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In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz. [1] It is contrasted with mafic rocks, which are richer in magnesium and iron. Felsic refers to silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium ...
The mafic rocks also typically have a higher density than felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the older basic rock class. [9] Mafic lava, before cooling, has a low viscosity, in comparison with felsic lava, due to the lower silica content in mafic magma. Water and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava.
The pressure and temperature increases induce the partial melting of the delaminated mafic block to generate TTG magma, which rises and intrudes to the crust. In the lower figure, mantle plume rises to the base of the mafic crust and thicken the crust. The partial melting of the mafic crust due to the plume heating generates TTG magma intrusions.
When magma cools it begins to form solid mineral phases. Some of these settle at the bottom of the magma chamber forming cumulates that might form mafic layered intrusions. Magma that cools slowly within a magma chamber usually ends up forming bodies of plutonic rocks such as gabbro, diorite and granite, depending upon the composition of the magma.
Volcanoes with rhyolitic magma commonly erupt explosively, and rhyolitic lava flows are typically of limited extent and have steep margins because the magma is so viscous. [15] Felsic and intermediate magmas that erupt often do so violently, with explosions driven by the release of dissolved gases—typically water vapour, but also carbon dioxide.
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 ...
Large felsic intrusions likely form from melting of lower crust that has been heated by an intrusion of mafic magma from the upper mantle. The different densities of felsic and mafic magma limit mixing, so that the silicic magma floats on the mafic magma.
It is worth reiterating that magma chambers are not usually static single entities. The typical magma chamber is formed from a series of injections of melt and magma, and most are also subject to some form of partial melt extraction. Granite magmas are generally much more viscous than mafic magmas and are usually more homogeneous in composition ...