Igneous rocks are formed from the ejection of earth’s volcanoes. Deep down inside earth’s mantle there lies hot magma. Magma is molten rock that is kept below the surface. This mixture is usually made up of four parts: a hot liquid substance which is called the melt; minerals that have been crystallized by the melt; solid rocks that have made themselves tangled in the melt because of loose materials, and finally gases that have become liquid. Magma is created by an increase in temperatures, pressure change, and a alter in composition. When this magma is ejected from earth’s crust it earns a new name called lava. The lava hardens and becomes an Igneous rock. There are two types of Igneous rocks. The first is intrusive, which is when the magma slowly cools beneath the earths surface. Because the magma is cooling slowly it allows the rocks end result to form crystal- like pigments. Examples of intrusive igneous rocks are Diorite, Gabbro, Granite, Pegmatite, and Periodotite. All of these rocks are course and grainy. The other type is an extrusive Igneous rock. This lava erupts onto the surface of the earth and cools rapidly also forming crystals, the lava cools so fast that at times it allows the rocks to form as clear-like glass. Examples of these rocks are Andesite, Basalt, Obsidian, Pumice, Rhyolite, Scoria, …show more content…
They are mostly created under water. Sediment makes up a sedimentary rock with materials such as mud, clay, sand, pebbles, and organisms that once lived. These materials are worn away over years by natural occurrences such as wind, water, rain, and snow. Imagine a road in the winter when it begins breaking apart and withering away. The sediment eventually ends up in one place and layer upon each other. When observing these rocks we get the opportunity to see into the past and understand how the world was like long ago. This is possible by observing the impressions made by different organisms and
...e morphed it into the quartzite that is seen surrounding the butte (4). Rocks that undergo this process are called metamorphic rock, which is the same as the rock seen years ago by dinosaurs and other extinct creatures. The quartzite rocks were formerly seafloor sediment that was forced upwards, and then surrounded by lava basalt flows. Once erupted through fissures and floods through out most of the area, lava flow eventually created enough basalt to form a thickness of about 1.8 kilometers (1). All of this basalt flow eventually led to the covering of most mountains, leaving the buttes uncovered. The igneous lava flows and loess is reasons that the Palouse consists of such sprawling hills, and rich soil for farming (2). In result of the lava flows, the Precambrian rock Quartzite was formed. And lastly covered by the glacial loess, which were carried by the wind.
Shown in the picture above is volcanic extrusive igneous rock known as andesite. They were imported here to Laguna Beach to help minimize erosion (Merton Hill, p. 10-11). Extrusive Igneous rocks are formed on Earths surface due to lava quickly cooling or mixing with different materials such as ash or cinders from an eruption. There are two different types of extrusive igneous rocks; Plutonic and Volcanic. Andesite is known for being gray in color and being made up of very coarse grainy textures, which make it much harder to break down than sedimentary rocks. Unlike loose gravel and other sediments igneous rocks are known for being able to slow down seismic waves from earthquakes which cause less damage to surface structures.
One of the first people to study the xenoliths at El Joyazo was Zeck (1970); Zeck hypothesised that the xenoliths and dacitic lava of El Joyazo were derived syn-genetically from a semi-pelitic rock through anatexis. The protolith rock was thought to be separated into anatectic restites, represented by Al-rich xenoliths, and anatectic melt, represented by the dacitic lavas. The xenoliths were classified into three types: (1) almandine-biotite-sillimanite gneiss, (2) quartz-cordierite gneiss and (3) spinel-cordierite rock. Types 1 & 2 were interpreted as restite material as their structure corresponded to that of migmatitic restite, and type 3 as re-crystallised restite. It was suggested that this re-crystallisation would have taken place after that anatexis that produced types 1 & 2. Zeck described the lava, based on chemical composition, as an almandine bearing biotite-cordierite-labradorite rhyodacite. The xenoliths were described as well rounded fragments up to 40cm in diameter. The xenoliths were said to show a well developed foliation defined by biotite and sillimanite, with the exception of the spinel-cordierite rock, which exhibited a granoblastic texture. It was also noted that quartz is almost completely absent from these rocks with the exception of small, rare armoured relicts.
