of the lower crust, rather than by decompression of mantle rock, as is the case with basaltic magmas. [19] It has also been suggested that some granites found at convergent boundaries between tectonic plates , where oceanic crust subducts below continental crust, were ...
Intermediate composition magma, such as andesite, tends to form cinder cones of intermingled ash, tuff and lava, and may have a viscosity similar to thick, cold molasses or even rubber when erupted. Felsic magma, such as rhyolite, is usually erupted at low temperature and is up to 10,000 times as viscous as basalt. Volcanoes with rhyolitic ...
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 planets and some natural satellites. [3] Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles.
The oldest felsic rocks that are currently exposed intruded pre-existing, even older, mafic crustal rock and crystallized well beneath the Earth's surface. Later, these rocks were thermally metamorphosed, intruded by additional felsic magma, and partially melted during Eoarchean thermal events occurred about 3.85 to 3.72 Ga and 3.66 to 3.59 Ga.
The calc-alkaline magma series is one of two main subdivisions of the subalkaline magma series, the other subalkaline magma series being the tholeiitic series. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma, which is high in magnesium and iron and produces basalt or gabbro, as it fractionally crystallizes to become a felsic magma, which is low in ...
The lighter felsic magma floats on the mafic magma without significant mixing. [46] Less commonly, felsic magmas are produced by extreme fractional crystallization of more mafic magmas. [47] This is a process in which mafic minerals crystallize out of the slowly cooling magma, which enriches the remaining liquid in silica. If the erupted magma ...
Rhyolite (/ ˈraɪ.əlaɪt / RY-ə-lyte) [1][2][3][4] is the most silica -rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral assemblage is predominantly quartz, sanidine, and plagioclase.