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White veins in dark rock at Imperia, Italy. In geology, a vein is a distinct sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock. Veins form when mineral constituents carried by an aqueous solution within the rock mass are deposited through precipitation. The hydraulic flow involved is usually due to hydrothermal circulation. [1]
A cross section or cross-section, in geology, is a diagram representing the geologic features intersecting a vertical plane, and is used to illustrate an area's structure and stratigraphy that would otherwise be hidden underground. The features described in a cross section can include rock units, faults, topography, and more.
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Cross section diagram of Earth showing some settings for volcanism on the planet For volcanism to occur, the temperature of the mantle must have risen to about half its melting point. At this point, the mantle's viscosity will have dropped to about 10 21 Pascal-seconds .
A volcano needs a reservoir of molten magma (e.g. a magma chamber), a conduit to allow magma to rise through the crust, and a vent to allow the magma to escape above the surface as lava. The erupted volcanic material (lava and tephra) that is deposited around the vent is known as a volcanic edifice, typically a volcanic cone or mountain. [2] [22]
Diagram showing a cross section through Earth at the Hawaii hotspot. Magma originating in the mantle rises into the asthenosphere and lithosphere.A chain of volcanoes is created as the lithosphere moves over the source of magma.
Mars has significant volcanoes. In 2009, a paper was published suggesting a new definition for the word 'volcano' that includes processes such as cryovolcanism. It suggested that a volcano be defined as 'an opening on a planet or moon's surface from which magma, as defined for that body, and/or magmatic gas is erupted.'
In case of volcanic rocks, the lithostratigraphic unit equivalent to a bed is a flow. A flow is “...a discrete, extrusive, volcanic rock body distinguishable by texture, composition, order of superposition, paleomagnetism, or other objective criteria.” A flow is a part of a member as a bed of sedimentary rock is a part of a member. [18] [19]