Module 4.

Igneous Rocks
What's This Module About?
In this module, you'll learn about rocks that form when melted rock cools on or within
Earth’s crust. The module starts off by looking at where all the heat comes from to melt rocks
in the first place. It then moves on to cover how we get different kinds of melted rock, how
igneous rocks are described and classified, and structures that form when melted rock cools
within the Earth. 

Master List of Readings & Activities (In Order)

 Read Chapter 3, section 3.3, Earth's Interior Heat.
 Read Chapter 7, Igneous Rocks.
 Watch the video How a Laccolith Forms (Video Interlude 1).
 Now is a great time to see if you can find yourself some granite! Look for a rock with
pinkish, black, and white spots (may be sparkly), where the spots don't appear to have
any parallel alignment.

Learning Objectives
1. Explain how igneous rocks form.
They form when molten (liquid) rock cools and solidifies. The characteristics of igneous rocks differ
depending on whether the melt cools Earths surface or in Earths interior.
Igneous rocks are classified (named) based on two characteristics:
- The minerals they contain
- Their grain size and texture

2. Explain how the conditions under which rocks melt are related to plate tectonic setting.
-Decompression happens when the lithosphere is thinning and putting less pressure on the rocks
below, such as along riff zones. It can also occur when mantle rocks move upwards due to convection
-Flux- induced melting happens in subduction zones. Minerals are transformed by chemical reactions
under high pressures and temperatures, and a by-product of those transitions in water
-Conduction can occur when lower silica melts come into contact with higher silica rocks, such as
those in continental crust

3. Describe the different types in intrusive igneous rock structures.

4. Explain how igneous rocks of different compositions are produced.

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5. Identify igneous rocks using information about their composition and texture.

The top box shows the range of mineral

proportions for each compositional category. An
igneous rock can be represented as a vertical line
drawn through the top box of the diagram and
the vertical scale is used to break down the
proportion of each mineral it contains

Ferromagnesian- dark colours minerals that are

higher in iron and magnesium

Key Terms & Concepts

1. Lava V.S. Magma – Lava is melted rock on Earths surface / Magma is melted rock
within the Earth

2. Magma Composition – depends on two things:

a. The composition of the rocks that melted to form

the magma

b. The conditions under which the melting happened

3. Extrusive igneous rocks/ volcanic igneous rocks –

rocks that form when lava solidifies (associated with volcanic eruption)

4. Intrusive igneous rocks/ plutonic igneous rocks – rocks that form when magma
solidifies (have individual visible crystals)

5. Geothermal gradient – the rate of increase of temperature with depth in the Earth
(earths is 15 ૦ to 30 ૦ C/km within crust)

6. Partial melting – only some of the minerals within a rock

melt (where most igneous rock comes from)

7. Decompression melting – occurs when a parcel of rock

rises, or the overlaying crust thins

8. Flux melting – occurs when volatile compounds such as

water are added

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9. Heating by conduction – heat transfer by collisions between molecules, and is how
heat is transferred from a stove to a soup pot

10. Magma migration by stopping – when magma forces itself into cracks, breaks off
pieces of rock and then envelopes them

11. Xenolith – the resulting fragments from stopping ^^ (may appear

as dark patches within a rock)

12. Chilled margin - when country rock is around magma, so it makes

the outer edges appear a different / darker colour

13. Plutons – the resulting body when magma reaches the surface,
resulting in a volcanic eruption, but most cools within the crust.

a. Stock – large, irregularly shaped plutons with an area < 100km^2

b. Batholith – a irregularly shaped pluton with an area > 100km^2

c. Dike – Tabular (sheet like) plutons that cut across existing structures

d. Sill – Tabular (sheet like) plutons that are parallel to existing structures
e. Laccolith – a sill like body that has expanded upwards by deforming other
overlying rock

f. Lopolith – a still with magma that has pooled and sagged downwards

g. Pipe – cylindrical conduits

14. Igneous compositional groups:

a. Ultramafic – rocks that are very high in iron and magnesium, and low in
silica (Ex// mantle rocks)

b. Mafic magmas – characterized by minerals with MAgnesium and FerrIC

(iron containing) components, like olivine and pyroxene

c. Intermediate – the halfway point between the two

d. Felsic magmas – characterized by minerals like potassium FELdspar and

quartz, which are more SIliCa-rich

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 15. Bowen’s reaction series – the sequence
in which minerals crystalize from a
magma as it cools. Bowen determined the
order by melting rock in a special kiln
and them slowly letting it get to a
specific temp before rapidly cooling to
cause mineral formation.
He discovered there were two pathways
for minerals to form as magma cools:
a. Discontinuous series (left side) –
b. Continuous series (right side) -
16. Fractional crystallization – when minerals with a higher melting point crystalizing
early in the cooling process and settling out of the magma

17. Magma chamber – a space within earth that’s filled with molten rock. If the magma
has low viscosity (flows easily) crystals form early

18. Country rock – the rock in which the magma chamber is located

19. Crystalline igneous rocks

a. Granite – a felsic intrusive rock

b. Rhyolite – a felsic extrusive rock

c. Diorite – a coarse grained rock of intermediate composition

d. Andesite – a fine grained rock of intermediate composition

e. Gabbro – a coarse grained mafic rock

f. Basalt – a fine grained mafic rock

g. Peridotite – coarse grained version of an ultramafic rock

h. Komatiite – a fine grained version of an ultramafic rock

20. Glassy igneous rocks, volcanic glass – the result of magma cooling so rapidly that
no crystals form.

21. Igneous textures

a. Aphanitic/ fine-grained texture – a rock with crystals that are too small to
see with the unaided eye (extrusive)

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b. Phaneritic/ coarse-grained texture – a rock with individual crystals that are
visible to the unaided eye (Intrusive)

c. P
o
r
p
h
y
ri
ti
c
texture – an igneous rock with crystals of distinctly difference size

i. Phenocrysts- bigger ones and groundmass- smaller

d. Vesicles – what is formed when lava freezes around gas bubbles

e. Amygdule’s – vesicles that are filled by other minerals