Igneous Rocks

Rhyolite: High-Silica Magma's Race Against Time on Earth's SurfaceVolcanic rocks are often put into a single mold: lava flows, cools, becomes rock. But in...

Pegmatite is an igneous rock that form end of the stage a magma’s crystallization. Pegmatites contain exceptionally large crystals and they contain rarely minerals than other types of rocks. They have interlocking crystals usually larger than 2.5 cm in size. Generally most Pegmatites are found in sheets of rock that are dikes and veins Also near large masses of igneous rocks called batholiths.

Diabase, also known as dolerite, is a type of igneous rock that holds significance in the field of geology due to its unique characteristics...

Obsidian is an igneous rock that forms when molten rock material cools so rapidly that atoms are unable to arrange themselves into a crystalline structure. It is an amorphous material known as a "mineraloid." The result is a volcanic glass with a smooth uniform texture that breaks with a conchoidal fracture .

Tonalite is a type of intrusive igneous rock that belongs to the granodiorite suite of rocks. It is characterized by its composition, which is...

This volcanic rock is named after the Andes Mountains. Intermediate in silica content, it is usually gray in color and may be fine-grained or porphyritic. Andesite is the volcanic equivalent of diorite. It consists of the plagioclase feldspar minerals andesine and oligoclase, together with one or more dark

Lamprophyre is ultrapotassic igneous rock that is occurring as dikes, lopoliths, loccoliths, stocks and small intrussion. It is alkaline silica-undersaturated mafic or ultramafic rocks...

Pyroxenite is an ultramafic igneous rock that contain pyroxene group minerals such as augite, diopside, hypersthene, bronzite or enstatite. This is a coarse-grained rock...

Trachyte, light-coloured, very fine-grained extrusive igneous rock that is composed chiefly of alkali feldspar with minor amounts of dark-coloured minerals such as biotite, amphibole, or pyroxene. Compositionally, trachyte is the volcanic equivalent of the plutonic (intrusive) rock syenite. Most trachytes show porphyritic texture in which abundant,

An intrusive igneous rock, peridotite is coarsegrained and dense. It is light to dark green in color. Peridotite contains at least 40 percent olivine and some pyroxene. Unlike the olivine grains, the pyroxene grains in peridotite have a visible cleavage when viewed under a hand lens. Peridotite forms much of Earth’s mantle and can occur as nodules that are brought up from the mantle by kimberlite or basalt magmas.

Anorthosite is a type of igneous rock that is primarily composed of a mineral called plagioclase feldspar. It is known for its distinctive light-colored...

Granodiorite  is a phaneritic-textured intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. According to the QAPF diagram, granodiorite has a greater than 20% quartz by volume, and between 65% to 90% of the feldspar is plagioclase. A greater amount of plagioclase would designate the rock as tonalite.