Mafic

Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock which is rich in magnesium and iron. The term is a portmanteau, made up from "magnesium" and "ferric". 

Mafic minerals are usually dark in color and have a specific gravity greater than 3. Common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite and other micas, augite and the calcium-rich plagioclase feldspars. Common mafic rocks include basalt and gabbro.

In terms of chemistry, mafic rocks are on the other side of the rock spectrum from the so-called felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the older basic rock class.

Mafic lava, before cooling, has a lower viscosity than felsic lava due to its lower silica content. Water and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava, so eruptions of volcanoes made of mafic lavas are less explosively violent than felsic lava eruptions. Most mafic lava volcanoes are oceanic volcanoes, like Hawaii.

 Rock Texture  Name of Mafic Rock Pegmatitic  Gabbro pegmatite Coarse grained (phaneritic)  Gabbro Coarse grained and porphyritic  Porphyritic gabbro Fine grained (aphanitic)  Basalt Fine grained and porphyritic  Porphyritic basalt Pyroclastic  Basalt tuff or breccia Vesicular  Vesicular basalt Amygdaloidal  Amygdaloidal basalt Many small vesicles  Scoria Glassy Tachylyte, sideromelane, palagonite

Related pages
List of minerals
Granite

Category:Rocks