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For textural classification, igneous rocks that have crystals large enough to be seen by the naked eye are called phaneritic; those with crystals too small to be seen are called aphanitic. Generally speaking, phaneritic implies an intrusive origin or plutonic, indicating slow cooling; aphanitic are extrusive or volcanic, indicating rapid cooling.
Aphanitic (a = not, phaner = visible) rocks, in contrast to phaneritic rocks, typically form from lava which crystallize rapidly on or near Earth's surface. When extrusive rocks make contact with the atmosphere they cool quickly, so the minerals do not have time to form large crystals. The individual crystals in an aphanitic igneous rock are ...
Large crystals are favored. In normal igneous rocks, coarse texture is a result of slow cooling deep underground. [14] It is not clear if pegmatite forms by slow or rapid cooling. [15] In some studies, crystals in pegmatitic conditions have been recorded to grow at a rate ranging from 1 m to 10 m per day. [16]
The matrix of an igneous rock consists of finer-grained, often microscopic, crystals in which larger crystals, called phenocrysts, are embedded. This porphyritic texture is indicative of multi-stage cooling of magma. For example, porphyritic andesite will have large phenocrysts of plagioclase in a fine-grained matrix.
When igneous rocks contain two distinct grain sizes, the texture is porphyritic, and the finer crystals are called the groundmass. [3] The extrusive rocks scoria and pumice have a vesicular, bubble-like, texture due to the presence of vapor bubbles trapped in the magma.
Cumulate rock – Igneous rocks formed by the accumulation of crystals from a magma either by settling or floating. Flow banding – Bands or layers that can sometimes be seen in rock that formed from magma; Fractional crystallization (chemistry) – Method for refining substances based on differences in their solubility
Felsic magmas and lavas have lower temperatures of melting and solidification than mafic magmas and lavas. Felsic rocks are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3. The most common felsic rock is granite. Common felsic minerals include quartz, muscovite, orthoclase, and the sodium-rich plagioclase feldspars (albite-rich).
Like all types of glass, it is a state of matter intermediate between the closely packed, highly ordered array of a crystal and the highly disordered array of liquid. [1] Volcanic glass may refer to the interstitial material, or matrix, in an aphanitic (fine-grained) volcanic rock, or to any of several types of vitreous igneous rocks.