The Walker formation was formed by a volcanic eruption that deposited in large amounts of ash fall that mixed with the lower sediments to form tuff breccia and tuff conglomerates. I believe the Walker formation was deposited first because it is only present now at high elevations, meaning other sediments have covered up the lower ash fall. The Bealville fanglomerate, composed of unsorted granitic boulder debris, could have been formed from active seismic activity. Large earthquakes strike the west coast of California frequently. These earthquakes could have smashed the already laid down granitic sandstone and formed the multiple
and Metamorphic rocks can be found. There are also a lot of crusted plates, and violent
...se two tectonic plates generated intense friction and pressure that generated enough heat to melt rocks. The descent of denser oceanic Farallon Plate into the asthenosphere produced magma that was made from basalt or andesite. Which is dark colored rocks with little silica. The buoyant magma pushed through the silica-rich continental crust, partially melting the crust that it moved though, and becoming more granitic in composition. About 100 million years ago, the granitic magma pooled at depths of only 2 to 5 miles beneath the surface (United States of America). The granitic terrain that makes up the Sierra, was once thought to have only local variations but was produced from one large mass of rock. It has been discovered however that hundreds of intrusions caused the variations in the granite that is displayed in Yosemite and in the Sierra Nevada range (Huber).
Basalt is a commonly occurring igneous rock. More specifically however, Basalt falls under the category of Mafic Rocks. Mafic rocks have a poor Silica content, approximately 50% (Charles, Diane, Lisa, 2010) and contain high concentrations of metal oxides. Basalt is a fine grained rock containing predominantly ferromagnesian minerals, followed by plagioclase feldspar. The colour of Basalt ranges from dark grey to black and is relatively featureless. See Fig 1.
Super volcanoes are formed when magma rises from the mantle to create a scorching reservoir in the Earth's
Magma is a hot liquid made of melted minerals. Minerals can form crystals when they are cool. Igneous rock can form underground, where the magma cools. slowly. Or, igneous rock can form above ground, where the magma cools.
Feldspar and Olivine are two silicate minerals commonly found on the Earth’s surface, their chemical formulas are KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 –CaAl2Si2O8 for feldspars and (Mg, Fe)2SiO4 for olivine. Olivine is a nesosilicate, whereas feldspars are a group of tectosilicates, both minerals are anhydrous, since they contain no water in their chemical structure. Feldspars hold differing quantities of different elements, such as potassium, calcium, and sodium; making them classifiable in terms of composition, for instance, NaAlSi3O8 is Albite, while CaAl2Si2O8 is referred to as Anorthite.
Obsidian is considered to be naturally occurring volcanic glass. It is also called black lava glass. It can come in a variety of colors, such as yellow, red, greenish- brown, purple, as well as blueish green. However black and grey are the most common. It is a transparent stone with a translucent or opaque vitreous luster. It may have a iridescent sheen, caused by inclusions. These inclusions can also cause them to be called a different variety. Some of the varieties are snowflake obsidian, sheen obsidian, mahogany, rainbow, and apache tears. Obsidian is caused when volcanic lava cools so quickly that minerals do not have tie to form crystals. They are a type of glass, with a mohs hardness of 5- 5.5 and a specific
Stratovolcanoes are the most common type of volcanoes. Mount Fuji, Japan and Mount Rainer in Washington state are examples of stratovolcanoes
The interior structure of the earth is made up of crust, the mantle and core (inner core and outer core). Earthquakes occur on the crust. Crust forms the external layer of the earth surface. On the crust, the plate tectonics forces are in charge of causing the abrupt earth movements. Due to the existence of an immense temperature and concurrent pressure difference in the outer layer and inner layer of the earth, convection currents occur at the mantle. This energy results from overwhelming decomposition of radioactive substances contained by the rocks found at the interior of the earth. The developed convection currents lead to movement of lava; cold lava finds its way to the interior of the earth crust, while the molten lava which is generally hot, leaves the interior of the earth to the outside of the earth crust. These kinds of circulations occur at different locations of the earth surface and consequently results in segmentation of the earth due to movement in different directions.
In our solar system, there are a vast variety of space rocks. Space contains comets, asteroids, and meteors that rush through space, but don’t make it to Earth because they burn up along the way. This is due to the amount of friction that is produced on its journey through space. Comets, asteroids, and meteors are only a few objects that orbit through space and in our solar system. As a result, these various space rocks fly throughout our solar system, creating a bunch of chemistry. Comets, asteroids, and meteors are commonly put together in a group because they are all basically the same thing. One thing that comets, asteroids, and meteors all have in common is that they are rocky objects that orbit the sun. A lot of these space rocks originated from the Asteroid Belt, the Kuiper Belt and the Oort cloud, continuing almost to the next star system! We are able to study these space rocks using probes and infrared rays. Asteroids, comets, and meteors are commonly used terms for the objects moving through our solar system, but these rocks have a bigger meaning.