Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
Also called Indianite. A mineral from the lime-rich end of the plagioclase group of minerals. Anorthites are usually silicates of calcium and aluminium occurring in some basic igneous rocks, typically those produced by the contact metamorphism of impure calcareous sediments. anticline An arched fold in which the layers usually dip away from the fold axis. Contrast syncline. aphanic Having the ...
The individual crystals in an aphanitic igneous rock are not distinguishable to the naked eye. Examples of aphanitic igneous rock include basalt, andesite, and rhyolite. Glassy or vitreous textures occur during some volcanic eruptions when the lava is quenched so rapidly that crystallization cannot occur. The result is a natural amorphous glass ...
Sample of igneous gabbro. Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word igneus, meaning of fire, from ignis meaning fire) [9] is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. This magma may be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting of rocks is caused by one or ...
In igneous and metamorphic rocks, grain size is a measure of the sizes of the crystals in the rock. In igneous rock, this is used to determine the rate at which the material cooled: large crystals typically indicate intrusive igneous rock, while small crystals indicate that the rock was extrusive. [17]
Extrusive rock refers to the mode of igneous volcanic rock formation in which hot magma from inside the Earth flows out (extrudes) onto the surface as lava or explodes violently into the atmosphere to fall back as pyroclastics or tuff. [1] In contrast, intrusive rock refers to rocks formed by magma which cools below the surface. [2]
Peridotite, a type of ultramafic rock. Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are usually composed of greater than 90% mafic minerals (dark colored, high magnesium and iron content).
Igneous rock, with gray groundmass and white phenocrysts marked. Orthoclase phenocrysts within a finer-grained matrix of a granite porphyry. The matrix or groundmass of a rock is the finer-grained mass of material in which larger grains, crystals, or clasts are embedded.