TAs: _____/_____Date _________

Name _____________________________/ID#__________

Time In ____________

Prof/Class Time ________________________/__________

Time Out __________

Reminder no more than 2 people per group, working by yourself is acceptable

Igneous Rocks and Volcanic Activity

Introduction
Volcanoes are mountains, but they are very different from other mountains; they are not formed by folding and
crumpling or by uplift and erosion. Instead, volcanoes are built by the accumulation of their own eruptive
products, such as: lava, bombs (crusted over lava blobs), ash flows, and tephra (airborne ash and dust). A
volcano is most commonly a conical hill or mountain built around a vent that connects with reservoirs of molten
rock below the surface of the Earth.
Driven by buoyancy and gas pressure the molten rock, which is less dense than the surrounding solid rock,
forces its way upward and may ultimately break through zones of weakness in the Earths crust. If so, an
eruption begins, and the molten rock may pour from the vent as non-explosive lava flows, or it may shoot
violently into the air as dense clouds of lava fragments. Larger fragments fall back around the vent, and
accumulations of fallback fragments may move down-slope as ash flows under the force of gravity. Some of the
finer ejected materials may be carried by the wind only to fall to the ground many kilometers away.
Parts I & II of this lab introduces you to the interpretation of some basic volcanic features using topographic
maps. In Part III you will gain experience in igneous rock classification based upon two easily observable
properties: rock texture (primarily resulting from the cooling history of the rock) and mineral composition. (See
Marshak p. 97 for more information).

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PART I. CASCADE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

1.Which one of the Cascade volcanoes has erupted most often over the last 4000 years?
_______________________________
2.a. Over the last 4,000 years, how many times has Mt. Hood erupted?
_______________________________
b. On average, how often has it erupted (what is the frequency, your units should be in years)?
_______________________________
3.Which Cascade volcanoes are considered to be dormant? (For our purposes, if a volcano has not erupted in the last 4,000
years, consider it dormant)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
4.In a few words, explain why the Cascade Range extends from California to Washington in a nearly straight line. (Think in
terms of the interaction of tectonic plates causing this chain of volcanoes, why does it stop in California?).

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

PART II. TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS

Mount St. Helens QUADRANGLES
There are two maps in this part of the lab, one at a scale of 1:24,000 printed in 1983, and one at a scale of 1:62,500 printed
in 1958. Please refer to these two maps in order to answer the following questions.
1. What type of volcano is Mount St. Helens? (Hint: Look at scale on 1:62500 map)
________________________________________
2. What is the highest elevation on the 1983 map in ft? (Hint look for benchmarks x on ridge)
________________________________________
3a. What is the highest elevation on the 1958 map in ft?
________________________________________
b. How much difference is there between the 1958 and 1983 elevations in ft?
________________________________________

________________________________________
b. What evidence on the map suggests which way this lateral blast was directed?

___________________________________________________________________________________________
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4a. During the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the volcano initially erupted in an outward, horizontally directed blast.
Was this lateral blast directed north, south, east or west? Look for the lowest point along the crater rim, elevation is
labeled on the bold contour lines (look carefully)

MENAN BUTTES QUADRANGLE

1. The Menan Buttes are examples of what type of volcano? (Note the scale of the map and the features)
_______________________________________
2. What is the geologic term for the depression at the summit of each volcano?
_______________________________________
3. Using the map as evidence, which direction was the wind blowing at the time of eruption? (Hint: notice that
the buttes are not completely circular in shape. What does this mean?)
_______________________________________

PART III. IDENTIFYING IGNEOUS ROCKS

Section 1. Rocks on counter top (Samples 1-10)

1. _____________________________________

6. _____________________________________

2. _____________________________________

7. _____________________________________

3. _____________________________________

8. _____________________________________

4. _____________________________________

9. _____________________________________

5. _____________________________________

10. _____________________________________

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The appearance of an igneous rock, whether it is the texturethe size, shape and arrangement of mineral grains
within a rockor the overall shape of the rock itself, tells us a great deal about the history and formation of the
igneous rock, as well as giving us the means to distinguish the rock from rocks of similar composition but with
different histories of formation. For example, basalt and gabbro, two igneous rocks with similar mineral
composition have very different texturesone is more coarse-grained than the other because it cooled at a
much slower rate. Examine the igneous rock samples (1 - 10) and provide the feature or textural name in the
space provided for each sample. You will use the following terms: aa, aphanitic texture, columnar jointing,
glassy texture, pahoehoe, phaneritic texture, porphyritic texture, pegmatitic texture, vesicular texture and
volcanic bomb.

Section 2. Rocks on Your Benchtop (Samples A J)

Grain size:- grain size is the relative size of the crystals (choices: not crystaline, fine, coarse, or fine and coarse).
Texture: the appearance of the rock (choices: phaneritic, aphanitic, porphyritic, glassy, vesicular)
Volcanic or Plutonic: volcanic is extruded above the surface; plutonic is cooled under the surface. This is
determined by the grain size and texture of the sample. See Marshak p 104.
Color Index- the color index is the average color make-up of the rock (choices: light, gray, black or green).
Magma Type/Composition: this is based on the color index of the mineral assemblages (choices: felsic,
intermediate, mafic, ultramafic).
Rock Name: after identifying all of these features identify the rock by name (choices: porphyritic andesite,
basalt, diorite, gabbro, granite, peridotite, rhyolite, vesicular basalt, pumice, or obsidian). (See Marshak p
110).
Sample

Grain Size

Texture

Volcanic or
Plutonic

Color Index

Magma Type/
Composition

Rock Name

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