Classification of Igneous Rocks

The most abundant elements in the crust are oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium. These eight elements account for 99 per cent of the crust. Since oxygen is by far the dominant anion, rock compositions are usually reported as oxides rather than as separate elements. Most minerals can be written as combinations of the oxides. For example, K-feldspar (KAlSi3O8) can be written as 1/2(K2O + Al2O3 + 3SiO2) The most abundant oxide by far is SiO2, so the first question petrologists ask in classifying igneous rocks ishow much silica is present? Is there so much that after all other minerals are accounted for, silica is left over to form quartz? Or is there so little that silica deficient minerals like olivine, leucite or nepheline are present? The most abundant oxide by far is SiO2, so the first question petrologists ask in classifying igneous rocks ishow much silica is present? Is there so much that after all other minerals are accounted for, silica is left over to form quartz? Or is there so little that silica deficient minerals like olivine, leucite or nepheline are present? That leaves Mg, Fe and minor constituents. The third question petrologists ask in classifying igneous rocks is what other minerals are present? As a student, I was puzzled and frustrated that the igneous rocks were classified on the basis of minerals that looked so much alike in thin section. However, to a practiced petrologist, quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase are quite distinct and easily recognizable. Apart from accounting for most of the major elements, there's another reason we define igneous rocks in terms of quartz and the feldspars. Relatively minor influences like water content can drastically change the ferromagnesian minerals in a rock. A very anhydrous magma might form the ferromagnesian pyroxene hypersthene. With a bit more water, the otherwise identical magma might form the amphibole actinolite or biotite mica.

Important Classes of Igneous Rocks

The silica and aluminum contents of igneous rocks can be placed in broad classes: Silica content

Oversaturated rocks are those with quartz.

Undersaturated rocks are those with silica-deficient minerals that are incompatible with quartz. These minerals include corundum, olivine, leucite and nepheline. Aluminum content

Peraluminous rocks are those with an excess of aluminum, so that after the feldspars form, excess aluminum remains to form aluminum-rich minerals like corundum, andalusite, kyanite, sillimanite, or garnet. Peralkaline rocks are those with so little aluminum that sodium or potassium are left over after the feldspars form. The most common indications of peralkaline rocks are the sodium pyroxene aegerine (acmite) and the sodium amphibole riebeckite.

IUGS Igneous rock names

Oversaturated rocks can be plotted on a triangle diagram with its vertices occupied by quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase. Undersaturated rocks can contain alkali feldspar and plagioclase, but not quartz. Instead they contain minerals like leucite or nepheline. These minerals were once called feldspathoids, a name that aptly describes their "ecological niche" since they perform the role of feldspars but form instead because of insufficient silica. In modern petrological classification, these minerals are termed "foids", a meaningless name that describes nothing. Undersaturated rocks can also be plotted on a triangle diagram with vertices occupied by foids, alkali feldspar and plagioclase.

Oversaturated rocks can be plotted on a triangle diagram with its vertices occupied by quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase. Undersaturated rocks can contain alkali feldspar and plagioclase, but not quartz. Instead they contain minerals like leucite or nepheline. These minerals were once called feldspathoids, a name that aptly describes their "ecological niche" since they perform the role of feldspars but form instead because of insufficient silica. In modern petrological classification, these minerals are termed "foids", a meaningless name that describes nothing. Undersaturated rocks can also be plotted on a triangle diagram with vertices occupied by foids, alkali feldspar and plagioclase.

Since the two triangles have alkali feldspar and plagioclase in common, it is customary to join the two base to base with alkali feldspar and plagioclase along the common edge and quartz and foids at the top and bottom vertices. The two triangles are mutually exclusive.

In the diagram here, broad families of rocks (granitic rocks, syenite, gabbro) are shown by common colors. The term "alkali feldspar" refers to K-feldspar or albite (less than 10% anorthite). These feldspars form a fairly complete solid solution series. Any plagioclase richer than 10% anorthite is considered plagioclase.

Gabbroic Rocks Rocks with mostly plagioclase are termed gabbro or diorite. There are several subcategories of these rocks. Rocks with less than 5 per cent ferromagnesian minerals (i.e. mostly made of plagioclase) are termedanorthosite. Rocks with over 40 % ferromagnesian minerals are generally termed gabbro. Rocks with 5-40 percent ferromagnesian minerals are termed diorite if their feldspar consists of less than 50 percent anorthite, or leucogabbro (leuco- is a Greek prefix meaning light or white) if their feldspar consists of more than 50 percent anorthite.

