Magma
hideMagma is molten rock that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and may also exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles. Magma often collects in a magma chamber inside a volcano. Magma is capable of intrusion into adjacent rocks, extrusion onto the surface as lava, and explosive ejection as tephra to form pyroclastic rock.
Magma is a complex high-temperature fluid substance. Temperatures of most magmas are in the range 700°C to 1300°C (or 1292°F to 2372°F), but very rare carbonatite melts may be as cool as 600°C, and komatiite melts may have been as hot as 1600°C. Most are silicate solutions.
Environments of magma formation and compositions are commonly correlated. Environments include subduction zones, continental rift zones, mid-oceanic ridges, and hotspots, some of which are interpreted as mantle plumes. Despite being found in such widespread locales, the bulk of the Earth's crust and mantle is not molten. Rather, most of the Earth takes the form of a rheid, a form of solid that can move or deform under pressure. Magma, as liquid, preferentially forms in high temperature, low pressure environments within several kilometers of the Earth's surface.
Magma compositions may evolve after formation by fractional crystallization, contamination, and magma mixing. By definition, all igneous rock is formed from magma.
While the study of magma has historically relied on observing magma in the form of lava outflows, magma was discovered in situ for the first time in 2008.
For more information about Magma, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with magma
Volcanic Quakes Help Forecast Eruptions
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
6 hours ago |
2.3 / 5 (3) |
2
Monitoring the earthquakes caused from magma movements inside an active volcano could help to improve the accuracy of forecasting an eruption.
Philippine volcano gets louder, could erupt soon
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 21, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
(AP) -- Philippine troops on Monday pressed the last 3,000 villagers who have refused to heed government warnings to leave the danger zone around a volcano that experts say is ready to erupt.
Yellowstone's plumbing exposed
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (48) |
18
(PhysOrg.com) -- The most detailed seismic images yet published of the plumbing that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano shows a plume of hot and molten rock rising at an angle from the northwest at a depth ...
Pre-eruption earthquakes offer clues to volcano forecasters
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 16, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
1
Like an angry dog, a volcano growls before it bites, shaking the ground and getting "noisy" before erupting. This activity gives scientists an opportunity to study the tumult beneath a volcano and may help ...
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Most of 47,000 Filipinos safe from raging volcano
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
17 hours ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(AP) -- Almost all of the 47,000 residents living on the slopes of a rumbling volcano in the central Philippines have moved to emergency shelters, and lava and earthquakes Tuesday heralded what officials ...
More Filipinos leave homes as volcano spills lava
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 18, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
(AP) -- Security forces in army trucks Friday sent about 3,000 residents outside the danger zone surrounding the smoldering Mayon volcano, which looked set for a major eruption after days of shooting ash ...
Hawaiian hot spot has deep roots
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 03, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (11) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Hawaii may be paradise for vacationers, but for geologists it has long been a puzzle. Plate tectonic theory readily explains the existence of volcanoes at boundaries where plates split apart ...
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