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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.
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.
Trachyte – Extrusive igneous rock – A silica-undersaturated volcanic rock; essentially a feldspathoid-bearing rhyolite; Troctolite – Igneous rock – A plutonic ultramafic rock containing olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase; Trondhjemite – Light-colored intrusive igneous rock – A form of tonalite where plagioclase-group feldspar is ...
Metamorphic rocks are formed by subjecting any rock type—sedimentary rock, igneous rock or another older metamorphic rock—to different temperature and pressure conditions than those in which the original rock was formed. This process is called metamorphism, meaning to "change in form". The result is a profound change in physical properties ...
Phaneritic (phaner = visible) textures are typical of intrusive igneous rocks, these rocks crystallized slowly below Earth's surface. As magma cools slowly the minerals have time to grow and form large crystals. The minerals in a phaneritic igneous rock are sufficiently large to see each individual crystal with the naked eye.
The word "slate" is also used for certain types of object made from slate rock. It may mean a single roofing tile made of slate, or a writing slate , which was traditionally a small, smooth piece of the rock, often framed in wood, used with chalk as a notepad or notice board, and especially for recording charges in pubs and inns.
Gneiss, a foliated metamorphic rock. Quartzite, a non-foliated metamorphic rock. Foliation in geology refers to repetitive layering in metamorphic rocks. [1] Each layer can be as thin as a sheet of paper, or over a meter in thickness. [1] The word comes from the Latin folium, meaning "leaf", and refers to the sheet-like planar structure. [1]
These rocks are fine-grained and sometimes cool so rapidly that no crystals can form and result in a natural glass, such as obsidian, however the most common fine-grained rock would be known as basalt. Any of the three main types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks) can melt into magma and cool into igneous rocks. [2]