This chapter reviews the present-day composition of the continental crust, the methods employed to derive these estimates, and the implications of the continental crust composition for the formation of the continents, Earth differentiation, and its geochemical inventories. We review the composition of the upper, middle, and lower continental crust. We then examine the bulk crust composition and the implications of this composition for crust generation and modification processes. Finally, we compare the Earth's crust with those of the other terrestrial planets in our solar system and speculate about what unique processes on Earth have given rise to this unusual crustal distribution.

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Composition of the Continental Crust

A chemical classification of volcanic rocks based on the total alkali-silica diagram

3.01 – Composition of the Continental Crust

Naming materials in the magma/igneous rock system

Geophysical, petrological, and geochemical data provide important clues about the composition of the deep continental crust. On the basis of seismic refraction data, we divide the crust into type sections associated with different tectonic provinces. Each shows a three-layer crust consisting of upper, middle, and lower crust, in which P wave velocities increase progressively with depth. There is large variation in average P wave velocity of the lower crust between different type sections, but in general, lower crustal velocities are high (>6.9 km s−1) and average middle crustal velocities range between 6.3 and 6.7 km s−1. Heat-producing elements decrease with depth in the crust owing to their depletion in felsic rocks caused by granulite facies metamorphism and an increase in the proportion of mafic rocks with depth. Studies of crustal cross sections show that in Archean regions, 50–85% of the heat flowing from the surface of the Earth is generated within the crust. Granulite terrains that experienced isobaric cooling are representative of middle or lower crust and have higher proportions of mafic rocks than do granulite terrains that experienced isothermal decompression. The latter are probably not representative of the deep crust but are merely upper crustal rocks that have been through an orogenic cycle. Granulite xenoliths provide some of the deepest samples of the continental crust and are composed largely of mafic rock types. Ultrasonic velocity measurements for a wide variety of deep crustal rocks provide a link between crustal velocity and lithology. Meta-igneous felsic, intermediate and mafic granulite, and amphibolite facies rocks are distinguishable on the basis of P and S wave velocities, but metamorphosed shales (metapelites) have velocities that overlap the complete velocity range displayed by the meta-igneous lithologies. The high heat production of metapelites, coupled with their generally limited volumetric extent in granulite terrains and xenoliths, suggests they constitute only a small proportion of the lower crust. Using average P wave velocities derived from the crustal type sections, the estimated areal extent of each type of crust, and the average compositions of different types of granulites, we estimate the average lower and middle crust composition. The lower crust is composed of rocks in the granulite facies and is lithologically heterogeneous. Its average composition is mafic, approaching that of a primitive mantle-derived basalt, but it may range to intermediate bulk compositions in some regions. The middle crust is composed of rocks in the amphibolite facies and is intermediate in bulk composition, containing significant K, Th, and U contents. Average continental crust is intermediate in composition and contains a significant proportion of the bulk silicate Earth's incompatible trace element budget (35–55% of Rb, Ba, K, Pb, Th, and U).

Nature and composition of the continental crust: A lower crustal perspective

Figures Tables Albert Streckeisen Foreword to 1st edition Chairman's Preface Editor's Preface 1 Introduction 2 Classification and nomenclature 3 Glossary of terms 4 Bibliography of terms Appendices

Igneous Rocks: A Classification and Glossary of Terms

In order to create a sustainable classification of igneous rocks which all geologists might use, an international body was set up by the IUGS: the IUGS Subcommission on the Systematics of Igneous Rocks In the course of creating the classification, the Subcommission has established ten principles for its construction and for defining an appropriate nomenclature The principles are: (1) use descriptive attributes; (2) use actual properties; (3) ensure suitability for all geologists; (4) use current terminology; (5) define boundaries of rock species; (6) keep it simple to apply; (7) follow natural relations; (8) use modal mineralogy; (9) if mode not feasible, use chemistry; (10) follow terminology of other IUGS advisory bodies These principles and their rationale have not previously been enunciated The classification separates and individually classifies the pyroclastic, carbonatitic, melititic, lamprophyric and charnockitic rocks before entering the main QAPF classification for plutonic and volcanic rocks which is based on the modal mineral proportions of quartz (Q), alkali feldspar (A) and plagioclase (P) or of alkali feldspar (A), plagioclase (P) and feldspathoids (F) Rocks with mafic content >90% have their own classification If the mineral mode cannot be determined as is often the case for volcanic rocks, then a chemical classification of total alkalis versus silica (TAS) is used The nomenclature for these classifications necessitates only 297 rock names out of the c  1500 that exist

The IUGS systematics of igneous rocks

H. R. Rollinson. Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation. London (Longman Scientific and Technical), 1993. xxvi + 352 pp. Price £24.99 ISBN 0 582 06701 4.

The 1989 IUGS classification of the igneous rocks for the high-Mg and picritic volcanic rocks has been revised. Instead of an 18 wt % MgO minimum limit being applied for all high-Mg and picritic volcanic rocks, that is now applicable only to the high-Mg rocks such as komatiite and meimechite. The minimum MgO requirement for picrite is reduced to 12 wt %. The SiO2 former boundary figure between boninite and komatiite–meimechite–picrite, which was 53 wt %, is reduced to 52 wt %, and the total alkali content for komatiite and meimechite is increased to 2% and for picrite to 3%.

IUGS Reclassification of the High-Mg and Picritic Volcanic Rocks

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