What Is The Difference Between The Composition Of Felsic And Mafic Igneous Rocks?

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What is the difference between a felsic and mafic igneous rock? … Felsic rocks are rich in Silicon, Sodium, and Potassium, while Mafic igneous rocks are rich in Iron, Magnesium, and Calcium.

Felsic rocks are lighter in color

, whereas Mafic rocks are darker in color.

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What is the difference between mafic and felsic magma quizlet?

Mafic: the magma that is rich in magnesium and iron which is characterized by dark color, Felsic: the magma that is rich in feldspar and silica which is characterized by light color.

What igneous rocks are felsic composition?

Felsic Mafic Coarse- grained granite gabbro Fine- grained rhyolite basalt Minerals quartz, K-feldspar, amphibole, muscovite, biotite olivine, pyroxene, Ca-feldspar (plagioclase)

What is the difference between a felsic rock and a mafic rock?

Mafic minerals are usually dark in color and have relatively high specific gravities (

greater than 3.0

). … Felsic minerals are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3.0. Common felsic minerals include quartz, muscovite mica, and the orthoclase feldspars.

What difference is there between the composition of lava and magma?


Magma is composed of molten rock and is stored in the Earth’s crust

. Lava is magma that reaches the surface of our planet through a volcano vent.

What is a felsic composition?

Felsic refers to

silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium

. … The most common felsic rock is granite. Common felsic minerals include quartz, muscovite, orthoclase, and the sodium-rich plagioclase feldspars (albite-rich).

What is the composition of igneous rocks?

Because of the dominance of oxygen and silicon in the crust, igneous rocks are mostly made up of

silicate minerals

. These silicates can be generally divided into light and dark silicates. The dark silicates are also called ferromagnesian because of the presence of iron and magnesium in them.

What is the composition of metamorphic rocks?

Pelitic metamorphic rocks contain alumina-rich minerals such as the

micas, garnet, andalusite, kyanite, silliminate, or staurolite

. Pelitic metamorphic rocks formed during regional metamorphism include many varieties of slate, phyllite, schist, and gneiss.

Which are definitions of mafic and felsic?

Mafic is

a magma/rock that is rich in Fe and Mg

, whereas felsic refers to that which is rich in feldspar and silica (quartz)

What is ultramafic composition?

Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are

igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium

, and are composed of usually greater than 90% mafic minerals (dark colored, high magnesium …

What is the difference between lava and magma quizlet?

Magma and lava both refer to

molten rock

from which igneous rocks form. However, magma refers to molten rock below Earth’s surface, and lava refers to molten rock at the surface.

What are 3 differences between lava and magma?

Difference Between Magma and Lava Magma Lava

How is felsic rock formed?

Felsic magma usually

originates in the crust or by the shedding of mafic minerals as magma rises through the crust

. … Another way that igneous rock forms is by magma erupting explosively into the air and falling to earth in pieces known as pyroclastic material, also called tephra.

What is the magma composition of a composite volcano?

Composite volcano magma is felsic, which means it contains

silicate-rich minerals rhyolite, andesite, and dacite

. Low-viscosity lava from a shield volcano, such as might be found in Hawaii, flows from fissures and spreads.

What are mafic igneous rocks?

mafic rock, in geology,

igneous rock that is dominated by the silicates pyroxene, amphibole, olivine, and mica

. … Mafic rock is commonly contrasted with felsic rock, in which light-coloured minerals predominate. Common mafic rocks include basalt and its coarse-grained intrusive equivalent, gabbro.

How do we name igneous rocks based on composition and texture?

Igneous rocks may be simply classified according to their chemical/mineral composition as

felsic, intermediate, mafic, and ultramafic

, and by texture or grain size: intrusive rocks are course grained (all crystals are visible to the naked eye) while extrusive rocks may be fine-grained (microscopic crystals) or glass ( …

Which of the following rocks is categorized as a metamorphic rock?

Common metamorphic rocks include

phyllite, schist, gneiss, quartzite and marble

.

Where are felsic rocks found?

Intrusive Rocks

Plutonic and hypabyssal felsic rocks may occur as

batholiths, plutons, stocks, laccoliths, dikes, sills and plugs

. The largest are granitoid batholiths, which are composite intrusions composed of many individual plutons and associated with active continental margins (see Granite and Granitoids).

What is the composition of sedimentary rocks?

95% of all sedimentary rocks consists of sandstones (made up of sand sized fragments),

mudrocks (made up of silt and clay sized fragments)

, and carbonate rocks (made up of mostly calcite, aragonite, or dolomite).

