Essential Questions• What are the different types and textures of igneous rocks?
• How do cooling rates affect the grain sizes in igneous rocks?
• What are some of the uses of igneous rocks?
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Review• fractional crystallization
New• intrusive rock• extrusive rock• basaltic rock• granitic rock• texture• porphyritic texture• vesicular texture• pegmatite• kimberlite
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Vocabulary
Classification of Igneous Rocks
Classification of Igneous RocksCopyright © McGraw-Hill Education
Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks
• When magma cools and crystallizes below Earth’s surface, intrusive rocks form.
• Magma that cools and crystallizes on Earth’s surface forms extrusive rocks.
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Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks
• Igneous rocks are classified by their mineral compositions.
• Basaltic rocks, also called mafic rocks, are dark-colored, have lower silica contents, and contain mostly plagioclase and pyroxene.
• Granitic rocks, also called felsic rocks, are light-colored, have high silica contents, and contain mostly quartz and feldspar.
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Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks
• Rocks that have a composition of minerals that is somewhere between basaltic and granitic are called intermediate rocks.
• A fourth category, called ultrabasic, or ultramafic, contains rocks with only iron-rich minerals such as olivine and pyroxene and are always dark.
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Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks
• Rock type can be determined by estimating relative percentages of minerals in the rocks.
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Texture
• Texture refers to the size, shape, and distribution of the crystals or grains that make up a rock.
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Texture
Crystal size and cooling rates• When lava flows on Earth’s surface, it cools quickly and there is
not enough time for large crystals to form. The resulting extrusive igneous rocks have crystals so small that they cannot be seen without magnification.
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Texture
Crystal size and cooling rates• When lava cools so
quickly that crystals do not form, volcanic glass is the result.
• When magma cools slowly below Earth’s surface, there is sufficient time for large crystals to form. Thus, intrusive rocks can have crystals larger than 1 cm.
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Texture
Porphyritic rocks• A porphyritic texture is characterized by large, well-formed
crystals surrounded by finer-grained crystals of the same mineral or different minerals.
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Texture
Vesicular rocks• The spongy appearance that results from gas bubbles trapped in
lava is called vesicular texture.
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Thin Sections
• Scientists use a special microscope, called a petrographic microscope, to help them identify minerals by examining the mineral grains in sections of rock thin enough for light to pass through.
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Igneous Rocks as Resources
Veins• Valuable ore deposits often occur within igneous intrusions. At
other times, they may occur as veins in the rocks surrounding intrusions.
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Igneous Rocks as Resources
Pegmatites• Veins of extremely
large-grained minerals that can contain ores are called pegmatites.
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Igneous Rocks as Resources
Kimberlites• Diamonds and other minerals that can form only under very high
pressure are found in rare, ultrabasic rocks known as kimberlites.
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Igneous Rocks as Resources
Igneous rocks in construction• The interlocking grain textures and the resistance to weathering
of many of the minerals present in igneous rocks make them especially useful as building materials.
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Review
Essential Questions• What are the different types and textures of igneous rocks?
• How do cooling rates affect the grain sizes in igneous rocks?
• What are some of the uses of igneous rocks?
Vocabulary
• intrusive rock• extrusive rock• basaltic rock
Classification of Igneous Rocks
• granitic rock• texture• porphyritic texture
• vesicular texture• pegmatite• kimberlite