| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (3rd ed) |
| Editors | R A Meyers |
| Place of Publication | San Diego |
| Publisher | Academic Press |
| Pages | 567-581pp |
| Volume | 17 |
| Edition | 3rd |
| ISBN (Print) | 0122274105 |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 |
Abstract
THE STUDY OF THE development, migration, crystallization, and solidification of molten rock constitutes igneous geology (from the Latin ignis meaning fire). Production of a liquid silicate, oxide, or sulfide requires the ambient temperature to exceed the appropriate local solidus. Thus igneous geology can be considered, in part, as the high-temperature extension of the study of metamorphic geology, which is concerned generally with processes of solid-state transformation of rocks, typically in the presence of a hydrous (and/or carbon dioxide-rich) fluid.