Kids Research Express

Basalt, the most common variety of volcanic rock, composed almost entirely of dark, fine-grained silicate minerals, chiefly plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene, and magnetite. The extrusive equivalent of gabbro, it forms by the outpouring of lava all along the world's mid-ocean ridges, where sea-floor spreading continually adds new crust to counterbalance that lost by subduction (see Plate Tectonics ). Usually dark-gray in color, basalt often has a vesicular texture, preserving vestiges of bubbles produced by expanding steam as lava cools and solidifies. Also characteristic are pillow-shaped masses caused by rapid cooling of lava erupted on the sea floor. In addition to lava flows, basalt is also found in the form of dikes and sills.

. The distance from Earth’s surface to its center is about 6,500 km (about 4,000 mi). From Earth’s surface down through the crust, the normal temperature gradient (the increase of temperature with increase of depth) is 10° to 30° C per km (29° to 87°F per mi). Underlying the crust is the mantle, which is made of partially molten rock. Temperatures in the mantle may reach 3700° C (6700° F). The convective (circulating) motion of this mantle rock drives plate tectonics —the "drift" of Earth's crustal plates that occurs at a rate of 1 to 5 cm (0.4 to 2 in) per year. Where plates spread apart, molten rock (magma) rises up into the rift (opening), solidifying to form new crust. Where plates collide, one plate is generally forced (subducted) beneath the other. As the subducted plate slides slowly downward into the mantle’s ever-increasing heat, it melts, forming new magma. Plumes of this magma can rise and intrude into the crust, bringing vast quantities of heat relatively clos...