Composition of Igneous Rocks.
All or nearly all the chemical elements known on the earth are found in greater or less amounts in igneous rocks, and in a broad sense are constituents of them. If there are any exceptions, they are most likely to be found in the rarer elements in the atmosphere. Oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, aqueous vapor, and carbonic acid, which make up the mass of the present atmosphere, are all found in lavas and in their cooled products. Probably all the rarer elements also occur in igneous rocks. Helium is known to be given forth by springs.
Leading elements.—But although nearly or quite all the known chemical elements enter into the igneous rocks, only a few of them are abundant. These are regarded as normal or essential constituents, while the rarer substances are regarded as incidental. By combining a large number of the most trustworthy analyses of rocks of all sorts, F. W. Clarke[199] has estimated the relative amounts of the more abundant elements in the crust of the earth with the following result:
| Element. | Symbol. | Percent. in the Solid Crust. |
|---|---|---|
| Oxygen | (O) | 47.02 |
| Silicon | (Si) | 28.06 |
| Aluminum | (Al) | 8.16 |
| Iron | (Fe) | 4.64 |
| Calcium | (Ca) | 3.50 |
| Magnesium | (Mg) | 2.62 |
| Sodium | (Na) | 2.63 |
| Potassium | (K) | 2.32 |
| Titanium | (Ti) | .41 |
| Hydrogen | (H) | .17 |
| Carbon | (C) | .12 |
| Phosphorus | (P) | .09 |
| Manganese | (Mn) | .07 |
| Sulphur | (S) | .07 |
| Barium | (Ba) | .05 |
| Strontium | (Sr) | .02 |
| Chromium | (Cr) | .01 |
| Nickel | (Ni) | .01 |
| Lithium | (Li) | .01 |
| Chlorine | (Cl) | .01 |
| Fluorine | (Fl) | .01 |
——— | ||
100.00 | ||
It will be seen that only eight of the elements hold a high rank in quantity. Many that are of the utmost importance in the history of the earth and the affairs of men are low in the list, or do not even appear in it at all, because their quantity is too small to be estimated in percentages. The precious metals, and even some of the more common metals, as lead, zinc, and copper, are too scarce to form an appreciable percentage.
Union of elements.—In a general study of the igneous rocks we may for the present neglect all but the first eight of these elements. Out of these elements spring various chemical combinations, and out of these combinations spring the various minerals, and out of the combinations of minerals come the various rocks. The union of oxygen with the other seven elements may be taken as a fundamental step in this series of combinations. The result is the following oxides: Silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), ferrous, ferric, and magnetic oxide (FeO, Fe2O3, and Fe3O4), magnesia (MgO), calcium oxide or lime (CaO), soda (Na2O), and potash (K2O). The oxygen sometimes unites in proportions different from those here given, but such exceptions may be neglected in a general study. We thus have nine leading oxides. Of these, silica acts as an acid, or more strictly according to the newer chemical view, as an acid anhydride. All the rest, except the magnetic oxide of iron, and sometimes the oxide of aluminum, act as basic oxides.
In the older chemical philosophy these oxides were supposed to combine by the simple union of an acid oxide with a basic oxide, and to remain as oxide joined to oxide; thus silica (SiO2) and lime (CaO) formed silicate of lime (CaO,Si2). The symbols express the idea better than the words. This method is used in the older geological works and in some of the later. But in the newer chemical doctrine, the oxides are not believed to remain so distinct after their union, and the symbols are written CaSiO3, and the compound is named calcium silicate. According to the modern doctrine of solution, some of the calcium, silicon, and oxygen may exist as free ions in molten rock. The precise way in which the elements are related to each other in these compounds can scarcely be said to be known. For the general purposes of geology it is most convenient to think of these oxides as uniting in the simple fashion first named, and this involves no apparent geological error in general studies, since they are oxides when they enter the compound, and if the compound is decomposed they usually come forth again as oxides; but in closer studies more complex unions, attended by dissociations (ionization), must be recognized.
Formation of minerals.—As but one of the leading oxides that abound in an average magma plays the part of an acid, the silica, a very simple conception of the general nature of igneous rocks may be reached by noting that they are mostly silicates of the seven leading basic oxides—alumina, potash, soda, lime, magnesia, and the iron oxides. This general idea is a very useful one and represents a most important truth; but in its use we must not forget that there are many exceptions. Sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, and other elements unite with the bases to form sulphates, sulphides, phosphates, phosphides, chlorides, etc. So also there are many minor bases that form silicates; and these minor bases unite with the minor acids to form many more or less rare minerals. Again, there are native metals in some igneous rocks. But altogether these hardly reach more than one or two percent. of the whole.
There are, however, two exceptions of more importance. In the molten magma the acid and basic elements are not always evenly matched. When there is an excess of silica, a portion remains free and takes the form of quartz (SiO2). If there is an excess of the basic oxides, the weakest one is usually left out of the combination. This is commonly the iron oxide, which then usually takes the form of magnetite (Fe3O4). It is a singular fact that quartz often forms when there is no excess of silica, and magnetite when there is no excess of base. Quartz (free acid anhydride) and magnetite (free basic oxide) sometimes occur in the same rock. The explanation for this is yet to be found. These form rather important exceptions to the generalization that the igneous rocks are mostly made up of silicates, but, thus qualified, it expresses the essential truth, and has the merit of embodying the central chemical fact relative to these rocks.
Sources of complexity.—But here simplicity ends. As we pass on to the specific silicates that are formed, we encounter several sources of complexity. In the first place, the silica unites with the bases in different ratios and thus gives rise to unisilicates or orthosilicates (ratio of oxygen of bases to oxygen of silica, 1:1), subsilicates (ratio more than 1), bisilicates (ratio 1:2), trisilicates or polysilicates (ratio 1:3 or higher), and combinations of these. All the bases are not known to combine in all these ways, but many do in more than one of them. Still, if the silica were content to unite with each of the bases by itself alone, the results would remain comparatively simple; but instead of this it unites with two or more at the same time; and, more than that, it unites with them in varying amounts. The case would still remain measurably simple if these chemical compounds always crystallized out by themselves, each compound forming one mineral, and but one; but the different silicates have the confusing habit of crystallizing together in the same mineral. A crystal may thus sometimes be seen, under the microscope, to be made up of alternating layers of different silicates; e.g., a microscopic layer of an aluminum-calcium silicate may be overlain by a microscopic layer of an aluminum-sodium silicate, and the alternation may be repeated throughout the crystal, giving it a banded structure. There is reason to believe that this is true in many cases where the microscope fails to detect it, and that less symmetrical comminglings of silicates may take place. As such alternations or mixtures are not governed by any known mathematical law, as is the case in chemical compounds, there is no determinate limit to the number of combinations that may arise. As a matter of fact, new ones are still being discovered in the progress of research, and the total number that may ultimately be found can scarcely be prophesied.