Trachyandesite

Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of lava enriched in alkali metals and with an intermediate content of silica. 



The term trachyandesite had begun to fall into disfavor by 1985 but was revived to describe extrusive igneous rocks falling into the S3 field of the TAS classification. These are divided into sodium-rich benmoreite and potassium-rich latite. Trachyandesitic magma can produce explosive Plinian eruptions, such as happened at Tambora in 1815. 

The Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption, which disrupted European and transatlantic air travel from 14–18 October 2010, for some time was dominated by trachyandesite.

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