Country rock (geology) in geology when the term "country rock" is used include: When describing a pluton or dike, the igneous rock can be described as intruding the surrounding "country rock", the rock into which the pluton has intruded. When country rock is intruded by dyke, it is called "discordant intrusion," while intrusion by a sill indicates a "sub-parallel" or "concordant intrusion". Most intrusions into country rock are via magma. Usually, country rock is intruded by an igneous body of rock which formed when magma forced upward through fractures, or melted through overlying rock. Magma then cooled into solid rock, different from the
Magma chamber 1 km and 10 km down. Magma rises through cracks from beneath and across the crust because it is less dense than the surrounding rock. When the magma cannot find a path upwards it pools into a magma chamber. These chambers are commonly built up over time, by successive horizontal or vertical magma injections. Influx of new magma causes reaction of pre-existing crystals and the pressure in the chamber to increase. The residing magma starts to cool, with the higher melting point components such as olivine crystallizing out of the solution, particularly near to the cooler walls of the chamber,