Mafic The mafic rocks also typically have a higher density than felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the older "basic rock" class. Mafic lava, before cooling, has a low viscosity, in comparison with felsic lava, due to the lower silica content in mafic magma. Water and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava. As a result, eruptions of volcanoes made of mafic lavas are less explosively violent than felsic-lava eruptions. Most mafic-lava volcanoes are shield volcanoes, like those in Hawaii. Mafic Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in
Geology of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Geology of Saint Pierre and Miquelon The geology of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is part of the 680 to 550 million year old, late Proterozoic Avalon Zone, a part of the Canadian Appalachians. The oldest rocks are 615 million year old metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks, intruded by diorite and trondhjemite in the Cap de Miquelon Group. The metamorphic rocks are descended from an earlier volcanic arc-marine platform, rather than more ancient basement rock from the Avalonian microcontinent. The St. Pierre Group formed 581 million years ago with felsic and pyroclastic flows. Together with mafic rocks and andesite, they are evidence