Definition and classification
Basalts are fine-grained, mafic, volcanic rocks containing 44–53 wt% SiO2. They consist essentially of calcic plagioclase (An50+) and abundant mafic minerals, mainly Ca-rich clinopyroxene. Other phases include Ca-poor clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, quartz, or olivine, feldspathoids (nepheline, leucite, analcime), small proportions of alkali feldspar (≪10% total feldspar), Fe–Ti oxides, and apatite. Amphibole phenocrysts or poikilocrysts may be present, and biotite may be included in the groundmass.
Basalts occur as lava flows, pillows, dykes, and sills. Their textures may be porphyritic or aphyritic, crystalline or glassy, ophitic or subophitic. Their most extensive form is as lava flows and pillows, in which they constitute the bulk of the ocean floor, major lava plateaus on the continents, and significant parts of volcanic edifices in rift valleys, ocean islands, and island arcs. They are the most important eruptive rocks on the Earth and Moon, and...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Barker, D. S., 1983, Igneous Rocks. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall.
Bowen, N. L., 1928, The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks. Princeton University Press.
Chayes, F., 1966, Alkaline and subalkaline basalts, Am. J. Sci. 264, 128–145.
Engel, A. E. J., C. G. Engel, and R. G. Havens, 1965, Chemical characteristics of oceanic basalts and the upper mantle, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 76, 719–734.
Hall, A., 1987, Igneous Petrology, Chap. 8. Harlow, U.K.: Longman.
Hawkesworth, C. J. and M. J. Norry, eds., 1983, Continental Basalts and Mantle Xenoliths. Nantwich: Shiva.
Hess, H. H. and A. Poldervaart, eds., 1967, 1968, Basalts, Vols. 1 and 2. New York: Wiley Interscience.
Jaques, A. L. and D. H. Green, 1980, Anhydrous melting of peridotite at 0–15 kb pressure and the genesis of tholeiitic basalts, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 73, 287–310.
Kushiro, I., 1979, Fractional crystallization of basaltic magma, in H. S. Yoder, ed., The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks: Fiftieth Anniversary Perspectives. Princeton University Press, 171–203.
Luhr, J. F. and I. S. E. Carmichael, 1981, The Colima volcanic complex, Mexico: Part II. Late Quaternary cinder cones, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 70, 341–356.
McBirney, A. R., 1984, Igneous Petrology. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper.
Macdonald, G. A., 1968, Composition and origin of Hawaiian lavas. Mem. Geol. Soc. Am. 116, 477–522.
Macdonald, G. A. and T. Katsura, 1964, Chemical composition of Hawaiian lavas, J. Petrol. 5, 82–133.
McDougall, I., 1976, Geochemistry and origin of the Columbia River Group, Oregon and Washington, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 87, 777–792.
Morrison, M. A., R. N. Thompson, I. L. Gibson, and G. F. Marriner, 1980, Lateral chemical heterogeneity in the Palaeocene upper mantle beneath the Scottish Hebrides, in D. K. Bailey, J. Tarney, and K. C. Dunham, eds., The Evidence for Chemical Heterogeneity in the Earth's Mantle, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London 297A, 229–244.
Morse, S. A., 1980, Basalts and Phase Diagrams: an Introduction to the Quantitative Use of Phase Diagrams in Igneous Petrology. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Pearce, J. A., 1976, Statistical analysis of major element patterns in basalts, J. Petrol. 17, 15–43.
Pearce, J. A. and J. R. Cann, 1973, Tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks determined using trace element analyses, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 19, 290–300.
Takahashi, E. and I. Kushiro, 1983, Melting of dry peridotite at high pressures and basalt magma genesis. Am. Mineral. 68, 859–879.
Waters, A. C., 1961, Stratigraphic and lithologic variations in the Columbia River Basalt. Am. J. Sci. 259, 583–611.
Weaver, S. D., A. D. Saunders, R. J. Pankhurst, and J. Tarney, 1979, A geochemical study of magmatism associated with the initial stages of back-arc spreading, Contrib. Min++l. Petrol. 68, 151–169.
Wedepohl, K. H., 1975, The contribution of chemical data to assumptions about the origin of magmas from the mantle, Fortschr. Mineral. 52, 141–172.
Whitford, D. J., I. A. Nicholls, and S. R. Taylor 1979, Spatial variations in the geochemistry of Quaternary lavas across the Sunda arc in Java and Bali, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 70, 341–356.
Yoder, H. S. and C. E. Tilley, 1962, Origin of basalt magmas: an experimental study of natural and synthetic rock systems, J. Petrol. 3, 342–532.
Cross-references
British Tertiary Volcanic Province; Calc-alkaline rocks; Feldspathoidal rocks—genesis; Flood basalt; Igneous rocks—tectonic setting; Island arcs—petrology; Lunar petrology; Mafic and ultramafic inclusions in igneous rocks; Magmatic differentiation; Mid-ocean ridge and ocean-floor petrology; Ocean-island igneous rocks; Petrochemical calculations; Rift valley volcanism; Upper mantle—experimental petrology.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jélinek, E., Holub, F.V., Klápová, H., Souček, J. (1989). Basalt . In: Petrology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-442-20623-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30845-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive