Igneous rock | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

Igneous rock (igneous ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. 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. Solidification into rock occurs either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular, crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form natural glasses. Igneous rocks occur in a wide range of geological settings: shields, platforms, orogens, basins, large igneous provinces, extended crust and oceanic crust. Igneous and metamorphic rocks make up 90–95% of the top of the Earth's crust by volume. Igneous rocks form about 15% of the Earth's current land surface. Most of the Earth's oceanic crust is made of igneous rock. Igneous rocks are also geologically important because: their minerals and global chemistry give information about the composition of the lower crust or upper mantle from which their parent magma was extracted, and the temperature and pressure conditions that allowed this extraction; their absolute ages can be obtained from various forms of radiometric dating and can be compared to adjacent geological strata, thus permitting calibration of the geological time scale; their features are usually characteristic of a specific tectonic environment, allowing tectonic reconstructions (see plate tectonics); in some special circumstances they host important mineral deposits (ores): for example, tungsten, tin, and uranium are commonly associated with granites and diorites, whereas ores of chromium and platinum are commonly associated with gabbros. Igneous rocks can be either intrusive (plutonic and hypabyssal) or extrusive (volcanic).

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (1)

Related people (1)

Related concepts (185)

Related courses (2)

Related lectures (16)

Cumulate rock

Cumulate rocks are igneous rocks formed by the accumulation of crystals from a magma either by settling or floating. Cumulate rocks are named according to their texture; cumulate texture is diagnostic of the conditions of formation of this group of igneous rocks. Cumulates can be deposited on top of other older cumulates of different composition and colour, typically giving the cumulate rock a layered or banded appearance. Cumulate rocks are the typical product of precipitation of solid crystals from a fractionating magma chamber.

Petrology

Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together because both make heavy use of chemistry, chemical methods, and phase diagrams. Sedimentary petrology is commonly taught together with stratigraphy because it deals with the processes that form sedimentary rock. Modern sedimentary petrology is making increasing use of chemisty.

Volcanic rock

Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and metamorphic rocks and constitute an important element of some sediments and sedimentary rocks. For these reasons, in geology, volcanics and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the term "volcanic" is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks.

CIVIL-211: Geology

Les ingénieurs civils exercent leurs activités en constante interaction avec le sous-sol. Le cours de géologie donne aux étudiants les bases en Géosciences nécessaires à une ingénierie bien intégrée d

CIVIL-403: Geology for construction and environment

Détermination des roches principales, physique des écoulements souterrains en rapport avec les ouvrages, relations entre milieu géologique et construit. Determination of the main rocks, physics of un

Influence of Microplastics on Microbial Structure, Function, and Mechanical Properties of Stream Periphyton

Kristin Schirmer, Ahmed Tlili, Renata Behra

Periphyton is a freshwater biofilm composed of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities that occupy rocks and sediments, forming the base of the food web and playing a key role in nutrient cycling. Give

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Clay Minerals: Formation and Properties MSE-234: Mechanical behaviour of materials

Explores the chemical formulas and properties of clay minerals, the shaping techniques of clay, and the manufacturing process of glasses.

Signal Representations COM-406: Foundations of Data Science

Covers the norm of a matrix, operator, singular values, and unitary matrices in linear algebra.

Extension of Fields: Norm and Valuation MATH-494: Topics in arithmetic geometry

Covers the extension of fields, defining the norm of an element from one field to another, and introducing the p-adic valuation.