Escolar Documentos
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Cultura Documentos
Geology
Third Draft
December 2006
CHAPTER
5 Igneous Environments
MOLTEN ROCK MAY ERUPT onto Earths surface at a volcano, or it may solidify underground. Igneous
rocks form some very distinctive landscapes, such as huge gray mountains, precipitous volcanic buttes,
and menacing cone-shaped volcanoes. How does molten rock form, move, and solidify, and what types of
landscapes and other features does it produce?
An unusual circular depression crowns the top of the Jemez Mountains
near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This feature formed when the roof of a
huge underground magma chamber collapsed and hot, suffocating volcanic ash spread across the surrounding landscape. The circular depression is
called the Valles Caldera and is outlined by a dashed line below. s domeshaped hills composed of solidied volcanic lava. This photograph ()
shows part of the depression, including the curved outer wall to the right.
How do igneous features such as calderas
form, and how do we recognize them in
the landscape?
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
5.8
5.9
5.10
5.11
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.12
5.6
5.13
5.7
5.14
The Harding Pegmatite Mine east of the Rio Grande has large igneous crystals (),
some as long as 2 meters (about 6 feet). Compare the size of the light-purple crystals with the rock hammer in the photograph below. These unusual rocks must have
formed in a very different igneous environment than the volcanic rocks to the west.
What factors control whether crystals in igneous rocks are microscopic or meters long?
5.0
he Valles Caldera of the Jemez Mountains is one of the most studied volcanic features in the world. It was
here that geologists rst gured out how
the collapse of calderas is related to explosive eruptions of volcanic ash. The caldera
has since been explored using deep drill
holes to study its subsurface geometry,
investigate the potential for geothermal
energy, and better understand these large
calderas.
At 1.2 million years ago, a huge volume
of magma rose from deep in the crust and
accumulated in a magma chamber several kilometers below the surface. Some
of the magma erupted explosively, forming a turbulent cloud of pumice, volcanic
ash, rock fragments, and hot, toxic gases
that raced outward at speeds that likely
exceeded hundreds of kilometers per
hour. As magma escaped from the underground chamber, the roof of the chamber
collapsed downward forming the roughly
circular depression visible today. After
the main explosive eruption, smaller volumes of magma reached the surface as viscous lava that piled up into dome-shaped
mounds within the caldera.
The volcanic ash erupted from the caldera blanketed most of the mountains and
became compacted by the weight of additional ash. Streams later eroded steep canyons within which the ancient puebloan
peoples of the Southwest, built cliff dwellings and other structures preserved within
Bandelier National Monument.
5.1
Some volcanic rocks contain angular fragments in a ner matrix, and are called a
volcanic breccia.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
5.1
5.2
Finely Crystalline
or Glassy
Coarsely Crystalline
Geologists typically organize igneous rocks according to two criteria. One criterion is the size of crystals in
the rock. The top row of images below includes rocks that have coarse crystals that can be seen easily. The
second criterion is the composition of the rocks minerals. Rocks that have a light color and contain abundant
quartz and feldspar are felsic rocks, whereas rocks that are dark and contain minerals rich in magnesium and
iron are mac rocks.
Felsic
Intermediate
Mac
Ultramac
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Minerals:
T
F
Q: Quartz (partially
transparent gray)
F
Q
F: Feldspar (pink or
cream colored)
B: Biotite mica
(black akes)
F
T: Tourmaline
(black)
Tuff is a volcanic
rock composed of
various percentages of volcanic glass,
pumice, mineral
crystals, and rock
fragments. Some
tuff consists only
of ne volcanic
ash that has been
compacted.
Scoria is a dark
gray, black, or red
volcanic rock that
is very vesicular. It
consists of fragments that are
centimeters to
meters across and
it usually has the
composition of
basalt or andesite.
Silica is also the major chemical constituent in mac rocks, such as basalt and
gabbro, but has lower concentrations (44%
to 50% SiO2). Compared to felsic rocks,
mac rocks contain more magnesium,
iron, and calcium, and these elements
cause the darker, mac minerals to grow.
Intermediate rocks, such as andesite and
diorite, contain intermediate amounts of
silica (about 60% SiO2) compared to felsic
and mac rocks.
