Earth Science for

STEM
Quarter 2 – Module
3:
Endogenic Processes:
Plutonism and
Volcanism
What I Know
Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Magma varies widely in composition. Which is the most abundant element composition in magma?

a. Aluminum b. Oxygen c. Silicon d. Sodium

2. What is the tendency of the magma with high silica content?

a. It tends to be hotter. b. It tends to be less viscous.

c. It tends to be more viscous. d. It tends to be less explosive.

3. What is the effect of the magma’s high viscosity on volcanic eruption?

a. It becomes less explosive. b. It becomes more explosive.

c. It has less magma emission. d. It has more magma emission.

4. Magma plays an important role in geologic processes. Which of the following best describes magma?

a. a molten b. a molten metal

c. a mixture of liquids and gases d. a molten rock came out to the Earth’s surface

5. Which geologic process takes place inside cracks and infiltrates the upper mantle allowing liquids and gases to
reach the surface of the earth?

a. Plutonism b. Hydration c. Tectonic d. Volcanism

In the previous module, you learned that primordial heat, spontaneous radioactive decay,
gravitational pressure and dense core materials are the reasons why Earth’s interior is hot. These
Earth’s internal heat fueled different endogenic activities that enable the planet to sustain life.
Meanwhile, in this new lesson, you will learn information about magmatism as one of the
endogenic processes. Specifically, you will understand concepts on composition of magma, how
it is formed and what happens after it’s formed.
How is magma formed?
Magma is formed under certain circumstances in special location deep in the crust or in the upper
mantle. Magma forms from partial melting of mantle rocks.
Rocks undergo partial melting because the minerals that compose them melt at different
temperature. Partial melting takes place because rocks are not pure materials. As temperature
rises, some minerals melt and others remain solid. If the same conditions are maintained at any
given temperature, the same mixture of solid and melted rock is maintained. To visualize the
partial melt, think of how chocolate chip cookies would look if you heated it to the point at which
chocolate chips melted while the main part of the cookie stayed solid. The chips represent the
partial melt or magma. (https://opentextbc.ca/geology/chapter/3-2-magma-and-
magmaformation/)
To understand melting, pressure is also considered. Pressure increases with depth as a result of
the increased weight of overlying rock. Geologists found out that as they melted rocks under
various pressures, higher pressure led to higher melting points.
According to Bayo-ang, et.al (2016), the two main mechanisms through which rocks melt are
decompression melting and flux melting.

Decompression melting takes place within Earth when a body of rock is held at approximately
the same temperature but the pressure is reduced. This happens because the rock is being moved
toward the surface, either at a mantle plume (a.k.a., hot spot), or in the upwelling part of a mantle
convection cell. If a rock that is hot enough which is close to its melting point is moved toward
the surface, the pressure is reduced, and the rock can pass to the liquid side of its melting curve.
At this point, partial melting starts to take place.
Flux melting happens if a rock is close to its melting point and some water or carbon dioxide is
added to the rock, the melting temperature is reduced and partial melting starts.

As the magma moves toward the surface, and especially when it moves from the mantle into the
lower crust, it interacts with the surrounding rock. This typically leads to partial melting of the
surrounding rock because most such magmas are hotter than the melting temperature of a
crustal rock
At very high temperatures (over 1300°C), most magmas are entirely liquid because there is too
much energy for the atoms to bond together. As the temperature drops, usually because the
magma is slowly moving upward, things start to change. Silicon and oxygen combine to form silica
tetrahedra, and then, as cooling continues, the tetrahedra start to link together to make chains
(polymerize). These silica chains have the important effect of making the magma more viscous
(less runny), and magma viscosity has significant implications for more explosive volcanic
eruptions.
As the magma continues to cool, crystals start to form.
(https://opentextbc.ca/geology/chapter/3-2-magma-and-magma-formation/)
What happens after magma is formed?
Cuarto (2016) described that magma escaped in two forms: intrusion and extrusion.

An intrusion is magma that moves up into a volcano without erupting. Like a balloon, this causes
the volcano to grow on the inside. What is meant by the intrusion of magma is the inclusion of
the rock layers forming the earth's crust (magma does not get out).

PLUTONISM
❖ Plutonism refers to all sorts of igneous geological activities taking place below the Earth's
surface.

❖ In cases where magma infiltrates the Earth's crust but fails to make it to the surface, the
process of magma differentiation gives birth to ideal conditions for metallogenesis and that is a
kind of Plutonism. ❖ This is the exact process that gives birth to magma, when the presence of
various oxides, fluorine, sulfur, and chlorine compounds that are necessary for the creation of
magma is guaranteed.

❖ The solidification and crystallization of magma takes place mainly inside the Earth's interior.
When the process of crystallization takes place inside the crust, the magmatic rocks produced
are called plutonites, which is another major category of igneous rock formation. Plutonites are
igneous rock formations that are created when the process of crystallization and solidification of
magma takes places below the Earth's surface and particularly in the crust.
An extrusion is an eruption of magmatic materials that causes land formation on the surface of
the Earth. Magma extrusion causes the formation of volcanoes when the gas pressure is strong
enough and there are cracks in the earth's crust. Magma that came out to the surface of the earth
is called the eruption. Magma that came to the surface of the earth is called lava.
(http://pageedu.blogspot.com/2014/02/volcanism-intrusion-and-extrusion-of.html)

Magma can move up because of a high pressure exerted by magma and gases. In the lithosphere,
magma occupies a bag which is called magma chamber. The depth of the magma chamber causes
the differences in the strength of volcanic eruptions. In general, the deeper the magma chamber,
the stronger the explosion.
VOLCANISM
❖ Volcanism is used to describe all geological phenomena that occurs on the natural terrestrial
surface, such as the creation of volcanoes and hot springs. (Grotzinger et.al ,2008)

❖ It refers to all sorts of geological activities correlated with the flow and transportation of
igneous material from the planet's interior towards the natural terrestrial surface.

❖ This motion takes place inside the cracks that are known among geologists as natural pipes
that infiltrate the upper mantle. In many cases, the mantle allows massive quantities of liquids
and gases to reach the upper layers of the planet and in various cases, even the natural terrestrial
surface.

Volcanoes are created and formed when the energy generated by inductive currents flowing
from the Earth's core towards the surface hits the upper layers in the form of pressure and
smashes the overlaying rock formations. The presence of dilated water vapor plays an important
role in the creation of craters by assisting the flow of magma towards the surface. This also
explains why massive amounts of water vapor concentration in magmatic gases with an average
value of 80% are emitted into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions.
Molten material in the form of lava that undergoes the process of crystallization on the natural
terrestrial surface gives birth to rock formations known as volcanites. These are one of the major
categories of igneous rock formations. Volcanites are composed of gray, dull pink colored track
basaltic lava with large phenocrysts and pyroclastic.