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The Arabian-Nubian Shield on the western edge of Arabia. The Antarctic Shield. In Asia, an area in China and North Korea is sometimes referred to as the China-Korean Shield. The Angaran Shield, as it is sometimes called, is bounded by the Yenisey River on the west, the Lena River on the east, the Arctic Ocean on the north, and Lake Baikal on ...
The average density of basalt is 2.9 g/cm 3, compared, for example, to granite’s typical density of 2.7 g/cm 3. [16] The viscosity of basaltic magma is relatively low—around 10 4 to 10 5 cP—similar to the viscosity of ketchup, but that is still several orders of magnitude higher than the viscosity of water, which is about 1 cP). [17]
The Canadian Shield (French: Bouclier canadien [buklje kanadjɛ̃]), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the ancient geologic core of the North American continent.
Granite (/ ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t / GRAN-it) is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous ...
The continental plates consist of lower density material such as the igneous rocks granite and andesite. Less common is basalt, a denser volcanic rock that is the primary constituent of the ocean floors. [23] Sedimentary rock is formed from the accumulation of sediment that becomes compacted together.
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 ...
Oceanic: 5 – 10 km (3 – 6 mi) thick [4] and composed primarily of denser, more mafic rocks, such as basalt, diabase, and gabbro. The average thickness of the crust is about 15 – 20 km (9 – 12 mi). [5] Because both the continental and oceanic crust are less dense than the mantle below, both types of crust "float" on the mantle.
QAPF diagram with basalt/andesite field highlighted in yellow. Andesite is distinguished from basalt by SiO 2 > 52%. Andesite is field O2 in the TAS classification.. Andesite is an aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (coarse-grained) igneous rock that is intermediate in its content of silica and low in alkali metals.