Is felsic or mafic more resistant to weathering?
Factors Which Control the Rates of Weathering Different minerals weather at different rates. Mafic silicates like olivine and pyroxene tend to weather much faster than felsic minerals like quartz and feldspar.
What is the difference between mafic and felsic?
In a widely accepted silica-content classification scheme, rocks with more than 65 percent silica are called felsic; those with between 55 and 65 percent silica are intermediate; those with between 45 and 55 percent silica are mafic; and those with less than 45 percent are ultramafic.
Are mafic rocks weathering resistant?
For surface weathering and erosion, the mafic minerals tend to break down into clay more quickly than most other silicate minerals –which means that all else being equal, rocks with more mafic minerals will weather and erode faster than rocks with the other silicate minerals described here.
Are felsic rocks stronger than mafic rocks?
It is contrasted with mafic rocks, which are relatively richer in magnesium and iron. Felsic refers to silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium. Felsic magma or lava is higher in viscosity than mafic magma/lava.
What are 4 factors that affect weathering?
Factors affecting weathering
- rock strength/hardness.
- mineral and chemical composition.
- colour.
- rock texture.
- rock structure.
What are the 5 types of chemical weathering?
These factors cause elements to break down and dissolve or create new materials. There are five types of chemical weathering: carbonation, hydrolysis, oxidation, acidification, and lichens (living organisms).
Are felsic minerals harder than mafic?
Mafic vs Felsic Thus, rocks having more than 65% of silica are Felsic while those having 45-55% of silica are classified as Mafic rocks. Mafic rocks are rich in iron and magnesium, whereas Felsic rocks are rich in silica and aluminum. Mafic rocks are denser and heavier than Felsic rocks.
What are some examples of felsic?
Common felsic minerals include quartz, muscovite, hornblende, orthoclase, and the sodium rich plagioclase feldspars. The most common felsic rock is granite.
Do mafic rocks cool quickly?
Similarly, a fine-grained, mafic igneous rock is not only a basalt, it is an extrusive igneous rock that formed from rapid cooling and crystallization of a lava flow at earth’s surface.
Is potassium feldspar mafic or felsic?
Felsic minerals (quartz, K feldspar, etc) are light colored while mafic minerals (hornblende, pyroxenes) are normally dark colored.
What are the 5 factors that affect weathering?