gabbro
Coarse basalt's cousin
Gabbro is a dark, coarse-grained igneous rock formed when magma cools slowly beneath Earth's surface.
It consists mainly of calcium-rich feldspar and pyroxene, giving it a speckled black-and-white appearance.
Gabbro is the plutonic equivalent of basalt—same composition, but with larger crystals due to slower cooling.
It's commonly found in oceanic crust and is sometimes used as a building stone.
Deep-crystallized igneous rock
- intrusiveInvading others' privacy
- magmaMolten rock underground
- crystallizationForming ordered solid structure
- solidificationTransition to firm state
batholith · dike · sill · chamber · subsurface · depths · cooling · emplacement
Rock-forming silicate group
- olivineGreen igneous rock mineral
- amphiboleDark inosilicate mineral group
- hornblendeCalcium-iron amphibole mineral
- feldsparSilicate mineral group
magnetite · apatite · titanite · zircon · labradorite · biotite
Solid earthen material
- igneousFormed from cooled magma
- mineralogyScience of inorganic solids
- geochemistryEarth's chemical makeup science
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
fieldwork · outcrop · quarry · specimen · rockhound · Stillwater · Duluth
Of the sea
- crustHard outer layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- seafloorOcean's solid base
- mid-ocean ridgeSubmarine volcanic mountain range
subduction · mantle · spreading · rift · plate · divergent · accretion
plutonic
Deep-crystallized igneous rock
- intrusiveInvading others' privacy
- magmaMolten rock underground
- crystallizationForming ordered solid structure
solidification · batholith · dike · sill · chamber · subsurface · depths · cooling · emplacement · cumulate
pyroxene
Rock-forming silicate group
- olivineGreen igneous rock mineral
- amphiboleDark inosilicate mineral group
- hornblendeCalcium-iron amphibole mineral
feldspar · magnetite · apatite · titanite · zircon · labradorite · biotite
rock
Solid earthen material
- igneousFormed from cooled magma
- mineralogyScience of inorganic solids
- geochemistryEarth's chemical makeup science
stratigraphy · fieldwork · outcrop · quarry · specimen · rockhound · Stillwater · Duluth
oceanic
Of the sea
- crustHard outer layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- seafloorOcean's solid base
mid-ocean ridge · subduction · mantle · spreading · rift · plate · divergent · accretion
basalt
Fine-grained volcanic stone
- geologybedrock, fault lines, faults, rock, basalt
- mineralsquartz, marble, granite, limestone, sandstone
- rocksbasalt, granite, sandstone, marble, shale
- British geologychalk, flint, limestone, shale, sandstone
- building stoneashlar, bluestone, brownstone, building stone, cobblestone
- igneous rocksbasalt, rhyolite, granite, andesite, pumice