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INTRUSIONS
Ardnamurchan, W. Scotland
IGNEOUS INTRUSIONS
Magma moves through joints, fractures and
between the crystals of the solid rock of the
crust and mantle.
When it reaches its freezing temperature, it
crystallises.
Dykes, sills and plutons are igneous bodies
that have cooled from magma beneath the
surface.
If the magma crystallises at depths of
20/30km it is called a plutonic rock and will
have large crystals.
INTRUSIONS
Intrusions crystallise within the country rock, which
can be igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.
The magma will follow a route which is at the least
pressure, usually along fractures or cracks.
If a sedimentary country rock has bedding planes
it is easy to see whether an intrusion of magma
has followed the bedding planes or cut across
them.
If magma cuts across bedding planes it is called a
DISCORDANT intrusion.
If magma follows bedding planes it is called a
CONCORDANT intrusion.
Dykes are
sheets of
igneous
rocks which
cut across
bedding
planes or
igneous or
metamorphi
c foliation.
Are they
discordant
or
concordant?
DISCORDANT
Lava flows
Gently
dipping
Jurassic beds
Dolerite dyke
Baked margin of sandstone is
hard because it has
Ardnamurchan, N.
W. Scotland
Dyke in S.
Arran cutting
through red
sandstone.
Chilled
margin in
dyke,
probably
basalt.
Baked margin
in sandstones
0.75
m
Dolerite dyke
Red
sandstone
baked
margin
dolerite
Corrie Shore, Arran
Describe the
baked
margin and
say how it
has been
altered by
the intrusion
of the
Chilled
margin
More resistant
dolerite
hard
metaquarzite
Country
rock is red
sandstone
Closely spaced
cooling joints
This
dyke
cuts
across a
previou
s
intrusio
n of
gabbro.
Rhum,
N.W.
Scotlan
0.5m
Rhum dyke
Gabbro
Dolerite
dyke
Dyke at
Dyke at Blackwaterfoot Beach,
Blackwaterfoot
The Arran
Beach, Arran
country
rock is red
sandstone
which is
usually
buried
under the
sand.
Cooling
joints
2.5m
Dolerite
in the
centre of
the dyke
edges to the
centre. As
they cool
they
contract
producing
cooling
joints.
These
usually run
in two
directions at
90o parallel
to the
cooling
surfaces.
Sills
dolerite
Carboniferous
sandstone
Contact of
Great Whin
Sill with
sandstones
, below
Bamburgh
Castle
Slightly
recrystallised
bedding planes
dolerite
CHILLED
MARGIN
BAKED
MARGIN
Carboniferous
sandstones
Scree made
of fallen
columns
Columnar
jointing
40m
Basalt
Quartz feldspar
porphyry
40m
Basalt
Country rock
of red
sandstones
BEDDING PLANES
Scree of fallen
columns
PLUTONS
Plutons are large sheets of igneous rock, up to
5-10km thick, that cooled 20-30km below the
surface.
The rocks that form plutons are always coarsegrained because they cooled slowly. Plutons
are usually made of granite, diorite or gabbro.
Cuillins, Skye
Cuillins
30c
m
Gabbro in
Skye
Basalt lava flows
on Eigg and Muck
THE END