Synonym
Definition
Rocks resulting from the solidification of molten or partially molten material, called magma, which is generated inside Earth’s crust.
Introduction
Igneous rocks are classified into two types according to the settings in which they were formed:
Plutonic or intrusive : formed deep inside the Earth’s crust by the slow cooling and solidification of magma, which results in crystalline materials that are usually coarse grained, such as granite, gabbro, syenite, and diorite. As they rise to the upper crust, they can fragment and incorporate blocks of the host rocks, called xenoliths.
Volcanic or extrusive : formed at the Earth’s surface, around volcanic vents, by the ejection of lava, which may be explosive or not. The cooling is usually too rapid for the formation of coarse-grained mineral crystals, and glassy or fine-grained crystalline materials result; examples include rhyolites and basalts.
Another type of volcanic rocks are pyroclastic rocks ,...
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References
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de Oliveira Frascá, M.H.B., Del Lama, E.A. (2017). Igneous Rocks. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_166-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_166-1
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