How Magma Is Formed

How magma is formed?
Magma is a boiling liquid and semi-liquid rock.

It usually consists of silicate liquid, iron,
magnesium, calcium, potassium, etc. It also
contains dissolved gases such as water vapor,
carbon dioxide, and sulfur. Today we are
discussing the magma formation. Let’s start!
What is magma?
Magma is a wholly or partially molten rock

stored under the earth’s surface. If this
reaches the surface, it will be called or
referred to as lava. Lava is also characterized
as lava tube and lava flow.
Origin: Most of the time, Magma is found in Earth’s
uppermost mantle. The greatest quantities are produced in
divergent and convergent plate boundaries or hot spots.
Composition of magma: Magma consists of three
components. It consists of a liquid component, a salt
component, and a gaseous component. The liquid
component is mostly mobile ions of the eight most
common elements found in Earth’s crust.
So silicon, oxygen, aluminum, potassium,
calcium, sodium, iron, and magnesium are the
most common elements in Earth’s crust. They
are the ayahs that find in magma. The gaseous
component of magma is mostly water vapor,
carbon dioxide, or sulfur dioxide.
Types of magma: There are four types of
magma.
1.Ultramafic – Silicon dioxide 45%, Very high in Iron,
Magnesium, Calcium & Low in Potassium, Sodium.
2.Mafic or Basaltic – Silicon dioxide 45-55%, Very high in Iron,
Magnesium, Calcium & Low in Potassium, Sodium.
3.Intermediate or andesitic – Silicon dioxide 55-65%, Iron,
Magnesium.
4.Felsic or Rhyolitic – Silicon dioxide 65-75%, Low in Iron,
Magnesium & High in Potassium, Sodium.
Characteristic of magma: Viscosity is the resistance
to flow. If magma is very molten, it will flow quickly
and not be very viscous. But if you have magma that
is not very hot, it will not flow very quickly.
The high percentage of silicon dioxide or sulfur
dioxide in the magma contains higher viscosity. Lower
temperature magmas have a higher viscosity, and
higher temperature Magnus has lower viscosities.
Magma crystallization: Magma becomes rock through
crystallization. When energy is taken away, the atoms pack
and turn from gaseous to liquid. Then it goes from a liquid
state to a solid state. The ions and the atoms will pack
when it cools or loses all their heat and energy. Then It
creates crystals.
How Does Magma Form?
Magma formation, at first, needs specific

conditions like hot enough rock to rise above the
melting point of the minerals. It makes up that
rock usually between 800 to 1900 degrees Celsius,
depending on the rock type. It will take more heat
to make the rock melt at higher pressures.
• The pressure tends to inhibit the melting of the asthenosphere.
The asthenosphere moves up into this lower pressure region. It’s
still hot, which a temperature is 1300 Celsius or higher.
• Magma can lose heat simply by being erupted onto the earth’s
surface. When magma erupts onto the earth’s surface, it will
come in contact with the atmosphere or the oceans. In both
cases, hot magma comes into contact with something quite cold.
• It means lava will quickly lose heat to the atmosphere or the
oceans through conduction and radiation. Magma will cool
down very fast and solidify to give solid volcanic rock.
How does nature create magma? Nature makes
magma in three different ways.
i) The first one results from a decrease in pressure without
increasing temperature, which can melt decompression. So
decompression melting can create magma.
ii) The other way data creates magma is by introducing water or
sometimes impurities. It can sufficiently lower the melting
temperature of hot mantle rocks to generate magma.
iii) The third-way nature creates magma is by heating crustal
rocks above the melting temperature. When this heat is
transferred to the rocks surrounding it, it causes them to melt and
rise to the surface.
If you have magma that crystallizes inside the earth
without coming out on the surface, it is called
magma and intrusive or plutonic igneous rock. If
magma comes out and cools down on the surface,
it creates volcanic or extrusive igneous rocks. Also,
If you have a volcano erupting, all the molten rock
that comes out is called lava, not magma.
How is magma formed? Magma can be formed by
melting the earth’s crust or melting within the
mantle. Crust and mantle are almost entirely solid,
indicating that magma only forms in special
places where pre-existing solid rocks melt. There
are three conditions for forming magma.
1. Temperature: A rising magma from the mantle brings
the heat with it and transfers heat to their surrounding
rocks at shallower depths which may melt.
It will melt whenever the temperature is high enough for the
rock to hit the melting point. But that melting point depends
on how much pressure the rock is under. Different layers act
differently if it’s under a lot of pressure and the melting
point increases.
2. Pressure: Melting occurs due to a decrease in pressure. It
is also called decompression melt. So the decrease in pressure
affecting a hot mantle rock at a constant temperature permits
melting, forming magma. When pressure is decreased,
melting can occur because the bonds between particles can be
broken down.
3. Volatiles: Adding volatiles, such as water decreases rock’s
melting point. At convergence zones, the subducting plate
heats, causing a release in water. It decreases the melting
point of the surrounding rock. This rock melt generates
magma.
There are 2 processes referred to for magma formation.
1. Decompression melting: Decompression melting creates magma by reducing pressure at

a constant temperature. It occurs at divergent boundaries where tectonic plates separate.
2. Flux melting: Flux melting occurs after introducing volatile, breaking the rock’s
chemical bond. Also, It occurs when water or carbon dioxide is added to rock. These
compounds cause the rock to melt at lower temperatures.
Magma can also create when hot, liquid rock enters Earth’s cold crust. As the liquid rock
solidifies, it loses heat to the surrounding crust.
Why do magmas rise to the surface?
Magma is liquid, and magma rocks are solid salt
materials denser than liquid materials. Therefore the
liquid material will rise to the top, and the solid
material will stay at the bottom. That’s why magma
rises to the top. Magma is less dense than the solid
rocks around it. That’s why it will rise to the top.
What happens after magma is
formed?
Magma is the molten rock or the melted rock that is
found underneath or within the asthenosphere, since it is
very hot in the asthenosphere magma will not be
solidified into solid rock it will stay melted, but when the
pressure inside will increase due to increase of
temperature magma will then be moved or pushed out
like in volcanic eruption and when this molten or melted
material reaches the surface this is then called lava, it is
this lava that will solidify into an igneous rock

How Magma Is Formed

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How magma is formed?

Magma is a boiling liquid and semi-liquid rock.

Magma is a wholly or partially molten rock

Magma formation, at first, needs specific

1. Decompression melting: Decompression melting creates magma by reducing pressure at

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