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What is a dike in geology?
Quick Answer
A geological dike is a sheet of igneous rock that cuts across older rocks after magma fills a crack and cools.
The Full Story
Dikes are formed when magma pushes into fractures and solidifies, often as a vertical or steeply angled wall. Because they cut across surrounding rock layers, they are younger than the rocks they intrude, which makes them useful for relative dating. Dike swarms can stretch for hundreds of kilometers and record the stress and cracking of a continent or volcanic province. They are different from sills, which run parallel to existing layers.
Key Facts
1.Dikes cut across older rocks
2.They are younger than the rocks they intrude
3.Dike swarms can extend for hundreds of kilometers
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"The rock walls magma builds underground"
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