Xenolith
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A xenolith is a rock fragment that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term xenolith is almost exclusively used to describe inclusion
Gabbroic xenolith in andesite, Tertiary of Wyoming, United States
Olivine weathering to iddingsite within a mantle xenolith
Xenoliths in granodiorite of the Alta Stock, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah
Large xenolith of sandstone (probably from the Albee Formation) within the Fairlee Pluton in Vermont
Diatreme
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A diatreme, sometimes known as a maar-diatreme volcano, is a volcanic pipe associated with a gaseous explosion. When magma rises up through a crack in Earth's crust and makes contact with a shallow bo
Xenolith
…and eruption. Xenoliths may be engulfed along the margins of a magma chamber, torn loose from the walls of an erupting lava conduit or explosive diatreme or picked up along the base of a flowing body of lava on the Earth's surface. A xenocryst is an individual foreign crystal included within an igneous…
Aerial view of the Moses Rock Dike diatreme in San Juan County, Utah
An illustration using a mix of common and geological terms of a diatreme. The crater and tuff terms are usually combined into the term maar, and maar is often combined into the term diatreme (see text for definitions) rather than diatreme excluding the maar.