Igneous rock after Vulcan, the Roman name for the god of fire. Intrusive rocks are also called "plutonic" rocks, named after Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld. Igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word "ignis" meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one or more of three processes: an increase
Pillow lava on the planet, the Isua and Barberton greenstone belts, confirms the presence of large bodies of water on the Earth's surface early in the Archean Eon. Pillow lavas are used generally to confirm subaqueous volcanism in metamorphic belts. Pillow lavas are also found associated with some subglacial volcanoes at an early stage of an eruption. They are created when magma reaches the surface but, as there is a large difference in temperature between the lava and the water, the surface of the emergent tongue cools very quickly, forming a skin. The tongue continues to lengthen and inflate with more lava,