Rock and Classification

Rocks and their Classification
Engineering Geology
Samuel Jjuuko
sjjuuko1@gmail.com
0774211138/0701166086
Introduction
 The beginning:
• Universe: 13.7 billion years old
– Earth:
» 4.5 billion years old
» Ball of molten material –about 4 billion years
» Cooling and crystallization of surface
» Formed rocks (oldest at surface ±3.8 billion years)
– What are these lying on?
Introduction
Introduction
 Earth Layers:
Introduction
 Continental drift/plate tectonics:

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction
 Stratigraphy:
• The study of the stratified rocks (sediments and volcanics) especially
their sequence in time, the character of the rocks and the correlation of
the beds in different localities.” The Penguin Dictionary of Geology
– A stratigraphic unit is a ‘stratum or assemblage of strata, recognized as
a unit in the classification of the Earth’s rock sequence with respect to
any specific rock character, property or attribute’ South African
Committee for Stratigraphy, SACS 1971
Introduction
 Stratigraphy:
Rock
 What is a rock?
– –“coherent, naturally occurring substance generally
composed of minerals”
– –granite, sandstone, obsidian (no minerals), glacier ice
– –beach sand, molten lava, concrete ?
Rock
 What is a rock to an engineer?

Rock
 What is a rock to an
engineer?
Minerals
 What are minerals?

– –“natural inorganic substance of a definite structure and
– chemical composition”
– –Grow by crystallization from melts (magma) or
– –Grow from aqueous solutions and
– –Are deformed under high temperature and pressure
 Over 5000 known minerals!

Minerals
Minerals
 A mineral is a substance with these characteristics:

– Crystalline - and so has an ordered arrangement of atoms
– Definite chemical composition - for example, quartz (SiO2)
or pyrite (FeS) - or limited range of compositions (for
example,a complex mineral named hornblende)
– Naturally occurring
– Inorganic (never lived, although graphite, diamond, and
calcite may be bioproducts of organisms)
– These 4 criteria cause each type of mineral to have its own
unique properties.
Properties of Minerals: Tools for
Identification
 Hardness
 Luster
 Color
 Streak
 Cleavage
 Fracture
 Cleavage vs. crystal form
 Miscellaneous properties
Hardness
 Measure of the resistance of a mineral to scratching (not

breakage)
 Mohs Hardness Scale (Softest = 1, Hardest = 10)
Luster
 The way a mineral reflects light

 METALLIC: opaque, looks like a metal such as gold, silver,
iron, etc.
 NON-METALLIC: (needs to be more descriptive)
 – VITREOUS or GLASSY (Samples 3, 12) - strong glint
(shiny like
 glass)
 – PEARLY (talc, some gypsum) - looks like mother-of-pearl
 – RESINOUS - reflects light in a manner similar to syrup
or tree sap
 ("glazed")
 – EARTHY- dull, little or no reflection
Color
 The intrinsic color of the mineral.
 NOTE: color is rarely diagnostic - usually a very poor

identifier!! Some examples...
 Sulfur is normally yellow.
 Pyrite is normally brassy.
 Quartz can have almost any color!

Streak
 The color of the powdery residue of a mineral left behind

when you drag it across an unglazed porcelain plate (hardness
of plate = 6).
Cleavage
 Breakage of a mineral along a flat plane of weakness.

 How To Describe Cleavage:
 If you see only 1 set of parallel planes...
 – Denoted '1 direction of cleavage' ( mica).
 If you see only 2 sets of parallel planes, you must give the
intersection angle of the two planes.
 – Denoted '2 directions of cleavage at 90°' (if they intersect at a right
angle).
 If you see 3 sets of parallel planes, denoted
 – '3 directions of cleavage at 90°' (termed CUBIC - salt has cubic
cleavage)
 or
 – '3 directions of cleavage not at 90°' (termed RHOMBOHEDRAL).
Fracture
 Uneven breakage (non-planar breakage)
 – CONCHOIDAL: quartz; breaks along a surface marked

by concentric circles
 – SPLINTERY: like splinters in wood
 – UNEVEN: a "catch-all" term for non-diagnostic, non-

planar breakage
Crystal Form
 How a mineral grows
 – May be difficult to distinguish from cleavage.
 – If crystal grows out of an apparent flat cleavage face, the

