What are the two types of dikes?

Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma flows into a crack then solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through a contiguous mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack.


What is an example of dike?

The Ossipee Mountains of New Hampshire and Pilanesberg Mountains of South Africa are two examples of ring dikes. In both of these instances, the minerals in the dike were harder than the rock that they intruded into.

What are dikes in geography?

In geography and civil engineering, a dike is a barrier or ditch limiting or preventing the flow of water. Such barriers are also called levees. While a dam stretches across a waterway, a dike usually runs along its side. Dikes can form as a result of natural forces, but most are constructed by humans.


What are dikes volcanoes?

Dikes are tabular or sheet-like bodies of magma that cut through and across the layering of adjacent rocks. They form when magma rises into an existing fracture, or creates a new crack by forcing its way through existing rock, and then solidifies.

What are dikes sills and Batholiths?

A dike is a tabular mass that cuts across surrounding rocks. • A sill is a tabular mass that is parallel to planar structures (such as layers) in surrounding rocks. • A batholith is a large body of irregular shape that cuts across surrounding rocks.


what is a dike and how do they form ? - geology explained



What is the difference between a sill and a dike?

A dike is formed when magma enters a rock fault and crystallizes cutting vertically through rock layers. On the other hand, a sill is formed when magma intrudes horizontally between rock layers.

How can you tell a dike from a sill?

The term sill is synonymous with concordant intrusive sheet. This means that the sill does not cut across preexisting rocks, in contrast to dikes, discordant intrusive sheets which do cut across older rocks.

What is another term for dike?

a long narrow channel dug in the earth water flowed along the dike to the small pond. Synonyms & Similar Words. ditch. trench. gutter.


What causes a dike?

When molten magma flows upward through near-vertical cracks (faults or joints) toward the surface and cools, dykes are formed. Dykes are sheet-like igneous intrusions that cut across any layers in the rock they intrude.

Why do they call them dikes?

It originated as a homophobic slur for masculine, butch, or androgynous girls or women. Pejorative use of the word still exists, but the term dyke has been reappropriated by many lesbians to imply assertiveness and toughness.

How many types of dikes are there?

Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin. Magmatic dikes form when magma flows into a crack then solidifies as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through a contiguous mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack.


What is the best definition of dikes?

noun. an embankment for controlling or holding back the waters of the sea or a river: They built a temporary dike of sandbags to keep the river from flooding the town. a ditch. a bank of earth formed of material being excavated. a causeway.

What did dike mean?

(daik) noun. derogatory, offensive slang. a female homosexual; lesbian. Also: dike.

What are dikes quizlet?

dyke and fissure eruptions. DIKE: A dyke (or dike) in geology is a type of later vertical rock between older layers of rock. Technically, it is any geologic body which cuts across: flat wall rock structures, such as bedding. massive rock formations, usually igneous in origin.


What are the components of a dike?

A sea dike is a manmade structure designed to protect low-lying areas from flooding from the sea or ocean. They typically are designed with several components including a sand core, a watertight outer protective layer, toe protection and a drainage channel.

What happens when a dike breaks?

Dike breaking is a disaster that could cause extensive damage. It could lead to flood flows outside the dike and induce water level fluctuations in the main channel.

How do dikes fail?

Storm surges were, generally speaking, the primary cause of dike failure, followed by high water and ice drift. Two-thirds of all dikes failed as a result of the inner slope protection or the crest of the dike being eroded.


What is the purpose of a dike in a river?

On larger rivers, dikes are used to manage sediment response distribution within the channel to deepen the channel and provide adequate depth for navigation. On smaller rivers and tributaries, they have been used primarily to divert flow and stabilize eroding banks.

How do you spell female dike?

In American and Canadian English, dike is the preferred spelling of the noun referring to (1) an embankment used to prevent floods, and (2) a low wall dividing lands. Dyke is the preferred spelling in all other main varieties of English. Dyke is also a derogatory slang word referring to a lesbian.

Are dikes always vertical?

Dikes are often vertical, or straight up and down. But since the Earth is constantly moving and shifting, the dike can end up horizontal after enough time goes by. Dikes sometimes show up in swarms of several hundred dikes. A dike swarm is usually created by the same geologic event, such as a volcano.


Are dikes vertical or horizontal?

Dike: a vertical sheet that cuts through horizontal rock. Clast: a little chunk of rock that forms a sedimentary rock, like the sand in sandstone or the mud in mudstone.

How can you tell the age of a dike?

The age of the volcanic ash bed and the igneous dike are determined directly by radiometric methods. The layers of sedimentary rocks below the ash bed are obviously older than the ash, and all the layers above the ash are younger.

What are the types of sill?

A simple sill is the product of a single intrusion, whereas a multiple sill is formed by two or more intrusions. A composite sill is composed of more than one rock type positioned between older layers of rock during more than one intrusive episode.


What is the purpose of a sill?

By providing a stopping place for the lower rail of the window, the sill effectively holds the sash in place when the window is closed. In other words, a window without a sill would not be a window at all. Window sills have been a traditional part of all windows for thousands of years.

Is a dike intrusive or extrusive?

A dike is an intrusive rock that generally occupies a discordant, or cross‐cutting, crack or fracture that crosses the trend of layering in the country rock.