Igneous rocks can form anywhere, but some, like granite and gabbro, have particularly large crystals (perhaps 5 or more mm across). These are intrusive rocks, and as they are insulated by a lot of rock around them, cool very slowly, forming large crystals. They form deep, often a few kilometres, below the surface of the earth.
Intrusively.
Rocks with easily visible mineral crystals are called macrocrystalline or said to possess a phaneritic texture.
Poikilitic texture refers to crystals, typically phenocrysts, in an igneous rock which contain small grains of other minerals. The texture is most easily observed in petrographic thin sections.
Igneous rocks are formed when magma crystallizes and cools into a solid form. There are two types of igneous rocks--intrusive igneous rocks and extrusive igneous rocks.Intrusive:Intrusive igneous rocks are formed when the melted rock (magma) slowly rises toward, but does not reach the surface. As these pockets of magma cool slowly underground, minerals crystallize and the magma solidifies, becoming intrusive igneous rock, like granite and gabbro.Extrusive:Igneous rocks are also formed when volcanoes erupt, causing the magma to rise above the Earth's surface. When magma appears above the surface, it is called lava. Extrusive igneous rocks are formed as the lava cools above ground. Examples of extrusive igneous rock are basalt, rhyolite, pumice, and scoria.igneous rocks are formed by lavaWell When melted rock cools quickly, it hardens before any mineral crystals can grow large. as a result, igneous rocks that form above ground have small or no crystals :)Igneous Rocks are made of magma and lava because it comes out of a volcanoFrom volcanoes.from lava cooling.Molten rock cools and turns solid.
No igneous rock flows easily. However, basaltic lava can flow easily, has a relatively low silica content, and turns into basalt, the rock, when solidified.
Intrusively.
== Grain size. Most intrusive igneous rocks will have visible crystals. Crystals in most extrusive igneous rocks are not easily visible.
Rocks with easily visible mineral crystals are called macrocrystalline or said to possess a phaneritic texture.
Metamorphic rocks that consist of only one mineral and have large interlocking crystals often have a coarse-grained texture. This means that the individual mineral grains are easily visible to the naked eye. Examples of such rocks include quartzite (formed from quartz) and marble (formed from calcite).
Poikilitic texture refers to crystals, typically phenocrysts, in an igneous rock which contain small grains of other minerals. The texture is most easily observed in petrographic thin sections.
Igneous rocks are formed when magma crystallizes and cools into a solid form. There are two types of igneous rocks--intrusive igneous rocks and extrusive igneous rocks.Intrusive:Intrusive igneous rocks are formed when the melted rock (magma) slowly rises toward, but does not reach the surface. As these pockets of magma cool slowly underground, minerals crystallize and the magma solidifies, becoming intrusive igneous rock, like granite and gabbro.Extrusive:Igneous rocks are also formed when volcanoes erupt, causing the magma to rise above the Earth's surface. When magma appears above the surface, it is called lava. Extrusive igneous rocks are formed as the lava cools above ground. Examples of extrusive igneous rock are basalt, rhyolite, pumice, and scoria.igneous rocks are formed by lavaWell When melted rock cools quickly, it hardens before any mineral crystals can grow large. as a result, igneous rocks that form above ground have small or no crystals :)Igneous Rocks are made of magma and lava because it comes out of a volcanoFrom volcanoes.from lava cooling.Molten rock cools and turns solid.
Crystals are easy to classify because the minerals that they contain are easily identified. One example of this would be emeralds. Another example of a crystal is a diamond.
No igneous rock flows easily. However, basaltic lava can flow easily, has a relatively low silica content, and turns into basalt, the rock, when solidified.
Extrusive igneous rock: Obsidian. Quality of conchoidal fracture making them easily workable to a sharp edge for cutting tools or weapon points. Intrusive igneous rock: Granite. Quality of durability due to high crystalline quartz and feldspar mineral mix. Also beauty. Harder to work, but a great, long lasting building stone.
Hardness is the measure of how easily a mineral is scratched.
Talc is the softest mineral and can be scratched by any other mineral.
Obsidian is an extrusive rock and is formed from rapidly cooling magma. Obsidian is also known as volcanic glass and one can find only sub-microscopic crystals in it. This is because it was cooled too fastly for large crystals to form. If the material that obsidian consists of were an intrusive rock and had a lot of time to cool down, one would find that it would be composed of easily visible crystals.