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Volcanic rocks and sediment that form from magma erupted into the air are called "pyroclastics," and these are also technically sedimentary rocks. Volcanic rocks are among the most common rock types on Earth's surface, particularly in the oceans. On land, they are very common at plate boundaries and in flood basalt provinces. It has been ...
Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition.
Magma (from Ancient Greek μάγμα (mágma) 'thick unguent') [1] is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. [2] Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as lava) is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial ...
The word lava comes from Italian and is probably derived from the Latin word labes, which means a fall or slide. [2] [3] An early use of the word in connection with extrusion of magma from below the surface is found in a short account of the 1737 eruption of Vesuvius, written by Francesco Serao, who described "a flow of fiery lava" as an analogy to the flow of water and mud down the flanks of ...
Igneous rocks are divided into two main categories: Plutonic or intrusive rocks result when magma cools and crystallizes slowly within the Earth's crust. A common example of this type is granite. Volcanic or extrusive rocks result from magma reaching the surface either as lava or fragmental ejecta, forming minerals such as pumice or basalt. [5]
Scoria or cinder is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is typically dark in color (brown, black or purplish-red), and basaltic or andesitic in composition.
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. [1] [2] Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock containing 25% to 75% ash is described as tuffaceous (for example, tuffaceous sandstone). [3]
In geology, a chonolith is a type of igneous rock intrusion (also known as pluton). Igneous rock intrusions are bodies of igneous rock that are formed by the crystallization of cooled magma below the Earth’s surface. These formations are termed intrusive rocks due the magma intruding rock layers but never reaching the surface. [1]