face isn’t cleavage – it is crystal form.
Miscellaneous
 Some minerals have very helpful (unique) diagnostic

properties.
 – Magnetite exhibits magnetism.
 – Sulfur smells like rotten eggs (after scratching the
surface).
 – Calcite fizzes when HCl acid is applied to it.
 – Halite(rock salt) tastes salty.
 – Some minerals are exceptionally dense because they are
composed of heavy elements, or contain closely-packed
atoms.
Mineral Classification
 Metals
 – Combined with oxygen = oxide minerals
 – Combined with sulfur = sulfide minerals
 – Not combined with other elements = native (native gold,

native copper, etc.)
 Silicates (Si is an important ingredient)
 Ferromagnesian (Fe, Mg) - dark and dense

Rock Forming Minerals
 “Fewer than 20 kinds of minerals account for the great bulk of

Earth’s crust and upper mantle”
 Major rock forming minerals (groups)
– •Quartz
– •Micas
– •Feldspars
– •Amphiboles
– •Pyroxenes
– •Olivines
– •Calcite
– •Dolomite
– •Halite
– •Gypsum
– •Clays
 Quartz
• in all 3 rock types
• hard
• durable
• relatively inert
• no cleavage (but conchoidal fracture)
 Micas
 translucent to black (felsicto mafic)
 with one (1) perfect cleavage -causing it to easily break into
thin sheets.
 mafic(dark) = biotite
 felsic(light) = muscovite
 and others in between
 Feldspars
– Most common is plagioclase
» solid solution between calcium-rich and sodium-rich
» pink and milky white
» cleavage
– Predominantly found in igneous rocks
 Amphiboles
– Group of minerals –most common = hornblende
– Others include asbestos minerals
» Hornblende
– Mostly found in maficigneous rocks
» common in Bushveldrocks
– mostly black, dark brown
– Often forms long, slender crystals
 Pyroxene
– Group of minerals -22 species
– Common in ultramafic and maficrocks
– Green to black, nearly opaque
– Aegerine common in syenites
– Found in igneous and metamorphic rocks
 Olivine
– Group of minerals
– Most common
» fayalite(iron-rich)
» fosterite(magnesium-rich)
– green
– translucent
– sugary grains
– forms at high temperatures
– common in basalts
 Calcite
– generally white or translucent
– common in Limestone and Marble
– Often prismatic
 Talc
 Soft
 Greasy, soapy feel
 Halite & Gypsum

– Formed by evaporation of seawater or saline lake water
– Halite = common salt
 Clay minerals
 Common clay mineral = Kaolinite
 Montmorillonite
Rock Cycle
Rock Types
 Sedimentary rocks
– Deposited by water, wind or ice
– Chemical precipitates
 Igneous rocks
– Crystallization of molten magma or lava
 Metamorphic rocks
– Recrystallization of existing rocks under heat or pressure
Rock Types
 What Type of Rock do I Have?

Geological Map of Uganda
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary Rocks
 Sedimentary rocks only make up 5% of the Earth’s crust

 But they make up 75% of the land surface
Weathering
 Weathering is the creation of sediments by the

mechanical/physical or chemical breakdown of rock.
Controls on Weathering
Transportation and Deposition
 Rivers
 Lakes
 Sea
 Ice
 Wind
 Chemical
 Organic
 Volcanic
Transportation and Deposition in Water
Structure of Sedimentary Rocks
 Stratification
 Cross-bedding
 Graded bedding
 Ripple marks
 Mud cracks
Sedimentary Rocks
Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
 Form by weathering processes which breaks down rocks into

pebble, sand, or clay particles by exposure to wind, ice, and
water.
– •Rivers
– •Lakes
– •Sea
– •Ice
– •Wind
– •Organic
– •Volcanic
Sedimentary Systems
 Water (river/alluvial/fluvial)
– Erosion occurs by abrasion
– Affects rock and soil
– All stages of the rivers
– Variation in distance travelled and deposition environment
– The depositional environment impacts on the grain size etc.
Sedimentary Systems
 Ice (glacial)
 Erosion by abrasion
 Deposition occurs when the glacier melts and retreats
Sedimentary Systems
 Marine
– Erosion by abrasion
– Shallow marine environment - coarser sediments
– Deep marine environment - finer sediments
Sedimentary Systems
 Wind
 Fine grained particles moved by wind
 Well sorted
 Fine grained rocks etc.
 Conglomerate
– Consolidated gravels
– Rounded clasts larger than 2 mm in diameter
– In fine matrix
 Sandstone/arkose/gritstone
 Most common component quartz
 Grains ranging in size from 2 mm to 0.06 mm
 Fingers can feel the grains
 Sandstone/arkose/gritstonein thin section

