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Crystallization is the process by which solids form, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal. Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely deposition directly from a gas.
In geology, solid-state recrystallization is a metamorphic process that occurs under high temperatures and pressures where atoms of minerals are reorganized by diffusion and/or dislocation glide.
In some compositions, at high pressures without water crystallization of enstatite is favored, but in the presence of water at high pressures, olivine is favored. [12] Granitic magmas provide additional examples of how melts of generally similar composition and temperature, but at different pressure, may crystallize different minerals.
The solidus temperature specifies the temperature below which a material is completely solid, [2] and the minimum temperature at which a melt can co-exist with crystals in thermodynamic equilibrium. Liquidus and solidus are mostly used for impure substances (mixtures) such as glasses , metal alloys , ceramics , rocks , and minerals .
Most liquids freeze by crystallization, formation of crystalline solid from the uniform liquid. This is a first-order thermodynamic phase transition, which means that as long as solid and liquid coexist, the temperature of the whole system remains very nearly equal to the melting point due to the slow removal of heat when in contact with air, which is a poor heat conductor.
Block disintegration, when rock joints weaken from temperature fluctuations and the rock splits into rectangular blocks, can be attributed to thermal fatigue. [ 13 ] [ 10 ] Thermal stress weathering is an important mechanism in deserts , where there is a large diurnal temperature range, hot in the day and cold at night. [ 14 ]
For instance, a magma of gabbroic composition can produce a residual melt of granitic composition if early formed crystals are separated from the magma. Gabbro may have a liquidus temperature near 1,200 °C, and the derivative granite-composition melt may have a liquidus temperature as low as about 700 °C.
Increase in temperature is the most typical mechanism for formation of magma within continental crust. Such temperature increases can occur because of the upward intrusion of magma from the mantle. Temperatures can also exceed the solidus of a crustal rock in continental crust thickened by compression at a plate boundary. [76]