Questions tagged [igneous]

concerning rocks and processes relating to the cooling and solidification of magma, typically involving temperatures above approximately 800 degrees Celsius for at least some of the rock's history

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Hexagonal phenocrysts with a metallic luster?

I recently realized that I am surrounded by interesting rocks. Having no background in geology nor geologist friends, I rely on online resources to navigate the intriguing stuff I stumble across. But ...
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Geology of the San Gabriel mountains in the Angeles national forest - rock types

I'm not a geologist, I am a hiker. And after many hikes in California's Sierra Nevada and Utah's red country I figured it would be great to learn some geology and I'm just posting this question to see ...
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Are these igneous Liesegang rings on a popular Oahu, Hawaii hike?

I hiked the Lanikai Pillbox trail (Oahu, HI). I noticed eroded concentric rings in the igneous rock with a hard center. I'm unable to find the geologic cause of these rings. Are they Liesegang rings? ...
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Feldspar content of coarse-grained igneous rocks

From the chart, I would say that plagioclase feldspar is more abundant in coarse-grained igneous rocks than alkali feldspar, as it is found in all three listed, whereas alkali feldspar is only present ...
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Coarse grains in a sample of Rhyolite suggest that it formed by

Coarse grains in a sample of Rhyolite suggest that it formed by …… A-rapid cooling of molten rock materials at the Earth’s surface. B-slow cooling of molten rock materials at the Earth’s surface. C-...
Kiroloes Amir's user avatar
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Why aren't there ultra acid igneous rocks?

In my study, I found that in volcanoes when the magma is going up it formed different types of rocks. There are basic, acidic and ultrabasic. My question is why isn't there ultra acid igneous rocks ...
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What is the difference between mobile & molten rock?

In the book Fundamentals of Geomorphology (Routledge Fundamentals of Physical Geography) by Richard John Huggett there is a sentence " Intruded rocks, which must be mobile but not necessarily molten,...
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Curious natural patterns on the surface of basalt blocks that make up the sidewalk

During one of my walks through the city streets, I noticed that some basalt blocks that make up the sidewalk have in their surface some very curious natural patterns: The photos above was taken at ...
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Large Igneous Provinces are like Lunar Mare?

Would Large Igneous Provinces like the Deccan Traps have looked like ancient lunar Mare from space? Glowing lava oceans shinning in the night? Are these two things similar in nature? Would smoke from ...
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Are the cores of every mountain range igneous?

Every volcano is a mountain, but not every mountain is a volcano. Still, it strikes me that--at least for the mountain ranges I can think of in this moment--they all seem to have igneous cores. Is ...
Doug Peltz's user avatar
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Fissure eruption

Can fissure eruptions dislocate/deform ( fault, rotate, bend, folding) the surrounding strata which fissure ascending into. Or, can a laccolith reach to the surface (and flow) after folding the ...
Muharrem Yavuz's user avatar
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Is it possible to know what was the flow direction in a pegmatite dike?

The following picture (Painted wall cliff in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, USA) shows a pegmatite dike: is it possible to tell what was the flow direction? From thin (see ...
Alessandro Jacopson's user avatar
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Possible cavern?

In eastern Ontario, Canada, there's a place where, when walking and stomping, you can hear a hollowness in the ground. The area is primarily igneous rock with many large boulders, and the spot in ...
Chimera.Zen's user avatar
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Molten salt seas on the future Earth

As the sun gets brighter, the oceans are expected to evaporate by the next billion years or so (the vapor slowly gets stripped off into space). The salt, which is less dense than most rocks, will be ...
Kevin Kostlan's user avatar
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What determines the scale of columnar jointing?

What physical parameters determine the scale of columnar jointing? What makes the columns thinner or thicker? What makes them taller or shorter? What causes the variation in a given site? What ...
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Why don't pyroxenites and peridotites appear in Streckeisen's QAPF diagram?

Wikipedia says for QAPF diagrams: "A QAPF diagram is a double ternary diagram which is used to classify igneous rocks based on mineralogic composition." Why don't pyroxenites and peridotites ...
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What is lava called if it has 56% to 64% silica?

We've learnt in science at school that "Mafic" lava forms rocks with 45% to 55% silica, meanwhile "Felsic" lava forms rocks with >=65% silica. So what is lava called in between? Or is it impossible ...
PolymorphismPrince's user avatar
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The magnetite is in which type of magma

In which type of magma can I find magnetite? Peraluminous or peralkaline? I've been looking and the peraluminous magma have a lot of oxides so I thought it would be reduced magma so it would have ...
Nicolas Cordoba's user avatar
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Is it possible to estimate the size of a meteorite from its remains?

I live near this ophiolite (Sasso di San Zanobi, Firenzuola) and they used to say it is a meteorite. There is no evidence of a crater but let's pretend it is the remain of a meteorite: how big would ...
Alessandro Jacopson's user avatar
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What is meant by intraplate volcanism?

