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Fractional crystallization is the removal and segregation from a melt of mineral precipitates; except in special cases, removal of the crystals changes the composition of the magma. [2] In essence, fractional crystallization is the removal of early formed crystals from an originally homogeneous magma (for example, by gravity settling) so that ...
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 known as a magma series.
Bowen's reaction series is important for understanding the idealised sequence of fractional crystallisation of a magma. [89] Magma composition can be determined by processes other than partial melting and fractional crystallization. For instance, magmas commonly interact with rocks they intrude, both by melting those rocks and by reacting with ...
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.
In planetary science, planetary differentiation is the process by which the chemical elements of a planetary body accumulate in different areas of that body, due to their physical or chemical behavior (e.g. density and chemical affinities). The process of planetary differentiation is mediated by partial melting with heat from radioactive ...
Magmatism along strike-slip faults is the process of rock melting, magma ascent and emplacement, associated with the tectonics and geometry of various strike-slip settings, most commonly occurring along transform boundaries at mid-ocean ridge spreading centres [1] and at strike-slip systems parallel to oblique subduction zones. [2]
This is because most magma from which igneous rock solidifies is produced by partial melting of a mixture of different minerals. [4] At first the mixed melt slowly cools deep in the crust. The magma begins crystallizing, the highest melting point minerals closest to the overall composition first, in a process called fractional crystallization.
Schematic diagrams showing the principles behind fractional crystallisation in a magma. While cooling, the magma evolves in composition because different minerals crystallize from the melt. 1: olivine crystallizes; 2: olivine and pyroxene crystallize; 3: pyroxene and plagioclase crystallize; 4: plagioclase crystallizes. At the bottom of the ...