ROCK

ROCK

Naturally-occurring, coherent aggregate of minerals or solid

material such as natural glass or organic matter. Rocks are found
in the lithosphere, which is derived from the Greek word lithos
meaning”stone”. The lithosphere is the rigid, rocky, outermost part
of Earth, composed of crust and uppermost part of the upper
mantle.
 ROCK CYCLE

A model that describes all the processes by which rocks are

formed, modified, transported, decomposed, melted, and
reformed. the processes occur both on Earth’s surface and
underneath. Essentially, it is a dynamic cycle of processes and
products.
 TYPES OF ROCKS

IGNEOUS ROCK
SEDIMENTARY ROCK
METAMORPHIC ROCK
 IGNEOUS ROCK

Formed from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

The word “igneous” is derived from latin igneus, which means
“fiery” or “on fire”. Igneous rocks form at higher Temperatures
than other types of rocks.
BELOW THE SURFACE, FROM SLOWLY COOLING
MAGMA – This results in the formation of crystal that are visible
to the naked eye without the aid of a magnification lens. These
types of igneous rocks are called intrusive or plutonic, since they
cool underneath the surface as plutons.
ON THE SURFACE, FROM RAPIDLY COOLING LAVA –
THIS RESULTS IN THE FORMATION OF VERY SMALL
CRYSTALS THAT MAY BE NOT VISIBLE WITHOUT THE
USE OF MAGNIFYING LENS. IGNEOUS ROCKS LIKE
THESE ARE CALLED EXTRUSIVE OR VOLCANIC, SINCE
THEY ARE USUALLY EXTRUDED VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS.
ON THE SURFACE, FROM THE CONSOLIDATION OF
PARTICLE ERUPTED BY EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC
ACTIVITY – When volcanoes erupt violently, the lava exiting
the volcanoes are ripped apart into smaller pieces by rapidly
expanding gases in the lava, just like the bubbles in a bottle of
softdrinks shaken vigorously. Depending on how much gas is
present, the particles may solidify as small as ash or large as
basketballs. When these particles come together on the surface via
lithification, they form ptroclastic igneous rock.
 SEDIMENTARY ROCK

PRODUCTS OF THE LITHIFICATION OF PARTICLES

PRODUCED BY THE WEATHERING OF OTHER
PREEXISTING ROCKS. ASIDE FROM ROCK PARTICLES,
THEY MAY ALSO BE COMPRISED OF MINERAL
FRAGMENTS AND ORGANIC MATERIAL, OR IN SOME
CASES, MINERALS THAT PRECIPITATE FROM SOLUTION ,
THESE COMPONENTS ARE CALLED SEDIMENTS.
THE CEMENTATION OF SEDIMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN
DEPOSITED, BURIED, AND COMPACTED OVER A
LONG PERIOD OF TIME – This process produces sedimentary
rocks that are considered as clastic, which are differentiated based
on the size of the sediments or clasts a in the rocks.
FROM THE PRECIPITATION OF MINERALS FROM IONS IN
SOLUTION – ROCKS THAT ARE EXPOSED TO WATER AND
OXYGEN CAN UNDERGO CHEMICAL CHANGES SUCH AS
OXIDATION (RUSTING) AND HYDROLYSIS THROUGH
TIME. THESE PROCESSES BREAK DOWN ROCKS INTO
THEIR CHEMICAL COMPONENTS, PARTICULARLY INTO
IONS THAT CAN BE CARRIED BY RUNNING WATER IN
SOLUTION. ONCE THE SOLUTION IS SATURATED, THE
PRECIPITATION OF MINERALS LIKE CALCIITE AND
HALITE CAN OCCUR, LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF
CHEMICAL SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
FROM THE COMPACTION AND CEMENTATION OF
PLANT AND/OR ANIMAL REMAINS – THESE TYPES
OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ARE CALLED BIOCLASTS.
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS
FORM WHEN PREEXISTING OR PARENT ROCKS
WHETHER IGNEOUS, SEDIMENTARY, OR EVEN
METAMORPHIC) ARE ALTERED BY HEAT, PRESSURE,
AND THE CHEMICAL ACTIVITY OF FLUIDS. THESE
PROCESSES ARE COLLECTIVELY CALLED
METAMORPHISM, MEANING “CHANGE IN FORM”.
METAMORPHISM USUALLY OCCURS UNDERNEATH THE
SURFACE, ALTHOUGH NOT AS DEEP AS THE IGNEOUS
ENVIRONMENT.
When the dominant altering factor is pressure, usually due to
tectonic activity, the flat and/or elongated material components of
the preexisting rocks react by aligning perpendicular to the axis of
the pressure. This results in a layered or banded appearance in the
rock called foliation, and these types of rocks are called foliated
metamorphic rocks. The term comes from the Latin folium which
means “leaf”, where the flat leaves are on the top of each other.
This type of metamorphism is called regional metamorphism, as
tectonic processes involved in this process, which produces
mountain chains, are regional in scale.
 When the dominant altering factor is heat, usually from direct
between an older rock material and an intruding body of magma,
the parent rocks may undergo a fundamental change in texture due
to recrystallization, or even change in mineralogy when
chemically-active fluids are also involved. This process is called
contact metamorphism. Contact metamorphism creates
nonfoliated metamorphic rocks, such as marble and quartzite.
 IGNEOUS ROCKS

