Context
A team of researchers has unearthed a new type of rock on the seafloor while drilling through the Pacific Ocean.
About the Newly discovered rock
- It is a type of basalt, which was formed by the rapid cooling of fast-flowing lava which has iron and magnesium.
- This basalt is found buried deep beneath kilometers thick sediment at the bottom of the ocean.
- It was drilled 6 km down to the ocean floor of the Amami Sankaku Basin in the Japanese Sea, about 1,000 km southwest of Japan’s Mount Fuji volcano.
- The area is a part of the ‘ring of fire’ subduction zone in the Pacific.
About Basalt rock
- Basalt is a fine-grain rock formed when mafic lava is exposed at the surface.
- It encompasses around 90% of all volcanic rock on earth.
- It is also found on different planetary bodies like the moon and Mars.
- Basaltic magma is formed because of the pressure present in the upper mantle in the Earth’s interior.
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Types of Rocks
Igneous Rock
- Igneous rock is formed by the cooling and solidification of magma.
- They are of two types
- Intrusive rock is formed by the cooling-off and slow crystallization within the earth’s crust. Example: Granite.
- Extrusive rocksare formed when magma reaches the surface. Example: Basalt
- Sedimentary rocks
- They are formed on the earth's surface by the accumulation of earlier rocks, minerals, and organisms.
Metamorphic rocks
- They are formed by sedimentary rock, igneous rock, or another older metamorphic rock, due to the different temperature and pressure conditions.
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