– Often rounded grains, although they can be quite angular
 Mudrocks
– Siltstone
» Silt sized particles
» Feels gritty on teeth
– Mudstone (Shale)
» Fine grained
» Shale is a layered mudstone that parts on bedding
planes
– Claystone
» Clay sized particles only
» Smooth on teeth
 Greywacke
– High clay content
– with small rock fragments
– formed by turbidity currents
 Tillite (diamictite)
– Deposited by glacier
– Unsorted and unstratified
– Fine grained –with boulders and pebbles
Sedimentary Systems
 Organic
– Sediment formed through the growth of organisms (coral,
algae or swamp vegetation)
 Coal
 Organic sediments
 Black
Other Sedimentary Systems
 Fault zones
 Volcanic sediments
 Breccia
 Volcanic breccias
 In fault zones
 Angular clasts
 Tuff
– composed of volcanic material & volcanic particles
– rare –chemically unstable
Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary Systems
 Chemical precipitates
– In a saline lake or inland sea
– Crystallization by evaporation or saturation
Nonclastic Sedimentary Rocks
 Limestone
– often white or light grey
– composed of the mineral calcite
– may contain marine fossils
– formed by precipitation from saline water
– reacts with HCl
 Dolomite
– light grey to dark grey
– composed of the mineral dolomite
– formed by precipitation from shallow saline water
– deposition of algal mats – stromatolites typical
– reacts with HCl
 Chert
– formed in saline environment –when pH changes
– composed of microscopic mineral grains of quartz
– very hard with sharp edges
– glassy appearance
 Gypsum
– Formed by extreme evaporation in inland lakes
– Salt precipitated is CaSO4
Identification of Sedimentary Rocks
 Sandstone (coarse to medium, quartz, mica, ± feldspar)

 Shale (fine, no quartz, clay, fissile)
 Mudstone (fine, no quartz, clay, massive)
 Conglomerate (coarse and very coarse, quartz and a variety of
mineral and rock types)
 Tillite (fine and coarse, unsorted, variety of minerals and rock
types)
 Dolomite (crystalline, grey, reacts with HCl)
 Chert (crystalline, grey to white, very hard)
Potential Problems
 Slope Stability
 Tend to be highly bedded and jointed
 Often fissile
 Sinkholes
 Dolomite and limestone
 Durability
 Slaking in mudrocks
 Expansive clays
 Weathering of mudrocks
 Poor concrete aggregate
 Except dolomite
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
 All are derived from a magma of some type

 Chemical composition of magma is important
 Rate of cooling is other major factor
 Ultimately, the basis of all other rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
 Bowens Reaction Series

Igneous Rocks

Igneous Rocks

Igneous Rocks
 Steps in Identification
– 1.Determine the colour (indicates mineral composition)
» Light colours= quartz and alkali feldspars = felsic
» Dark colours= rich in Mg and Fe = mafic
– 2.Determine the texture (indicates cooling history)
» Coarse grained = Plutonic rocks (slow cooling)
» Fine grained = Volcanic rocks (fast cooling)
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Igneous Rocks
 Granite
 Coarse grained
 Rich in silica - quartz
 Composed of quartz and feldspars, minor biotite and
hornblende
 Range in colour from white, grey –red
 Pegmatites–very coarse grained veins in granite
Igneous Rocks
 Rhyolite
 Fine grained
 Light coloured pink/red
Igneous Rocks
 Andesite
– Fine grained
– Composed of feldspars, hornblende and pyroxenes
– Often amygdaloidal (vesicles)
– Grey to greenish grey
Igneous Rocks
 Diorite
– Coarse grained
– Composed of feldspars, hornblende and pyroxenes
– Dark and light minerals
Igneous Rocks
 Basalt
– Fine grained
– Dark grey
– Often amygdaloidal
Igneous Rocks
 Dolerite
 Sometimes referred to as diabase
 Dark grey and very hard
Igneous Rocks
 Gabbro/Norite
 Coarse grained
 Dark grey
 Plagioclase feldspars, pyroxene and some olivine
Igneous Rocks
Metamorphic Rocks
Geological Cycle
Metamorphism
 Mineralogical and/or textural change brought about in a rock

