Basalt grey fine grained volcanic rock

Basalt

Dark grey fine grained volcanic rock composed of plagioclase, pyroxene and olivine, with relatively low silica (45-52 wt %). The composition reflects an upper mantle origin. Basalt is the most common type of volcanic rock on Earth, and it erupts from mid-ocean spreading ridges and hot spots (e.g., Hawaii and Iceland). The intrusive coarsely crystalline igneous rock equivalent is called gabbro.

Geothermal Glossary

Word of the Week – DAS

Word of the Week – DAS

DAS Distributed Acoustic Sensor. Involves the deployment of fiber optic cable on the surface or in a well, and the detection of small variations in the refractive index of the fiber based on the scattering of light pulsed from a laser. Strain and temperature can be...

Word of the Week – DFIT

Word of the Week – DFIT

DFIT Diagnostic Fracture Injection Test. A subsurface well test in which pressure is monitored as a small volume of fluid is injected into a reservoir to develop a hydraulic fracture. Monitoring continues to produce a pressure versus time plot that is analyzed to...

Word of the Week – Diorite

Word of the Week – Diorite

Diorite Dark colored, coarse grained, intrusive rock that contains less silica than granite and that is mostly made of plagioclase, biotite, hornblende, pyroxene, and minor to nil quartz.

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