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Basalt (UK: / ˈ b æ s ɒ l t,-ɔː l t,-əl t /; [1] [2] US: / b ə ˈ s ɔː l t, ˈ b eɪ s ɔː l t /) [3] is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon.
Magmatism is the emplacement of magma within and at the surface of the outer layers of a terrestrial planet, which solidifies as igneous rocks. It does so through magmatic activity or igneous activity, the production, intrusion and extrusion of magma or lava. Volcanism is the surface expression of magmatism.
This has been interpreted as fresh magma injected into the magma chamber that may have helped trigger the eruption. [ 11 ] Eruption of basanite and other alkaline magmas characterizes the late alkaline phase (rejuvenation phase) [ 12 ] of volcanic islands, which often comes 3 to 5 million years after the main shield -building phase.
During eruption, dissolved gasses exsolve and begin to rise out of the magma as gas bubbles. [7] If the magma is rising slowly enough, these bubbles will have time to rise and escape, leaving a less buoyant magma behind that fluidly flows out. Effusive basalt lava flows cool to either of two forms, ʻaʻā or pāhoehoe. [8]
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. Alternatively, if the magma is erupted it forms volcanic rocks such as basalt , andesite and rhyolite (the extrusive equivalents of gabbro, diorite and granite ...
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 ...
Basaltic magma is the most abundant in iron, magnesium, and calcium but the lowest in silica, potassium, and sodium. [1], [3] The composition of silica within basaltic magma ranges from 45-55 weight percent (wt.%), or mass fraction of a species. [1] It forms in temperatures ranging from approximately 1830 °F to 2200 °F.
Although some connections among these basalts had long been recognized, in 1988 they were linked as constituting a single major flood basalt province. [4] The basaltic sills of similar age (near 200 Ma, or earliest Jurassic) and composition (intermediate-Ti quartz tholeiite) which occur across the vast Amazon River basin of Brazil were linked to the province in 1999. [5]