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Partial melting is the phenomenon that occurs when a rock is subjected to temperatures high enough to cause certain minerals to melt, but not all of them. Partial melting is an important part of the formation of all igneous rocks and some metamorphic rocks (e.g., migmatites), as evidenced by a multitude of geochemical, geophysical and petrological studies.
Anatexis. Anatexis (via Latin from Greek roots meaning "to melt down") is the partial melting of rocks. [1] Traditionally, anatexis is used specifically to discuss the partial melting of crustal rocks, while the generic term "partial melting" refers to the partial melting of all rocks, in both the crust and mantle. [citation needed]
Igneous differentiation. In geology, igneous differentiation, or magmatic differentiation, is an umbrella term for the various processes by which magmas undergo bulk chemical change during the partial melting process, cooling, emplacement, or eruption. The sequence of (usually increasingly silicic) magmas produced by igneous differentiation is ...
Oceanic magmas likely result from partial melting of 3% to 15% of the source rock. [81] Some calk-alkaline granitoids may be produced by a high degree of partial melting, as much as 15% to 30%. [82] High-magnesium magmas, such as komatiite and picrite, may also be the products of a high degree of partial melting of mantle rock. [83]
Igneous rock (igneous from Latin igneus 'fiery'), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. 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.
The role of partial melting is demanded by experimental and field evidence. Rocks begin to partially melt when they reach a combination of sufficiently high temperatures (> 650 °C) and pressures (>34MPa). Some rocks have compositions that produce more melt than others at a given temperature, a rock property called fertility.
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. It has less than 20% quartz and 10% feldspathoid by volume, with at least 65% of the feldspar in the rock consisting of plagioclase. This places andesite in the basalt /andesite field of ...
Diorite results from the partial melting of a mafic rock above a subduction zone. It is found in volcanic arcs , and in cordilleran mountain building , such as in the Andes Mountains . However, while its extrusive volcanic equivalent, andesite, is common in these settings, diorite is a minor component of the plutonic rocks, which are mostly ...