Batholiths Are Primarily Composed of Intermediate and Felsic Compositions

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The Answer is The characteristics of intermediate and felsic magmas help to answer this question. These magmas occur at relatively low temperatures, which allows them to persist within the crust for large amounts of time. The viscous nature and high silica content of these magmas prevents rapid movement towards the surface, and gases trapped within the viscous magmas build pressures that force the rock apart to accommodate the cooling magma. In the first few billion years, the Earth's crust was much hotter than it is today, allowing ultramafic (komatiite) lavas to rise to the surface, and mafic magmas to cool within the crust, producing gabbroic(mafic) batholiths. Today, the Earth's surface is only warm enough to allow mafic magmas to reach the surface to form basaltic lavas.

Batholiths Are Primarily Composed of Intermediate and Felsic Compositions

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Batholiths Are Primarily Composed of Intermediate and Felsic Compositions

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