What is the difference between felsic and mafic magma?

Question

This question has to do with volcanism and plate tectonics. It's an Earth Science question.

Answer 1

Mafic lava is less viscous(runnier) than felsic lava due to a lower silica content. This causes non-violent eruptions such as in the Hawaiian Islands. Mafic lava tends to be associated more with interplate volcanism and mid-ocean ridges and produces the rock type known as basalt. (The ocean floor is made of basalt.) Felsic lava is mainly found at convergent zones (areas of colliding plates) and has a high silica and water content which causes the lava to be highly viscous and causes very violent eruptions. This lava produces rhyolite and andesitic rocks.

Answer 2

Mafic = relatively low silica magma therefore thin and runny, containing elements such as iron and magnesium. Mafic magma is usually found in oceanic volcanoes where the crust is thin as it represents deeper material. Mafic rocks are generally dark in colour

Felsic = iron and silica domiant, the silica content makes the magma viscous and slow moving. Rhyolite would be a good example of a felsic rock. Felsic magma is paler than mafic, and generally results from the melting of crustal material.

Answer 3

Mafic is used for silicate minerals, magmas, and rocks which are relatively high in the heavier elements. The term is derived from using the MA from magnesium and the FIC from the Latin word for iron, but mafic magmas also are relatively enriched in calcium and sodium. Mafic minerals are usually dark in color and have relatively high specific gravities (greater than 3.0).
Felsic, on the other hand, is used for silicate minerals, magmas, and rocks which have a lower percentage of the heavier elements, and are correspondingly enriched in the lighter elements, such as silica and oxygen, aluminum, and potassium.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the difference between felsic and mafic magma?
This question has to do with volcanism and plate tectonics. It's an Earth Science question.

Answer 5

Mafic Definition

Answer 6

Felsic Definition

Answer 7

This is just what you need. No BS.

Mafic tends to have a higher density due to containing more of the heavier elements.

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry11.html

Answer 8

felsic is light, mafic is dark. i think.