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Igneous Rocks
Identification

By: Juan Ortega

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Introduction
Igneous rocks are rocks that are
formed by directly molten magma.
Magma can be found in the lower
parts of the earths crust and mantle
where temperature are high enough
to melt the rock. As magma rises to
the earths surface, it cools and
solidifies to form an igneous rock. If
the magma makes it all the way to
the earths surface and cools rapidly it
forms Extrusive Igneous Rocks. On the
other hand, if the magma does not
make it to the surface and yet cools
slowly within the crust it forms
Intrusive Igneous Rocks.
We will be classifying these rocks
based on their Composition and
Texture

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Cotopax
i
Volcano
in
Ecuador

Table of Content
Intrusive Rocks
4
Texture and Composition
5

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Industrial Use
6
Extrusive Rocks
7
Texture and Composition
8
Industrial Use
9
Summary
10

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Intrusive Rocks
This types of rocks are also known as
plutonic igneous rocks, they are
formed in the inner parts of a volcano
thru a slow cooling process. The
magma that is retained in the inner
parts of the chamber solidifies slow
leaving a chunk of rock with coarse
grained minerals.

Examples of intrusive rocks

Granite
Diorite
Gabbro
Peridotite

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Texture and
Composition
Texture relates to how large the
individual mineral grains are in the
final solid rock. In most cases, the
resulting grain size depends on how
quickly the magma cooled. The slower
the cooling, the larger the crystals in
the rock.
The texture for all of this type of rocks
are Phaneritic which means that the
grain size is big enough to see with
the eye.
The composition will be Felsic,
Intermediate, Mafic, Ultramafic. The
composition of a rock tells what types
of minerals the rock will have. In this
part of the identification we can tell
by the difference in colors. Darker
colors will be mafic and lighter colors
felsic.

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Industrial Use
Due to the grain size and the
chemical composition of these rocks
they are able to withstand an
abundance amount of heat and
pressure. For this reason they are
used for different types of utilities. As
an example diorite and granite are
mostly found in kitchen counter tops.
The minerals that this rocks portray,
when the rock is cut and polished, will
show a clean stone for it to be use in
kitchens. Another example is
kimberlite this type of rocks is
common because diamonds are
commonly found within the rock.

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Kitchen Countertop in a
Granite stone

Extrusive Rocks
This
of
are

type
rocks
also

known as volcanic rocks, they are

formed as they get expose in the
earth surface thru cooling processes.
The magma, which is brought to the

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surface solidifies at a faster rate than

of the intrusive rocks. For that reasons
rocks will be smoother and fine

grained.
Examples of extrusive rocks
Basalt
Pumice
Obsidian

Obsidian, vitric texture

Texture and Composition

Extrusive rocks will be consider to
have vitric, vesicular and aphanitic
textures, in here the minerals are too

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tiny to be seen with the eye. A hand

lens will be required in order to
identify the minerals if available.
The vitric will have a glassy looking
form consisting entirely of volcanic
glass.
The vesicular will have a cheese
looking form. This happens in the
cooling process when gas bubbles are
trapped in the magma while
solidifying.
The aphanitic texture will have very
small minerals that are very hard to
be seen.
These rocks will maintain the same
composition as of the intrusive rocks.
Darker rocks will be ultramafic while
lighter colors will be more colorful.

Industrial Use

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These types of rocks have a variety of

usage. An example is pumice, this
rock is always present in beauty
salons it is commonly used during the
pedicure process to remove dry and
excess skin from the bottom of the
foot. Another example is obsidian,
obsidian is used by some surgeons for
blades because of its sharp edges
that are a great source for piercing
the skin.

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Pumice, used for skin care

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Summary
Igneous
Rocks

Intrusive

Extrusive

Phaneritic

Felsic

Intermediat
e

Mafic

Ultramafic

Granite

Diorite

Gabbro

Peridotite

Vitric

Vesicular

Aphanitic

Obsidian

Pumice

Basalt

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Seating on a pumice igneous rock,

overlooking the Rio Grande Rift.