How Rocks Are Formed

Modern Geology
● Father of Modern Geology - James Hutton (1795)

Uniformitarianism –
The present is key to the past.
Geological processes today are the same as they were in the past.
The physical features of the Earth were formed by these processes.

Rocks
● Earth is almost entirely rock.
● Rock – a group of ____________?bound together in some way.

3 Groups of Rock- Classified according to how they form

1. IGNEOUS(95% of Earth’s crust)

“Fire formed rocks” Cooling and hardening of magma and lava.
Ex: Granite

2. SEDIMENTARY
Layers of sediment that have hardened and become cemented together.
Plants & animal remains, tiny rock fragments, chemical sediment from lakes or
oceans. Ex: Sandstone

3. METAMORPHIC
Existing rocks are changed by heat and pressure into new types of rocks. Ex: Shale
(Sedimentary) turns into Slate.

ROCK CYCLE
• Cycle of formation, destruction, and reformation.
• Changes any rock into a new type OR back into the same type of rock.
• Page 136
• ESRT – pg 6
Igneous rocks
Source of all igneous rocks – magma or lava
Two forms of Igneous rocks
1. Intrusive igneous rock - Magma solidifies inside the Earth – very slowly.
This allows large crystals to form which is described as a coarse-grained texture.Ex:
Granite

Intrusive igneous rocks are also called:Plutonic rocks

(Pluto = Roman God of the underworld).

An intrusive igneous rock mass is often called a pluton.

2. Extrusive Igneous Rock – magma erupts and solidifies near or on the Earth’s surface –
very quickly.

Very small crystals form (smaller than sand size).Described as a fine-grained

texture.Ex: Basalt
OR – no crystals form = glassy texture
Ex: Obsidian (volcanic glass), Pumice, Scoria

Extrusive igneous rocks are also called volcanic rock. (Vulcan – Roman God of fire)
 ● Occasionally volcanic gases bubble through extrusive igneous rock.When the lava
hardens, gas bubbles are left in the rock.Ex: Pumice (gray), Scoria (black or red)
Sometimes magma that has been cooling slowly is pushed to the surface of the Earth
by magma. The rest of the lava starts to cool quickly. The result = porphyry. A rock
with large crystals surrounded by small crystals.

Magma - Review(3 Types)

1. Felsic – thick and slow moving.

Contains a high % of silca & smaller amounts of calcium, iron & magnesium.
Forms light colored rocks containing quartz & orthoclase feldspar.

2. Intermediate - 50/50 mix. “Salt and Pepper”

3. Mafic – hotter, thinner.

Contains a large amount of iron, and magnesium & smaller amount of silica.
Forms a dark colored rock containing hornblende, augite, & biotite.

ESRT pg. 6 - Igneous Rock Classification