in the solid state.
Metamorphic Rocks
 Any rock (igneous, sedimentary or previously metamorphic)

can become a metamorphic rock.
 If rocks are exposed to high temperatures and pressures, they

form new minerals and textures, all without melting.
 If melting occurs, magma is formed, starting the rock cycle all

over again.
Metamorphic Rocks
 Metamorphism is caused by:
– Heat
– Pressure
– Strain
– Fluids
– Combinations of the above

Conditions causing Metamorphism
 Temperature
– • Increasing temperature has several effects on rocks:
– – Crystals grow larger
– – Hydrous minerals tend to lose water
– – Reactions between minerals may occur

 Confining pressure
 Directed pressure
 Fluids
– Transferred upwards from deeper levels in the crust or

away from magma
– May bring different elements into the rock or dissolve out

some of the original elements
Metamorphic Reactions
 The mineralogy of the rock changes
 The new (platy) minerals grow in the direction of least stress,

forming a planar texture called foliation–this is a texture
similar to the grain in wood
 Not all metamorphic rocks are foliated –rocks with only one
mineral or with no deforming stress
Types of Metamorphism
 Contact metamorphism
– Effect of heat (sometimes fluids)
– Caused by intrusion of magma into the shallow crust
– Chemical reactions with fluids from the magma may occur
 Regional metamorphism
 Widespread & occurs over large region
 Tells us what happens deep in the Earth’s crust
 Changes are caused by temperature, pressure & fluids
 Tend to be foliated because they have directed pressure
 Depths & temperatures vary
 – Very deep (high pressure) and cool –on subducting
plate
 – Hot and low pressure near volcano
 Burial metamorphism
– Gradual
– Retains original appearance
– Minerals react with each other without destroying original
texture
– New minerals may be formed
 Dynamic metamorphism
– Related to faulting
– Deep underground rocks are smeared

 Shock metamorphism
– Rare
– Meteorite impact
– High temperature & pressure
– Often melting with rapid cooling
Classification of Metamorphic Rocks
 Metamorphic grade
– The intensity a rock has metamorphosed
– The temperature and pressure it has endured

Metamorphic Grade
 Metamorphic zones
– Indicates metamorphic grade using index minerals
Al2SiO5
Metamorphic Facies
 Scheme for describing and classifying metamorphic rocks on

the basis of their mineralogy
Metamorphic Facies
Identification of Metamorphic Rocks
 The identification is generally done by mineralogy
 Divided into two groups:
 Foliated
 Non-foliated
Metamorphic Rocks
 Foliated metamorphic rocks
 unequal high pressures
 minerals aligned perpendicular to the greatest pressure

direction
 gives rock a striped look

Foliated Metamorphic Rocks
 Slate
– strongly foliated
– very fine grained
– Characterized by planar arrangement of minerals
– metamorphosed shale
 Phyllite
– similar to slate but slightly coarser grained
– Crenulation cleavage -layers may also be wavy or crinkled
 Schist
– medium to coarse grained
– planar alignment of platy minerals
 Schist – thin section
 Gneiss
– medium to coarse grained
– bands of alternating light (quartz and feldspar) and dark
(amphibole and biotite) minerals
– most gneisses are granite
 Gneiss – thin section
 Migmatite
 “mixed rock”
 mixed rocks –2 components are mingled
 metamorphic rock (gneiss or schist) mixed with igneous
material
 rare
 Mylonite
 fine grained
 weakly foliated formed by intense shearing
 forms small grains by ductile destruction of larger grains
 some larger grains may survive
 rare
Metamorphic Rocks
 Nonfoliated metamorphic rocks

– temperatures are high but the pressures are relatively low and equal
– minerals within the rock recrystallize becoming larger and denser

