enow.com Web Search

Search results

  1. Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
  2. Basalt - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basalt

    Basalt (UK: / ˈbæsɔːlt, - əlt /; [1] US: / bəˈsɔːlt, ˈbeɪsɔːlt /) [2] is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low- viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt.

  3. Extrusive rock - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrusive_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]

  4. Rock cycle - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_cycle

    This juvenile basaltic magma is an early phase of the igneous portion of the cycle. As the tectonic plates on either side of the ridge move apart the new rock is carried away from the ridge, the interaction of heated circulating seawater through fractures starts the retrograde metamorphism of the new rock.

  5. Magmatic water - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magmatic_water

    Magmatic water. Magmatic water, also known as juvenile water, is an aqueous phase in equilibrium with minerals that have been dissolved by magma deep within the Earth's crust and is released to the atmosphere during a volcanic eruption. It plays a key role in assessing the crystallization of igneous rocks, particularly silicates, as well as the ...

  6. Magmatism - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magmatism

    Magmatism. Geological map showing the Gangdese batholith, which is a product of magmatic activity about 100 million years ago. 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 ...

  7. Magma - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magma

    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 ...

  8. Mantle plume - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantle_plume

    The narrow vertical conduit, postulated to connect the plume head to the core-mantle boundary, is viewed as providing a continuous supply of magma to a hotspot. As the overlying tectonic plate moves over this hotspot, the eruption of magma from the fixed plume onto the surface is expected to form a chain of volcanoes that parallels plate motion ...

  9. Earth's crustal evolution - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_crustal_evolution

    Earth's crustal evolution involves the formation, destruction and renewal of the rocky outer shell at that planet 's surface. The variation in composition within the Earth's crust is much greater than that of other terrestrial planets. Mars, Venus, Mercury and other planetary bodies have relatively quasi-uniform crusts unlike that of the Earth ...