It is the basic course that deals with learning about the most important igneous rocks and their petrogenesis. It includes the systematic classification and knowledge of the most important igneous rocks, the description of their mineralogical, structural and morphological characteristics and the knowledge of the basic physico-chemical principles governing their formation and evolution.
Rocks and the rock-cycle (Definitions); From the birth of the Universe to the creation and evolution of the Earth - Petrological perspective; The interior of the Earth (Crust - Mantle - Core); Lithospheric plates, magmatism and volcanism; Composition of igneous rocks; Classification (geological, structural, mineralogical, petrochemical, chemical) of igneous rocks; Textures of igneous rocks: degree of crystallinity, grain size, shape, mode of bonding, arrangement and orientation, degree of deformation or recrystallisation; Magma (origin, characteristics in terms of mineralogical and chemical composition, homogeneous melt and volatile content, temperature, density, viscosity, flow); Thermodynamics of magmas (introduction) – Phase Rule; Melting and crystallization; Phase diagrams (simple one-component, binary, ternary) examples from igneous petrology. Equilibrium, fractional crystallization and melting, water and silicate melts; Formation of magmas (primary and derived magmas) - Partial melting; Basaltic magma (origin, mantle source, parent rocks, physico-chemical controls on partial melting); Granitic magma (origin, mantle source, parent rocks, physico-chemical factors controlling partial melting); Magma diversity (primary and derived magmas, magmatic differentiation, magma contamination or assimilation, magma mixing); Rise of Magma; Crystallisation of magma; Igneous structures (types of magmatic bodies); Volcanoes and volcanism (classification, explosivity, products); Volcanic centres of world interest; The Aegean volcanic arc.