MORB Magma Generation Claire, Hana, Ryan
Item
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Title
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MORB Magma Generation Claire, Hana, Ryan
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Description
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Magma is generated at Mid-Ocean Ridges through decompression melting. Decompression melthing happens because as the plates are pulled apart, and become thinner, the underlying mantle is subjected to less pressure. Because the pressure is reduced, conditions become such that the geothermal gradient allows for melting. The reduced pressure allows melting to occur in large quantities. Usually between 10 and 30 percent of the mantle material is melted, depending on the temperature of the mantle. Due to density differences, the magma then rises and is forced out through dikes.
Picture from:
Winter, J. D. (n.d.). Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology Class Material.
Retrieved May 6, 2015, from https://www.whitman.edu/geology/winter/
JDW_PetClass.htm
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Creator
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Claire Kojaian
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Mediator
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Tamara Carley
carleyt@lafayette.edu
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Rights Holder
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Lafayette College Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences
