Igneous Rocks

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,

Syenite, any of a category of intrusive igneous rocks basically composed of an alkali feldspar and a ferromagnesian mineral. A unique group of alkali syenites is characterized by the presence of a feldspathoid mineral inclusive of nepheline, leucite, cancrinite, or sodalite (see nepheline syenite). Chemically, syenites comprise a slight amount of silica, incredibly big amounts of alkalies, and alumina. The call become first used by Pliny the Elder.

Rhyolite is a felsic extrusive rock. Due to the high silica content, rhyolite lava is very viscous. It flows slowly, like tooth paste squeezed out of a tube, and tends to pile up and biçim lava domes. If rhyolite magma is gas rich it can erupt explosively, forming a frothy solidified magma called pumice (a very lightweight, light-coloured, vesicular form of rhyolite)

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.

Ignimbrite is an expansion of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites are igneous rocks made up by crystal and rock fragments in a glass-shard groundmass, albeit the original texture of the groundmass is probably obliterated due to high degrees of welding. The term ignimbrite isn't always encouraged by means of the IUGS Subcommission on the Systematics of Igneous Rocks.

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.

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

Medium or coarse grained rocks, gabbros Dark green pyroxene in principle (augite and smaller orthopyroxene amounts plus white or green colored plagioclase and black, millimeter sized grains of magnetite and / or ilmenite.

Basalt is the most common rock on Earth’s surface. Specimens are black in color and weather to dark green or brown. Basalt is rich in iron and magnesium and is mainly composed of olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase. Most specimens are compact, fine-grained, and glassy. They can also be porphyritic, with phenocrysts of olivine, augite, or plagioclase. Holes left by gas bubbles can give basalt a coarsely porous texture.