5.2
5.3
Source Area
1. If an ultramac source
such as the mantle is melted, the magma generally
has a mac (basaltic) composition not a felsic composition. Most mac magma
is derived from melting of
parts of the mantle.
Cont
inent
Crus al
t
Man
tle
Cont
inent
Crust al
Part
i
Melt al
ing
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Crystallization
als
Cryst
c
i
s
l
p
Fe
to To
Float
s
ystal
c Cr tom
a
M
ot
to B
Sink
3. Felsic crystals are lighter than
magma and so may oat upward. This makes the top of the
magma chamber more felsic.
a
Magm
g
Mixin
n
ilatio
Assim
2. If two different magmas come into contact, they may mix (magma mixing) to
produce a magma that has a composition intermediate between the two.
of magmas formed distinct igneous layers and compositions within the intrusion,
which is the worlds largest resource of
chromium and platinum.
metamorphic rocks
have been incorporated and partly
assimilated into a
lighter colored intrusion. [Bushveld,
South Africa]
4. A felsic magma, represented by most of the
outcrop, engulfed round
pockets of a coexisting
mac magma, represented by the dark patches.
Light-colored crystals
from the felsic magma
mixed into the edges of
the mac magma. [Vulture Mountains, Arizona]
5.3
3. These gray
5.4
How Did Earth Get So Hot, and Why Hasnt It Cooled Off More?
After 4.6 billion years, why is the interior of Earth still hot? Earths early history included several events that increased its temperature. These early events still contribute 20 percent of Earths overall heat, but today most
of Earths high internal temperature is the result of energy released by radioactive decay of unstable atoms.
Early in its history, Earth was mostly molten. Much of Earths iron and nickel, which
are very dense materials, was pulled by
gravity toward the planets core adding
heat as they sank.
3. The larger piece of the atom has lost two protons and two neutrons and so is a totally different chemical element than the original unstable
atom. For example, uranium-238 decays to form
a completely new element, thorium-234.
4. The new element
may be stable or may
itself undergo radioactive decay by alpha,
beta, or gamma decay.
Each step in the decay
process generates additional heat.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
how temperature
and pressure increase downward
from the surface
to the core.
The term
pressure refers to
how much force is
applied per area. The pressure on a rock at some
depth in Earth is the force exerted by the weight
of rock above it. This force increases with depth
and is applied on materials from all directions
instead of only from above.
Seawater is drawn into the hot crust of the mid-ocean ridge, where
it gets hotter and rises forming a convection cell of seawater (too
small to show here).
5.4
5.5
4. A rock at the low temperature and low pressure represented by point A is solid.
3. A line divides the graph into two areas, or elds. If a material has conditions
that plot to the left of the line, it is solid (rock). If its conditions plot to the right of
the line, the material is liquid (magma). The line slopes down to the right because higher temperatures are needed to melt a rock under higher pressure.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Melting By
Adding Water
Melting by
Decompression
Melting By
Heating
Rocks are poor conductors of heat (they dont lose or gain heat quickly), so a lot of heating is required to
melt a rock. Melting is inuenced by three factors: temperature, pressure, and water content.
5.5
5.6
Oceanic
Crust
Mantle
re
Lithosphe
phere
Asthenos
3. The buoyant magma rises away from the unmelted residue in the mantle and accumulates in magma chambers in the crust and upper mantle.
2. As the plates separate, solid asthenosphere rises to ll the area between the plates. As the asthenosphere rises, pressure decreases and the
rock partially melts (decompression melting). A plot of decompression
melting is in the next page under the heading Melting in the Mantle.
