Magma Transport in Dikes

Dikes are vertical sheet-like bodies of igneous rock that were emplaced as magma within preexisting rock and represent the principal mode of magma transport within and through planetary lithospheres. They represent the critical link between regions of melt production and regions of melt accumulation and/or volcanic eruptions. Theoretical treatments of dike propagation include the fracture mechanics at the dike tip, magma flow within the dike, deformation of the surrounding wall rock, as well as cooling of the flowing magma within the dike. Two end-member cases are a finite volume of buoyant magma forming a self-propagating dike, and dikes that are connected to and fed by a magma reservoir.