Latest Igneous rocks Stories
After lying dormant underneath a glacier since 2004, a volcano in Iceland began spewing steam, ash and smoke into the upper atmosphere on Sunday. Despite the impressive show, this eruption is less likely to endanger air traffic as a similar eruption last did last year. Closing the main airport in the country as a precaution, pilots were warned to steer clear of Iceland as areas close to the Grimsvotn (GREEMSH-votn) volcano were plunged into darkness. Scientists, however, explain that another...
VANCOUVER, May 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Magma Energy Corp. ("Magma") (TSX: MXY) and Plutonic Power Corporation ("Plutonic") (TSX: PCC) today announced the completion of the merger of Magma and Plutonic pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement"). As previously announced, the Arrangement was approved by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on May 9, 2011. Pursuant to the Arrangement, Magma has acquired all of the outstanding shares of Plutonic on the basis of 2.38...
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New data analysis from NASA's Galileo spacecraft reveals a subsurface ocean of molten or partially molten magma beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The finding heralds the first direct confirmation of this kind of magma layer at Io and explains why the moon is the most volcanic object known in the solar system. The research was conducted by scientists at the...
NASA said on Thursday that its Galileo spacecraft has revealed a subsurface ocean of molten, or partially molten, magma beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io. The research is the first direct confirmation of this kind of magma layer at Io and explains why the moon is the most volcanic object known in the solar system. "Scientists are excited we finally understand where Io's magma is coming from and have an explanation for some of the mysterious signatures we saw in some of...
VANCOUVER, May 2 /PRNewswire/ - Magma Energy Corp. (TSX: MXY) today announced that its 2011 third quarter results will be released on Thursday, May 12th , 2011 after markets close. A conference call and live audio webcast to discuss the results will be held on Friday, May 13th, 2011 at 11:30 am ET (8:30 am PT). Fiscal Year 2011 Q3 Results Conference Call and Webcast Information Date: Friday, May 13, 2011 Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time - 8:30 am Pacific Time Dial-In Numbers:...
VANCOUVER, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Magma Energy Corp. (TSX: MXY) ("Magma") is pleased to announce that its shareholders approved at a special meeting held yesterday all resolutions in connection with its proposed merger with Plutonic Power Corporation ("Plutonic") announced on March 7, 2011 (the "Arrangement"). In particular, Magma's shareholders approved the issuance of up to 156,202,213 common shares of Magma (the "Arrangement Resolution") in connection with the...
A new study finds that the closing of some European airports last year during and after volcanic eruptions in Iceland was the proper thing to do, and may have saved lives.The eruption of ash from Eyjafjallajokull resulted in the largest closure of European airspace since World War II, with losses estimated at around $2 billion.Concerns about aircraft safety during the eruptions were well founded, as ash particles from the initial phase of the eruptions were particularly abrasive, posing a...
The composition of a vast plume of hot rock and briny fluid 200 miles beneath Yellowstone National Park's surface has been mapped, a soon-to-be published study says.Researchers are able to receive a clear picture of the type of material that activates Yellowstone's volcanic features through these "geoelectric" images of the plume, says study co-author Robert B. Smith, professor emeritus at the University of Utah and coordinating scientist of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory."This is the...
Conductivity image hints volcano plume is bigger than thoughtUniversity of Utah geophysicists made the first large-scale picture of the electrical conductivity of the gigantic underground plume of hot and partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. The image suggests the plume is even bigger than it appears in earlier images made with earthquake waves."It's like comparing ultrasound and MRI in the human body; they are different imaging technologies," says geophysics...
The Kilauea volcano that recently erupted on the Big Island of Hawaii will be the target for a NASA study to help scientists better understand processes occurring under Earth's surface.A NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft equipped with a synthetic aperture radar developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., departed on Sunday, April 3, from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., to the Big Island for a nine-day mission.The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle...
Latest Igneous rocks Reference Libraries
Biotite is a common phyllosilicate mineral that contains potassium, magnesium, iron and aluminium. It is sometimes called "iron mica" and is found in granitic rocks, gneisses, and schists. Like other mica minerals, biotite has a highly perfect basal cleavage, its flexible sheets easily flaking off. It has a hardness of 2.5 - 3, a specific gravity of 2.7 - 3.1, is colored greenish to brown or black, and can be transparent to opaque. Biotite is occasionally found in large sheets, especially in...
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar (typically andesine), hornblende, and/or pyroxene. Varieties deficient in hornblende and other dark minerals are called leucodiorite. It is often described as "salt and pepper" when composed largely of light-colored minerals randomly interspersed with dark minerals. When olivine and more iron-rich augite are present, the rock grades into ferrodiorite, which is transitional to...
Gabbro is a dark, coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock chemically equivalent to basalt. It is a plutonic rock, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools slowly into a hard, coarsely crystalline mass. It is dense, greenish or dark-colored and contains varied percentages of plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, amphibole, and olivine (called olivine gabbro when olivine is present in large quantities). Quartz gabbros are also known to occur and are probably derived...
Peridotite is a dense, coarse grained ultrabasic rock, consisting mainly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is also a group of mantle derived igneous rocks. They all are ultramafic or ultrabasic meaning they contain less than 45% silica and are high in iron and magnesium. Members of the peridotite family include: Dunite - predominately composed of olivine, with minor enstatite pyroxene and chromite. Harzburgite - composed of olivine, enstatite, and minor chromite....
Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. Mineral assembly is usually quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase (in a ratio > 1:2). Biotite and pyroxene are common accessory minerals. Rhyolite can be considered as the extrusive equivalent to the plutonic granite rock. Due to their high content of silica, rhyolite form highly viscous lavas. They can also occur as breccias or in volcanic necks and dikes. Like obsidian,...