1. Mantle rocks, including those in the asthenosphere, are mostly solid and
crystalline, not molten. The mantles high pressures and temperatures allow these rocks to ow as a weak solid while maintaining a crystalline structure. Parts of the asthenosphere are close to their melting temperature.
lavas erupted into water, they formed a series of overlapping mounds called
pillows. Such rocks are called pillow basalts. [San Juan Islands, Washington]
Countless vertical dikes of nely crystalline basalt cut across the pillow
basalts and continue downward. These dikes are so closely spaced that they
are called sheeted dikes. One dike, with dark margins, is shown here cutting
another lighter gray dike. [Smartville, California]
Sea
Pillow
Basalts
Sheeted
Dikes
Sheeted dikes merge downward into gabbro, the coarsely crystalline equivalent of basalt. The gabbro represents magma chambers beneath the rift and
locally displays layers () formed by crystal settling. [Smartville, California]
The base of the gabbro is
Gabbro
(magma
chamber)
Mantle
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Continental
Crust
Mantle
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
1. Solid asthenosphere rises beneath the rift and undergoes decompression melting (see
graph below). Partial melting of the ultramac mantle source yields mac (basaltic) magma.
Melting of the
mantle beneath
rifts is caused by
decompression.
The asthenosphere rises
into shallower,
lower pressure
regions and
the decrease in
pressure allows
the rocks to melt. This produces mac magma that
can erupt onto the surface forming basalt.
mac rock (basalt) and a lower temperature melting line for felsic rock
(granite). A hot, mantle-derived mac
magma rises into continental crust and
is hotter (at point A) than adjacent crust
(at point C).
Heat from the mac magma increases
the temperature of the crust (from C
to B). As the temperature of the crust
crosses the felsic line, the granitic crust
melts to produce felsic magma. In this example, the mac magma
loses heat to the crust (from A to B) and solidies.
5.6
5.7
3. The added water lowers the melting temperature of the mantle above
the plate by changing its conditions from dry to wet as shown in
the graph below. Mantle-derived
magmas rise into the overriding
plate, where they may erupt
onto the surface or be trapped
at depth.
Oceanic Crust
Su
bd
uc
tin
gP
lat
e
Mantle
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Subducting
Plate
Continental Crust
Mantle
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Asthenosphere
1. Most magmas generated above the subducting slab begin with a mac composition because the ultramac mantle undergoes partial melting. In some cases,
the partial melting may also generate magmas of intermediate composition.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Contin
ental
Crust
De
s
Pla cendi
te
ng
3. Magmas produced by continental collisions typically do not reach the surface because these kinds of magmas commonly
solidify if they rise higher in
the crust. So,
continental
collisions,
Continen
tal Crust
unlike other
convergent
Overriding
boundaries,
e
l
t
n
Plate
Ma phere
do not have
os
many volcaLith
noes.
e
r
e
sph
no
e
th
As
Asthenosphere
5.7
Su
bd
uc
tin
gP
lat
e
5.8
Oceanic
Crust
Mantle
Lithosph
ere
Astheno
sphere
Mantle
Plume
Mantle
Plume
Volcanic
Ash
Mantle
Plume
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Basalt Flow
Contin
ental
Crust
Asthe
nosp
here
Mantle
Lithosph
ere
Contin
ental
Crust
Mantle
Lithosph
ere
Asthenosphere
Melting into
Lithosphere
Asthe
nosp
here
Asthe
nosp
here
Contin
ental
Crust
Mantle
Lithos
phere
Felsic
Magm
a
Mac
Magm
a
5.8
5.9
Magma can travel through and ll a fracture forming a feature called a dike, such
as the light-colored ones shown above.
The openings for dikes are created by
tectonic or magmatic forces that pull the
rocks apart as the magma forces its way
in. [Big Maria Mountains, California]
What Determines How Far a Magma Can Rise Toward Earths Surface?
Most magmas solidify at depth. Magma gets trapped in the crust because of the difculty of rising through
solid rock. Some constraints on how magma ascends are discussed below.
Magma Pressure
Pressure from the weight of the overlying rocks is directed in toward the
magma from all sides. The pressure
pushes the magma into any openings
and drives it toward the surface. The
conning pressure decreases as the
magma rises higher into the crust.
Density
Differences in density drive the ow
of magma. Mac magma generated
from partial melting of the mantle is
less dense than the surrounding solid
rocks and so rises buoyantly. When the
rising mac magma reaches the base
of the crust, its density may be greater
than that of the crustal rocks. The mac
magma may then stop and form magma
chambers within the crust.
