Mafic




Silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in magnesium and iron



Basalt


Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in magnesium and iron, and is thus a portmanteau of magnesium and ferric.[1] Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include basalt, diabase and gabbro. Mafic rocks often also contain calcium-rich varieties of plagioclase feldspar.


Chemically, mafic rocks are enriched in iron, magnesium and calcium and typically dark in color. In contrast the felsic rocks are typically light in color and enriched in aluminium and silicon along with potassium and sodium. The mafic rocks also typically have a higher density than felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the older basic rock class.


Mafic lava, before cooling, has a low viscosity, in comparison with felsic lava, due to the lower silica content in mafic magma. Water and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava. As a result, eruptions of volcanoes made of mafic lavas are less explosively violent than felsic-lava eruptions. Most mafic-lava volcanoes are shield volcanoes,[citation needed] like those in Hawaii.



















































Rock texture
Name of mafic rock

Pegmatitic

Gabbro pegmatite
Coarse grained (phaneritic)

Gabbro
Coarse grained and porphyritic
Porphyritic gabbro
Medium grained

Diabase or Dolerite, Microgabbro
Fine grained (aphanitic)

Basalt
Fine grained and porphyritic
Porphyritic basalt

Pyroclastic

Basalt tuff or breccia

Vesicular
Vesicular basalt

Amygdaloidal
Amygdaloidal basalt
Many small vesicles

Scoria
Glassy texture

Tachylyte, sideromelane, palagonite


See also



  • QAPF diagram

  • List of minerals

  • List of rock types

  • Bowen's reaction series



References





  1. ^ Schlumberger: Oilfield Glossary










Popular posts from this blog

Y

Mount Tamalpais

Indian Forest Service