Visualizing Igneous Rocks

Igneous Structures and Field Occurrence

Field Relationships- John Winter, Whitman College; powerpoint presentation with figures from Chapter 4 of Winter's Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology textbook.

Hand Samples

Igneous Textures

Igneous Textures- PPT file: John Winter, Whitman College; powerpoint presentation with figures from Chapter 3 of Winter's Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology textbook.

Virtual Microscope- is a creative site that allows for viewing, zooming, measuring, and comparing thin sections in plane polarized and cross polarized light. Igneous rocks on this site include:

Plutonic Rock thin sections in cross polar and plane polarized light. Suite includes tonalite, labradorite, amazonite, gabbro, and peridotite.

Volcanic rock thin sections in cross polar and plane polarized light. Suite includes rhyolite, basalt, tephrite, trachy-andesite, and phonolite.


Magmatic Properties

Magma Generation and Magma Diversification- John Winter, Whitman College; powerpoint presentations with figures from Chapter 10 & 11 of Winter's Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology textbook.

Magmatic Processes

Volcanoes

Volcano Visualizations part of Hazards:Visualization Collections
Compiled by John McDaris and Kendra Murray at SERC. This collection presents links to visualizations of volcanoes and volcanic processes. Visualizations include general depictions of igneous processes as well as ...

2010 Icelandic Volcano Eruption part of Hazards:Events
The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in March and April 2010 posed significant challenges for the people of Iceland as well as millions of people across Europe whose airplanes were grounded due to the high concentrations of volcanic ash. One unresolved question centers around the whether this eruption will trigger an eruption by the larger Katla volcano which is located close by and often erupts after its smaller neighbor.


Alaska Volcano Observatory Image Archive contains images of many of Alaska's volcanoes. Images can be searched for processes (such as eruption cloud, debris flow, fire fountaining, etc).

Kilauea Movies- the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has built camera systems to capture the various volcanic processes on an active shield volcano. Movies were taken in multiple locations to view variations across a volcanic system:

 

 

 

 

  • Crater activities: vent drainback, vent effusion, and drainhole gas pistoning
  • Flank vent activities: vent lava fountaining, daily sequence, cone collapse, and vent overflow
  • Flow field activities: shatter ring
  • Ocean entry activities: delta collapse, bubble bursts, and tube breakout

Global Volcano Program Videos are a collection of Smithsonian historical film footage that has been digitized for viewing. Processes include pyroclastic falls and scoria cones.

Types and Processes Gallery from the Smithsonian's Global Volcano Program has collections of annotated images showing pyroclastic falls, pyroclastic flows, submarine eruptions, lava flows, lahars, volcanic landslides, include geothermal activity.