I am having massive confusion on whether intraplate volcanism refers to volcanism occurring at plate boundaries or away from plate boundaries (such as formation of ocean island basalts), or perhaps ...
Faraz Gerrard Jamal's user avatar
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How can I tell the difference between granite and syenite?

(I'm not a geologist, just helping my kids collect rocks).
Lars Nygaard's user avatar
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What is the difference between N-MORB, E-MORB and OIB?

What are the differences between N-MORB, E-MORB and OIB with regards to: Tectonic setting Geochemical features There are several types of basalts, but I can't find a clearly explained article.
Artem Bich's user avatar
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Effect of reducing conditions on melting point

I've been reading a paper(*) looking at the deep carbon cycle and it mentions a key process that the authors refer to as "redox melting". According to the paper, reducing conditions increase the ...
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Where are the oldest igneous rocks found?

I'm trying to catch up on my homework for earth science, but I'm having a difficult time searching for an answer to my question.
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Water and explosive volcanoes in the Pacific ring of fire

Most volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire have an explosive nature. This is due to high concentrations of water in their magma. Obviously, this magma comes from several kilometres below the earth's ...
Katherine's user avatar
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Are fossil fuels really formed from fossils?

Hydrocarbons have been found in great abundance elsewhere in the solar system where there is unlikely to be evidence for life past or present. No fossils involved. Petroleum and natural gas wells ...
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How did the terms "acidic" and "basic" come to be associated with $SiO_2$ in igneous rocks?

Students of geology are introduced to in their petrology course, (or used to be), to the terms "acidic", "basic", and the associated term "intermediate" in relation to %$SiО­­­_{2}$ in igneous rocks, ...
My Other Head's user avatar
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Can the atmosphere affect the composition of igneous rocks?

Recently I was reading 'How to build a habitable planet' by Langmuir and Broecker and in chapter 15 they speak about how Life has led to a difference in oxidation potential in the atmosphere, ...
user1150512's user avatar
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1 answer
467 views

Why does the loss of water from a felsic magma encourage crystallisation?

Felsic magmas crystallise in the crust, unlike mafic magmas which tend to make it to the Earth's surface, for the following reasons: They are more viscous than mafic magmas and therefore it is ...
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Is a controlled fractional crystallization process feasible on the Moon?

I am looking for a way to separate metal oxides on the Moon. Please bear with me - it's for an ultra-hard science fiction project. Processes typical on Earth are not effective there. Heat is cheap on ...
kim holder's user avatar
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What processes cause basalt to form a columnar structure? [duplicate]

I have run across many pictures of rocks that look like almost perfectly carved columns. For example: the Twyfelfontein Organ Pipes, the Basaltic Prisms of Santa Maria Regla, and the waterfall ...
Kristina L's user avatar
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1 answer
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are laccolith, lobolith, dikes and sills formed of porphyritic texture?

Laccolith, lobolith and batholith are shapes of igneous rocks which exist below the surface of the earth, dikes and sills too. And the way they formed by makes me think that they have a porphyritic ...
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What does "rapid" mean in terms of igneous rock formation?

Specifically, what time period would it take for obsidian as opposed to basalt, to form? (I need to know how much faster obsidian cools than basalt.)
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What is solidus and liquidus temperature of granite?

My understanding is that because a rock is composed of variety of minerals, so it does not have fix melting point, rather there is a range below which whole rock is solid and above which whole rock is ...
Ather Cheema's user avatar
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Is porphyritic texture always indicative of a 2 stage cooling process?

Is porphyritic texture always indicative of a 2 stage cooling process? Can't the phenocrysts and groundmass be formed at the same time depending upon the chemical constituents forming the rock? The ...
Demantoid's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
191 views

Basalt vs. columnar basalt

I recently visited a cliff on the south coast of Ulva in the Inner Hebrides where there are ~10m thick flows of columnar basalt. The columnar basalt forming most of the cliff is sandwiched between ...
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Do discordants dykes ever travel concordantly (are transgressive dykes a thing)?

Transgressive sills "jump" between bedding planes, following joints: ...
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16 votes
3 answers
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What processes produced the basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway?

The Giant's Causeway is, according to the Wikipedia page was formed during during the Paleogene Period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded ...
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14 votes
3 answers
568 views

What, if any, paleoclimate data can be derived from igneous rocks?

Paleoclimate data often derives from sedimentary rocks. Metamorphic rocks can also contribute to paleoclimate information in a wide variety of ways. What about igneous rocks? I guess that this can ...
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Is there such a thing as a "basalt dike"?

I've always understood that basalt is an extrusive rock (formed by eruption), and dikes are intrusions (no eruption), so I would have thought that a dike could not be composed of basalt rock. It's ...
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33 votes
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Why do felsic materials have lower melting points than mafic?

It is clear from Bowen's reaction series that more felsic minerals have lower melting points than mafic minerals. As far as I know, the same is true of quenched glasses. Felsics have a higher degree ...
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