A laccolith is a sheet-like intrusion (or concordant pluton) that has been injected within or between layers of sedimentary rock (when the host rock is volcanic, the laccolith is referred to as a cryptodome). The pressure of the magma is high enough that the overlying strata are forced upward and folded, giving the laccolith a dome or mushroom-like form (or possibly conical or wedge-shape) with a generally planar base. Over time, erosion can form small hills and even mountains around a central peak since the magma rock is likely more resistant to weathering than the host rock. The growth of laccoliths can take as little as a few months when associated with a single magma injection event, or up to hundreds or thousands of years by multiple magmatic pulses stacking sills on top of each…