Nonfoliated Metamorphic Rocks
 Identified on the basis of their composition
 Major types:
 Quartzite
 Marble
 Hornfels
 Argillite
 Greenstone
 Amphibolites
 Quartzite
– composed of the mineral quartz
– metamorphosed sandstone
– Sedimentary structures (bedding etc.) can survive
 Marble
– composed of the mineral calcite
– metamorphosed limestone or dolomite
 Hornfels
– formed by contact metamorphism –edges of intrusions
– very high temperatures and pressures
– fine grained
– no foliation, lineation or fabric
 Greenstone
 low temperature metamorphism of maficigneous rocks
 abundance of green minerals (epidote, chlorite, serpentine)
 fine grained
 not always obviously green in colour
 Common types –amphibolites, serpentinites
 Amphibolite
– Common parent rock –gabbro, basalt, tuff
– Minerals –hornblende, plagioclase, minor quartz and garnet
– Often coarse grained with laths of hornblende
 Amphibolite – thin section
 Amphibolite
– Common parent rock –gabbro, basalt, tuff
– Minerals –hornblende, plagioclase, minor quartz and garnet
– Often coarse grained with laths of hornblende
Potential Problems
 Highly variable
 Unusual minerals
 Slope stability
 – Often highly fractured and strong cleavage
 Expansive clays possible
 Poor concrete aggregate
 – Strained quartz in the rocks reacts with concrete
 – Except granite gneiss is good

Rock and Classification

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rock and Classification

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Rocks and their Classification

 Continental drift/plate tectonics:

 Continental drift/plate tectonics:

 Continental drift/plate tectonics:

 Continental drift/plate tectonics:

 What is a rock to an engineer?

 What are minerals?

 Over 5000 known minerals!

 A mineral is a substance with these characteristics:

 Measure of the resistance of a mineral to scratching (not

 The way a mineral reflects light

 The intrinsic color of the mineral.

 NOTE: color is rarely diagnostic - usually a very poor

 Sulfur is normally yellow.

 Pyrite is normally brassy.

 Quartz can have almost any color!

 The color of the powdery residue of a mineral left behind

 Breakage of a mineral along a flat plane of weakness.

 Uneven breakage (non-planar breakage)

 – CONCHOIDAL: quartz; breaks along a surface marked

 – SPLINTERY: like splinters in wood

 – UNEVEN: a "catch-all" term for non-diagnostic, non-

 How a mineral grows

 – May be difficult to distinguish from cleavage.

 – If crystal grows out of an apparent flat cleavage face, the

 Some minerals have very helpful (unique) diagnostic

 – Combined with oxygen = oxide minerals

 – Combined with sulfur = sulfide minerals

 – Not combined with other elements = native (native gold,

 Silicates (Si is an important ingredient)

 Ferromagnesian (Fe, Mg) - dark and dense

 “Fewer than 20 kinds of minerals account for the great bulk of

 Halite & Gypsum

 What Type of Rock do I Have?

 Sedimentary rocks only make up 5% of the Earth’s crust

 Weathering is the creation of sediments by the

 Form by weathering processes which breaks down rocks into

 Sandstone/arkose/gritstonein thin section

 Sandstone (coarse to medium, quartz, mica, ± feldspar)

 All are derived from a magma of some type

 Bowens Reaction Series

 Bowens Reaction Series

 Bowens Reaction Series

 Mineralogical and/or textural change brought about in a rock

 Any rock (igneous, sedimentary or previously metamorphic)

 If rocks are exposed to high temperatures and pressures, they

 If melting occurs, magma is formed, starting the rock cycle all

 Metamorphism is caused by:

– Combinations of the above

– • Increasing temperature has several effects on rocks:

– – Crystals grow larger

– – Hydrous minerals tend to lose water

– – Reactions between minerals may occur

– Transferred upwards from deeper levels in the crust or

– May bring different elements into the rock or dissolve out

 The mineralogy of the rock changes

 The new (platy) minerals grow in the direction of least stress,

– Deep underground rocks are smeared

– The intensity a rock has metamorphosed

– The temperature and pressure it has endured

 Scheme for describing and classifying metamorphic rocks on

 The identification is generally done by mineralogy

 Divided into two groups:

 Foliated metamorphic rocks