Igneous rock ( ), 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.
Geological significance
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.
Geological setting
Igneous rocks can be either intrusive (plutonic and hypabyssal) or extrusive (volcanic).
Intrusive
Intrusive igneous rocks make up the majority of igneous rocks and are formed from magma that cools and solidifies within the crust of a planet. Bodies of intrusive rock are known as intrusions and are surrounded by pre-existing rock (called country rock). The country rock is an excellent thermal insulator, so the magma cools slowly, and intrusive rocks are coarse-grained (phaneritic). The mineral grains in such rocks can generally be identified with the naked eye. Intrusions can be classified according to the shape and size of the intrusive body and its relation to the bedding of the country rock into which it intrudes. Typical intrusive bodies are batholiths, stocks, laccoliths, sills and dikes. Common intrusive rocks are granite, gabbro, or diorite.
The central cores of major mountain ranges consist of intrusive igneous rocks. When exposed by erosion, these cores (called batholiths) may occupy huge areas of the Earth's surface.
Intrusive igneous rocks that form at depth within the crust are termed plutonic (or abyssal) rocks and are usually coarse-grained. Intrusive igneous rocks that form near the surface are termed subvolcanic or hypabyssal rocks and they are usually much finer-grained, often resembling volcanic rock. Hypabyssal rocks are less common than plutonic or volcanic rocks and often form dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, or phacoliths.
Extrusive
Extrusive igneous rock, also known as volcanic rock, is formed by the cooling of molten magma on the earth's surface. The magma, which is brought to the surface through fissures or volcanic eruptions, rapidly solidifies. Hence such rocks are fine-grained (aphanitic) or even glassy. Basalt is the most common extrusive igneous rock and forms lava flows, lava sheets and lava plateaus. Some kinds of basalt solidify to form long polygonal columns. The Giant's Causeway in Antrim, Northern Ireland is an example.
The molten rock, which typically contains suspended crystals and dissolved gases, is called magma. It rises because it is less dense than the rock from which it was extracted. When magma reaches the surface, it is called lava. Eruptions of volcanoes into air are termed subaerial, whereas those occurring underneath the ocean are termed submarine. Black smokers and mid-ocean ridge basalt are examples of submarine volcanic activity.
The volume of extrusive rock erupted annually by volcanoes varies with plate tectonic setting. Extrusive rock is produced in the following proportions: divergent boundary: 73% convergent boundary (subduction zone): 15% hotspot: 12%.