Sill (geology)

Illustration showing the difference between a dike and a sill.
Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh, Scotland, a sill partially exposed during the Quaternary glaciation
Mid-Carboniferous dolerite sill cutting Lower Carboniferous shales and sandstones, Horton Bluff, Minas Basin South Shore, Nova Scotia

In geology, a sill is a tabular sheet intrusion that has intruded between older layers of sedimentary rock, beds of volcanic lava or tuff, or along the direction of foliation in metamorphic rock. A sill is a concordant intrusive sheet, meaning that it does not cut across preexisting rock beds. Stacking of sills builds a sill complex[1] and a large magma chamber at high magma flux.[2] In contrast, a dike is a discordant intrusive sheet, which does cut across older rocks.

  1. ^ Leuthold J.; Müntener O.; Baumgartner L.; Putlitz B. (2014). "Petrological constraints on the recycling of mafic crystal mushes and intrusion of braided sills in the Torres del Paine Mafic Complex (Patagonia)". Journal of Petrology. 55 (5): 917–949. Bibcode:2014JPet...55..917L. doi:10.1093/petrology/egu011. hdl:20.500.11850/103136..
  2. ^ Annen C.; Blundy J.D.; Leuthold J.; Sparks R.S.J. (2015). "Construction and evolution of igneous bodies: Towards an integrated perspective of crustal magmatism". Lithos. 230: 206–221. Bibcode:2015Litho.230..206A. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2015.05.008.

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