layered intrusion
Stacked magma sheet
A layered intrusion is a large body of igneous rock formed when magma cooled slowly underground, allowing minerals to crystallize and settle into distinct horizontal bands.
The Bushveld Complex in South Africa and the Stillwater Complex in Montana are classic examples.
These formations are economically significant because the layering concentrates valuable metals like platinum, chromium, and nickel into mineable seams.
- cumulateGather by gradual addition
- gabbroDark intrusive igneous rock
- plutonSubterranean cooled magma body
- magmaMolten rock underground
- contactCommunication or physical touch
platinum · precious metals · Stillwater · vein · mineralogy · seam · texture · sill · formation · geology · magma chamber · settling · strata · stratification · ore · mineral deposit · nickel · gravity
- intrusionsintrude, intruder, intruding, barging in, barge in
- Volcanismmagma, eruption, lava flow, volcanic eruption, magma chamber
layered intrusiondike
Wall against flooding
stock · volcanic plug · pipe
layer, layers, layered, intrusive, intrusion, layering, intrusiveness, intrusions, intrusively