Ultramafic Rocks

Rocks containing more than 90 per cent ferromagnesian minerals are classified on the basis of their dark minerals. If the ferromagnesian minerals consist only of olivine and pyroxene, they are classified on the basis of their contents of olivine, orthopyroxene (usually enstatite or hypersthene) and clinopyroxene (usually augite). Of these rocks, three are especially important. Dunite virtually never forms directly from a dunite melt, but almost always as the result of magmatic segregation. Harzburgite and lherzolite are the dominant rock types of the uppermost mantle.

If hornblende is present as well, the classification is based on the relative amounts of olivine, pyroxene and amphibole. Rocks consisting of more than 90 percent of any component are termed dunite, pyroxenite or hornblendite, respectively. Rocks consisting of mostly olivine are termed peridotite. (Peridot is the name of a gem variety of olivine.)

Volcanic Rocks Volcanic rocks are classified in almost exactly the same way as plutonic rocks. The principal difference is that volcanic rock names are substituted for their plutonic equivalents:
Plutonic Rock Granite Granodiorite Tonalite Syenite Monzonite Diorite Gabbro Volcanic Equivalent Rhyolite Dacite Quartz Andesite Trachyte Latite Andesite Basalt

Monzogabbro (or diorite) Latite-basalt (or andesite)

Volcanic rocks of extreme foid or ultramafic composition are extremely rare.

LeMaitre Plot
This plot combines silica saturation on the horizontal axis with peraluminous-peralkaline classification on the vertical. It's useful when rocks are too fine-grained for reliable mineral identification, have been metamorphosed, and so on.

Igneous Rock Classification

Igneous rocks: very diverse in chemistry and texture, yet they have very gradational boundaries (Table 3-7). We must pick a rational basis for classifying them. The

classification system used, will depend on how much we know about the rock being examined. Basis for Classification 1) Field and hand specimen examination: texture, colour etc. 2) Chemical Data: rock chemistry. 3) Petrographic examination: mineral identification Examine these classification systems in more detail. 1) Field and hand specimen examination The most primitive classifications are based on rock characteristics such as: a) Extrusive or Intrusive (grain size) Extrusive Volcanic rocks are formed near the earths surface. They are fine grained to glassy except for coarser grained pheoncrysts (which formed at depth before eruption). Eg volcanic flows or ashes. 64

Igneous Rock Classification cont

Intrusive Hypabyssal rocks are formed at shallow depths (less than 1 km). They are fine grained, may contain phenocrysts. Eg tabular dykes or sills. (Often lumped with volcanics because of similarity). Intrusive Plutonic rocks form at depth greater than 1 km. They are medium to coarse grained. Eg granite diorite etc. (also often used for regional metamorphic rocks formed at depth such as granite gneiss). b) Colour index (% of dark minerals) c) Other features visible to the naked eye. Eg phenocrysts, vesicles, flow banding, cumulate textures etc. 2) Chemical Classification As technology improves, the use of chemical classification has become more common, easier and cheaper. Eg 30 years ago 10 major elements cost about $100. Now you get the same analysis, REE and some minor elements for $10.Geologists use an informal classification of major elements and minor elements: 65

Igneous Rock Classification cont

a) Major Elements: make up the bulk of the rock. Eg Si, Al, Fe2+, Fe3+, Mn. Mg, Ca, K, Na, P, Ti, H2O. b) Minor elements: present in ppm quantities. Eg Cr, Ni, Zr, Rb, Sr, REEs. Chemistry is most useful when dealing with altered and very fine grained rocks. In general, if you test a suite of rocks, the boundary between rock types becomes less arbitrary. Chemistry of igneous rocks is reported in % oxides (Table 3-7). Note the ranges for most rocks. SiO235-75% (basalts 45-50%, granites 70%, Ultramafic 3040%

Al2O3 5-20%TiO20-5%CO20-5% MgO 1-40%Na20.5-5%MnO 0-0.5% CaO 1-20%K2O 0-5%P2O50-0.5% Fetot1-15%H2O 0.2-5% Now we can apply one of a number of classifications: A] Classification based on Silica Percentage 66

Igneous Rock Classification cont

This can be combined with Table 3-3 with leucocratic being applied to felsic rocks, mesocratic being applied to intermediate rocks and melanocratic being applied to mafic and ultramafic rocks. Problems arise with this classification system because you are comparing a chemical system (SiO2%) with a system based on % of dark minerals. You sometimes run into problems: nepheline syenite is considered a felsic rock yet it does not contain >66% SiO2. B] Silica Saturation As SiO2is so abundant, a classification can also be based on the presence or absence of various mineral phases which reflect the SiO2content in relation to the other chemical components. Typical saturated minerals that can occur with free quartz include feldspar, Al & Ti poor pyroxene, amphibole, mica, almandine garnet. Typical undersaturated minerals that are not stable in the presence of free SiO2include leucite, nephelene, sodalite, olivine, melanite garnet, corundum, Al & Ti rich clinopyroxene. 67