Volcano
with Felsic
Magma
Gas Pressure
Volcano
with Mac
Magma
Continental
Crust
Magma
Conduit
Felsic
Magma
Chamber
Ma
cM
agm
a Ch
amb
ers
Man
tle
Stress
Tectonic stresses can help the magma
open vertical fractures that provide a
pathway to the surface. Alternatively,
stresses can trap a magma at depth by
keeping fractures closed or by creating horizontal fractures that direct a
magma sideways.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Less viscous magma ows more easily and may spread out in
thin layers on the surface. These magmas can travel longer
distances from their source and cover large areas with lava.
Temperature
Low Temperature
Temperature is the
most important control
of viscosity. Magmas
at relatively low temperature, such as those
barely hot enough to be
molten, are viscous and
ow only with difculty.
Silica Chains
Continental
Crust
Felsic or
Intermediate
Magma
Chamber
Mac
Magma
Conduit
High Temperature
Magmas that are very
hot, perhaps hundreds
of degrees above their
melting temperature, have
low viscosity and so ow very easily.
Mac magmas are hotter and less viscous
than felsic magmas.
Percentage of Crystals
Abundant Crystals As a magma
cools, crystals begin to form within
the melt. The crystals in the owing
magma get in each others way causing the magma to ow more slowly. A
magma with abundant crystals is more
viscous.
5.9
5.10
Slow Cooling
Medium Cooling
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
2. As the magma
cools, other mac
minerals including
amphibole () and
biotite begin to
crystallize, provided
that the magma has
a composition that is
not too mac.
4. Light colored
felsic minerals,
such as quartz (),
K-feldspar (), and
muscovite, crystallize at the lowest temperatures. These minerals, along with
Na-rich plagioclase, may be the only
minerals formed from felsic magmas,
which lack the chemical components
required to grow mac minerals. They
typically do not grow from mac magmas, which
lack the required components.
Minerals that crystallize
late in the sequence must
grow around preexisting
crystals so may grow in
irregular, poorly dened
crystal shapes. The white
crystals () grew late and
so had to ll around dark
crystals that formed early.
5.10
5.11
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Irregular Plutons
A pluton with a surface area exposure of
less than 100 km2 is called a stock.
Sheetlike Plutons
Some plutons have the shape of a thick
sheet.
Most stocks
are irregularly
shaped. Many
have a shape like
a steeply oriented
pipe or cylinder.
On the surface,
most stocks
have steep
boundaries and
may resist erosion more than
surrounding
rocks.
When horizontal
sheets are exposed
at the surface, their
tops and bottoms
may be visible.
5.11
he White Mountain batholith is centered in the middle of New Hampshire. Granitic rocks of the batholith
form high peaks of the White Mountains
and many of the areas scenic landmarks.
The batholith consists of several dozen individual intrusions
(shown in red
and yellow) that
were
emplaced
between 200 and
155 million years
ago. The intrusions
represent
separate injections of
magma emplaced
at somewhat different times. Some
Batholiths
5.12
Dike
The Greek island of
Santorini erupted
catastrophically probably around 1650
B.C. Steep dikes in
the walls of the volcanic crater cut across
the volcanic layers.
Some of the dikes
are along faults.
Sill
These dark, mac
sills intruded parallel
to layers of lightcolored, sedimentary wall rocks. The
sills contain steep
fractures formed by
cooling of the sills
after they solidied.
[Salt River, Arizona]
Laccolith
In some areas, ascending magma encounters gently inclined layers and begins squeezing parallel to them as a sill. The magma
then begins inating a blister-shaped magma chamber called
a laccolith. As the magma chamber grows, the layers over the
laccolith are tilted outward and eventually dene a dome.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
Shiprock is a famous volcanic neck that rises above the landscape of New Mexico. It consists of fragmented mac rocks and
connects to dikes that radiate out from the central conduit.
Columnar Joints
5.12
5.13
scenery of the
Sierra Nevada
is dominated
by peaks, cliffs,
and rounded
domes of
massive gray
granite. [Stately
Dome, Sierra
Nevada]
7. Metamorphic
rocks within and
adjacent to the batholith are
rocks that were baked by heat
from the batholith. These generally dark-colored rocks () are cut
by light-colored dikes and sills of
granite and coarse pegmatite.
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
5.13
5.14
IGNEOUS ENVIRONMENTS
5.14