What is the difference between coarse-grained and fine-grained texture?

Coarse-grained materials or systems

have fewer, larger discrete components than

fine-grained materials or systems. A coarse-grained description of a system regards large subcomponents. A fine-grained description regards smaller components of which the larger ones are composed.

What is the difference of the two types of igneous rocks?

The two main categories of igneous rocks are extrusive and intrusive. Extrusive rocks are formed on the surface of the Earth from lava, which is magma that has emerged from underground. Intrusive rocks are

formed

from magma that cools and solidifies within the crust of the planet.

How is foliated metamorphic rock formed?

Foliated Metamorphic Rocks:

Foliation forms

when pressure squeezes the flat or elongate minerals within a rock so they become aligned

. These rocks develop a platy or sheet-like structure that reflects the direction that pressure was applied.

How are igneous rocks formed?

Igneous rocks (from the Latin word for fire) form

when hot, molten rock crystallizes and solidifies

. The melt originates deep within the Earth near active plate boundaries or hot spots, then rises toward the surface.

How are mafic igneous rocks formed?

INTRODUCTION. Mafic rocks that constitute the igneous oceanic crust are created

at mid-ocean ridge seafloor spreading centers as a byproduct of partial melt from upwelling mantle

. Through various parts of the spreading process, permeability can be generated in both the intrusive gabbros and extrusive basalts.

Which are definitions of mafic and felsic quizlet?

felsic (minerals) lighter minerals. mafic (minerals)

darker minerals

. You just studied 14 terms!

What is mafic composition?

A mafic mineral or rock is a

silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron

. … Chemically, mafic rocks are enriched in iron, magnesium and calcium and typically dark in color. In contrast, the felsic rocks are typically light in color and enriched in aluminium and silicon along with potassium and sodium.

When geologists say that an igneous rock is intermediate in composition they mean that?

Intermediate is a composition

between felsic and mafic

. It usually contains roughly-equal amounts of light and dark minerals, including light grains of plagioclase feldspar and dark minerals like amphibole. It is intermediate in silica in the 55-60% range.

What is the difference between magma and lava and how do they become igneous rocks?

Magma is less dense than the surrounding rock which causes it to rise. When magma reaches the surface it is then called lava and the eruptions of lava and ash produce volcanoes.

The lava that reaches the Earth’s surface will harden and become igneous rock

.

Why is the difference between magma and lava important?

The distinction between magma and lava is

all about location

. When geologists refer to magma, they’re talking about molten rock that’s still trapped underground. If this molten rock makes it to the surface and keeps flowing like a liquid, it’s called lava.

What is ultramafic igneous rock?

« Back to Glossary Index. An

igneous rock with extremely low silica composition

, being made of almost all olivine and pyroxene. Ultramafic rocks contain very low amount of silica and are common in the mantle. Primary ultramafic rocks are komatiite (extrusive) and peridotite (intrusive).

What is the difference between ultramafic and mafic?

is that ultramafic is (geology) describing igneous rocks that contain magnesium and iron and only a very small amount of silica, such as are found in the earth’s mantle while mafic is (geology) describing rocks, such as silicate minerals, magmas, and volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks, which contain relatively high …

What’s the difference between intrusive plutonic and extrusive volcanic igneous rocks?

This differentiation between magma and lava is important when we consider the two classifications of igneous rock. This is because plutonic rocks

are rocks formed when magma cools and solidifies below the earth’s surface

, and volcanic rocks are rocks formed when lava cools and solidifies on the earth’s surface.

What is the difference between lava and volcano?

is that volcano is a vent or fissure on the surface of a planet (usually in a mountainous form) with a magma chamber attached to the mantle of a planet or moon, periodically erupting forth lava and volcanic gases onto the surface while lava is the melted rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.

What are the three components of magma?

Magma and lava contain three components:

melt, solids, and volatiles

.

What three components make up most magmas?

Most magmas consist of three materials:

a liquid component, a solid component, and a gaseous component

.

What is the difference between composite cone volcanoes and shield cone volcanoes?

Composite volcanoes are tall, steep cones that produce explosive eruptions. Shield volcanoes form very large, gently sloped mounds from

effusive eruptions

.

What is true about felsic magmas?

Felsic magmas are

higher in silica

and contain lighter colored minerals such as quartz and orthoclase feldspar. The higher the amount of silica in the magma, the higher is its viscosity. Viscosity is a liquid’s resistance to flow. … Felsic magma is viscous and does not flow easily.

What is the composite type of volcano?


A stratovolcano

, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. … They are among the most common types of volcanoes, in contrast to the less common shield volcanoes.

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