Igneous Rock Classification cont

Classification Oversaturatedrocks -have quartz and tridimite in abundance Saturatedrocks -have no free quartz and no undersaturated minerals Undersaturatedrocks -have no quartz and have undersaturated minerals. This system is therefore based primarily on relationships of silica content to the rest of the rock. C] Alumina Saturation Based on Al2O3similar to the SiO2classification system 68 Peraluminous: molecular proportion of Al2O3exceeds the sum of CaO, Na2O and K2O. For plagioclase + alkali feldspar, this ratio is about 1:1. Any Al2O3that is left over goes in to forming corundum. These rocks tend to be mica rich.

Igneous Rock Classification cont

69 Metaluminous: molecular proportion of Al2O3exceeds the sum of Na2O and K2O, but is less that the sum of Na2O, K2O and CaO. These rocks tend to be rich in anorthite and usually also contain hornblende, epidote, biotite and pyroxene. Subaluminous: molecular proportion of Al2O3is approximately equal to the sum of Na2O and K2O. These rocks tend to form alkali feldspar and a little Ca plagioclase and usually contain olivine and pyroxenes. Peralkaline : molecular proportion of Al2O3is less than the sum of Na2O and K2O. There is insufficient alumina to use all the Na2O and K2O by making feldspar. The free alkalis become incorporated into alkali rich ferromagnesium minerals such as aegerine or reibeckite. D] Alkali-Lime Index This system tells us about the alkalinity of the rocks.

Igneous Rock Classification cont

70 E] Common Chemical X-Y and Ternary Plots Typically, for X-Y plots you plot oxides against a common or stable or highly variable component. Which components to plot depends on experience and what you wish to know.
Tholeiitic basalts -ophiolites, ocean floor, greenstone belts. Alkali basalts -crustal melts, Hawaii

orFigure 3-6 plots CaO vs SiO2and Na2O+K2O vs SiO2. Since CaO usually decreases as Na2O+K2O increases with respect to SiO2, therefore the curves cross. The SiO2content, at the point at which the curves cross, indicates the alkalinity of therock suite.or Figure 6-16 -normalized REE

Igneous Rock Classification cont

71Common Ternary Plots -3 component systemsa) A(B)FM Diagram(J.B.Thompson 1957)A=Al2O3B=K2OF=FeOM=MgOb) ACF Diagram(Eskola early 1900s)A=Al2O3+Fe2O3(Na2O+K2O)C=CaOF=MgO+FeO+MnOc) AKF Diagram(Eskola, early 1900s)A=Al2O3(CaO+Na2O+K2O)K=K2OF=FeO+MgO+MnO

Igneous Rock Classification cont

72

These plots are used to easily and clearly distinguish different rock types. They are particularly useful for fine grained or altered rocks where identification can be difficult. Some of these ternary plots (Figures 6-20 and 6-16) are specific for a particular rock type: Ti-Zr-Y(Sr) Diagram for basalts. Field A+B are low K tholeitic, field B are ocean floor basalts, field B+C are calcalkali basalts and field D are oceanic island or continental basalts. These are all relatively immobile trace elements. These diagrams are useful if the original environment is scrambled. Eg: ocean floor basalts thrust onto the continent; basalts within the plate (oceanic or continental) VS plate margin (ocean ridge to ocean floor).

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3) Classification based on Petrographic Examination Thin sections of rocks are relatively easy to make and identification of rocks based on the mineralogy observed is possible. Rules: a) Make sure the thin section is representative of the rock. b) Identify the major components of mineralogy and estimate their relative proportions. c) Use proportions to classify the rock according to a scheme. Any scheme is somewhat arbitrary. See handout and Streckeisen. Criteria which are important: 1) Proportion of mafic to felsic components 2) Composition of the plagioclase 3) Proportion of alkali feldspar to plagioclase 4) Presence or absence of quartz 5) Presence or absence of feldspathoid minerals 6) Grain size or texture (extrusive or intrusive)

Igneous Rock Classification cont

74 Discussion -In general a) These methods are time consuming but relatively straight forward for coarse grained rocks. c) Volcanic rocks are harder to identify mineralogy. Grains are small and difficult to identify petrographically. c) Glassy rocks -often impossible to identify mineralogy petrographically. d) Altered rocks -Bad news, the system can break down. Some problems related to some classification schemes: i) No subdivisions of granites or rhyolites. All just felsic rich acidic rocks. ii) No subdivisions of basalts and andesites. Need further rules. iii) Lack of description for mafic rocks in general.

