ROCKS

- Aggregate of minerals
IGNEOUS ROCKS
- Crystallization and solidification of molten rocks
- Origin of melt: Hot spots and plate boundaries
a. INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS
o Also known as plutonic igneous rocks
o Magma is trapped deep inside the Earth
o Cooling is very slow
o Thousands-millions of years
o Result: longer time for minerals to grow (coarse grained)
b. EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS
o Also known as volcanic igneous rocks
o Magma cools above or near the surface
o Cooling is relatively quick
o Result: No time for minerals to grow (fine grained, glassy)
o Vesicular: Entrapment of hot gas bubbles
c. TEXTURES
a. Aphanitic – crystals are too small to be seen by naked eye
b. Equigranular – generally the grains are similar in size
c. Glassy – no grains
d. Phaneritic – grains are larger; can be seen with a naked eye
e. Poikilitic – a large grain would consist of other smaller grains inside them
f. Porphyritic – large mineral grains in a matrix that has smaller grains. Bimodal
g. Pyroclastic – volcanic material created in an explosive eruption
h. Spinifex – crisscross of olivine minerals
i. Vesicular – characterized by holes due to entrapment of hot gasses
d. COLOR
a. Felsic – light colored – Si, O, Al, Na, K
b. Mafic – dark colored – Mg, Fe
e. BOWEN’S REACTION SERIES

Figure 1: Bowen's Reaction Series

 o Lower temperature = higher silica content
o Higher temperature = higher Fe, Mg, Ca
BOWEN’S REACTION SERIES ROCK SAMPLES

Figure 2: Vesicular phonotephrite (Mantle material)

Figure 3: Gabbro

Figure 4: Basalt
Figure 5: Diorite (Granodiorite)
Figure 6: Andesite
 Figure 7: Rhyolite (Rhyolite Porphyry)

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
- Formed from pre-existing rocks
- Formed from pieces of a fossilized organism
- Accumulates on the surface of the Earth
- Layerings and beddings
a. CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCK
§ Forms from clasts or pieces of other rocks (igneous, sedimentary,
metamorphic)
b. CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCK
§ Form from chemical precipitation
§ Chemical precipitate is a compound that is dissolved in a solution (water)
then evaporates and leaves the compound. (Silica, salt, calcium
carbonate)
§ Water travels along the crust to weather the rock dissolving some
minerals and transporting it to other places. Precipitation of the dissolved
minerals happen when water evaporates.
c. ORGANIC SEDIMENTARY ROCK
 § Form from biological materials
d. POROSITY
§ Spaces between the grains
e. PERMEABILITY
§ Capacity of the material to allow the liquid to flow
f. WEATHERING
§ Mechanical or Chemical
g. DIAGENESIS
§ Begins after deposition; before metamorphism
§ Changes (chemical, biological, mechanical) after deposition
§ Processes: Compaction, recrystallization (reorganization of atoms of
minerals by diffusion), dissolution (water comes into contacts with rocks
that dissolves minerals), replacement (solution encounters minerals that
are unstable in the presence of the solution, dissolving it and exchanging
the mineral), authigenesis (minerals form within the sediments),
cementation (ions in the groundwater would precipitate to form
crystalline material between sedimentary grains)
• Destruction of the material, generation of new minerals,
consolidation and lithification of sediments to sedimentary rocks
ROCK SAMPLES

Figure 8: Clastic Sedimentary Rocks: Breccia (Left), Conglomerate (Right)

Figure 9: Non-clastic Sedimentary Rocks: Mudstone (Top); Siltstone (Bottom)
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
- Change of pre-existing rock due to high pressure and temperature (melting is not
significant)
a. FOLIATED
o Foliation – lining up of minerals as layers when flat (platy) or elongated minerals
are put under immense pressure (mica, hornblende) perpendicular to the
direction of the pressure
o Example: Granite = gneiss (tectonic plates)
b. NON-FOLIATED
o Does not contain minerals to line up, hence, no foliation
o Example: Limestone = marble; sandstone, quartzite
c. AGENTS OF METAMORPHISM
a. Temperature
b. Pressure
c. Fluid
d. TYPES
o Contact – heating up of rock when there is an intrusion of magma
o Pyrometamorphism – rocks are rapidly changed by heat (800 – 1000 degrees C)
o Regional – mineralogy and texture are changed over a wide area
o Orogenic – results from contractional stress during convergence of plates in the
subduction zone; recrystallization as P-T increases in the thicker crust
o Burial – sediments are buried deep causing minerals to recrystallize and new
minerals would form (high P-T)
o Ocean floor – oceanic ridges (formation of crust) undergoes generation,
alteration and deformation
o Hydrothermal – Hot and volatile solutions would percolate and react with the
protolith (original rock)
o Fault-zone – grains are shattered and crushed when the rock is subjected to an
abundant differential stress. (Fault rock: mylonite)
o Impact or shock – collision of two great bodies (asteroid and Earth)
e. METASOMATISM
o Alteration of chemical composition when the rock interacted with an aqueous
solution.
ROCK SAMPLES

Figure 10: Gneiss

Figure 11: Schist (Mica Schist)

Figure 12: Phyllite