Igneous Rock Classification

Streckeisen Classification System In 1967 Albert Streckeisen, with the cooperation of many geologists in many countries, came up with a generally accepted rock classification system. The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) modified and expanded his work to form what is an internationally accepted igneous rock classification system. In order to use this system, you must be able to determine the percentage of five minerals (or mineral groups): quartz, plagioclase, alkali feldspars, ferromagnesian minerals and feldspathoids (such as nepheline or leucite). The Q (or F) , A and P mineral percentage is recalculated to add to 100% and is plotted on the triangular plot.

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Igneous Rock Classification

Streckeisen Classification System 76

Igneous Rock Classification

R o Streckeisen Classification System c k The plagioclase rich area of the s diagram has some additional th requirements for rock distinction. at For plutonic rocks: anorthosite d is a rock containing >90% o plagioclase, gabbro contains plagioclase more calcic than n An50 and usually contains >35% t mafic minerals (augite, fi hypersthene or olivine), Diorite t contains plagioclase more sodic th than An50 and usually contains e >35% mafic minerals I (hornblende or hypersthene augite). U For volcanic rocks: the G distinction between basalt and S andesite is bases on the silica C content. A rock with >52% la SiO2is andesite while one with ss <52% SiO2is basalt. if

ication Ultramafic Rocks

Ultramafic rocks (containing more than 90% mafic minerals) are classified by alternative methods. Some of the most common types are defined as follows: Peridotite: a rock containing 40-100% olivine, with the remainder mainly pyroxene and/or hornblende. Dunite: a rock containing 90100% olivine with the remainder mainly pyroxene. 77

There are a few rocks that dont fit the IUGS classification system that are named on the basis of texture, with mineral content being of secondary consideration. Some of the more important of these are defined as follows: Pegmatite: a very coarse grained (>1 cm) rock with interlocking grains. Usually granitic in composition. Obsidian: a black volcanic glass with conchoidal fracture, rhyolitic in composition. Tuff: a compacted deposit of ash and dust containing up to 50% sedimentary material.Ultramafic Rocks contPyroxenite: a rock composed mainly of pyroxene with the remainder olivine and/or hornblende.Hornblendite: a rock composed mainly of hornblende with the remainder mainly pyroxene and/or olivine .78

Breccia: Similar to a tuff, but with large angular fragments in a fine matrix. There are also few well recognized igneous rocks that are found in a highly altered state. The alteration is related to their method of origin. Some of the more important of these are defined as follows: Spilite: an altered, usually vesicular basalt exhibiting pillow structures. Feldspars have been altered to albite and is usually found with chlorite, calcite, epidote, chalcedony or prehnite. Serpentinite: a rock containing almost entirely serpentine (from the alteration of olivine and pyroxene). Kimberlite: an altered porphyritic mica peridotite containing olivine (altered to serpentine or a carbonate mineral) and phlogopite (commonly altered to chlorite). Some also contain diamonds. 79

Igneous Rock Classification cont

There are rock classification systems that attempt to combine chemistry and mineralogy. In this case, you take the chemistry data and transform it into theoretical mineralogy. This is called the CIPW Normative Classification(Cross, Iddings, Pirsson and Washington). The norms are based on molecules of ideal composition. Methodology A] Convert % oxides into molecular proportions wt% oxide formula wt = Molecular Proportion Eg SiO272.67 60.09 = 1.211 B] Allocate molecular proportions to minerals using the following rules: 1) Apatite is one of the first minerals to precipitate. All P is in apatite. 2) Allocate Fe2O3, FeO to magnetite. The limiting factor is the total amount of Fe2O3. Molecular proportion of Fe2O3= Molecular proportion of FeO. 3) Make pure Orthoclae, Albite and Anorthite. Eg: Orthoclase 1K2O 1Al2O36SiO2 4) Use remaining Al2O3making Corundum

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Igneous Rock Classification cont

5) Allocate remaining FeO, MgO to hypersthene. Molecular proportion of FeO+MgO = molecular proportion of SiO2. 6) Allocate the remaining SiO2to quartz. C] Once the molecular fraction has been calculated for each mineral, multiply through by the atomic weight of that mineral. This will give you a proportion (5) of each mineral species. Limitations: Often Severe 1) Can only calculate anhydrous species, therefore biotite and amphiboles are ignored. 2) normative mineralogy will not equal modal mineralogy 3) Theoretical end members are used which may not match actual members present. 4) FeO/Fe2O3allocation can cause problems. It is assigned to magnetite but what about other iron minerals and iron in silicate structures? 81