ARE EITHER CRYSTALLINE WHEN THEY FORM FROM

COOLED MAGMA OR LAVA, OR PYROCLASTIC, WHEN
THEY ARE MADE OF CONSOLIDATED ERUPTION
PRODUCTS LIKE VOLCANIC ASH.
 1. CRYSTALLINE TEXTURES

DIFFER DEPENDING ON THE RATE OF COOLING AND

WHERE IT TOOK PLACE.

A. INTRUSSIVE OR PLUTONIC ROCK

B. EXTROSIVE OR VOLCANIC ROCK
 INTRUSIVE OR PLUTONIC ROCKS
FORM FROM SLOWLY-COOLED MAGMA HIGH TIME
TO FORM LARGE MINERAL CRYSTAL THAT ARE VISIBLE
WITHOUT THE AID OF A MAGNIFYING LENS. THE
RESULTING TEXTURE IS CALLED PHANERITIC, WHICH
IS DERIVED FROM THE GREEK PHANEROS, MEANING
“VISIBLE”. IN CASES WHEN MINERALS CRYSTALLIZE
VERY SLOWLY AT DEPTH, THE RESULTING TEXTURE IS
PEGMATITIC TEXTURE, ONE THAT IS COMPOSED OF
VERY LARGE CRYSTALS (LARGER THASN 2 TO 3 CM).
 EXTRUSIVE OR VOLCANIC ROCKS
FORM FROM RAPIDLY-COOLED MAGMA USUALLY EXHIBIT
APHANITIC TEXTURES. APHANITIC IS DERIVED FROM THE
GREEK APHANEROS, WHICH MEANS “VISIBLE”. THUS, THE
MINERAL CRYSTAL OF APHANITIC ROCKS CANNOT BE
DISTINGUISHED WITHOUT THE USE OF MAGNIFYING TOOLS. A
SPECIAL VOLCANIC TEXTURE IS DISPLAYED BY ROCKS THAT
COOL RAPIDLY, AS MINERAL CRYSTALS DO NOT FORM, WHICH
USUALLY OCCUR WHEN LAVA IS EXPELLED UNDERWATER. THIS
RESULTS IN ROCKS THAT APPEAR GLASSY. ANOTHER IS THE
VESICULAR TEXTURE, WHICH IS A RESULT OF GASES ESCAPING
WHILE THE VOLCANIC ROCK IS BEING FORM.
 2. PYROCLASTIC

PYROCLASTIC IS DERIVED FROM THE GREEK PYRO

WHICH MEANS “FIRE” AND KLASTOS MEANS
“SHATTERED.” THIS TEXTURE IS THE RESULT OF THE
LITHIFICATION OF ERUPTED VOLCANIC MATERIAL;
THUS, THESE TYPES OF ROCKS ARE DISTINGUISHED
FROM EACH OTHER BY SIZE OF ITS PARTICLE
COMPONENTS.
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ARE CLASTIC WHEN THEY FORM
FROM LITHIFICATION OF ROCK AND MINERAL FRAGMENTS
SUCH AS QUARTZ, FELDSPAR, AND CLAY. SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS ARE CRYSTALLINE WHEN THEY PRECIPITATE OUT
OF SOLUTION, SUCH AS DOLOMITE, CALCITE, HALITE, OR
GYPSUM. SEDIMENTARY ROCKS CAN BE BIOCLASTIC
WHEN THEY ARE FORMED FROM THE ACCUMULATION OF
ORGANIC MATERIAL OR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY. IT MAY
EVEN CONTAIN REMNANTS OF PLANTS, CORALS, SHELL, OR
FOSSIL FRAGMENTS.
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS

THEY MAY BE FOLIATED WHEN THE DOMINANT AGENT

OF METAMORPHIC IS PRESSURE, OR CRYSTALLINE
WHEN THE DOMINANT AGENT IS HEAT.
 1. PLATY

ELONGATED MINERALS ALIGN THEMSELVES PARALLEL

TO THE AXIS OF PRESSURE, RESULTING IN A LAYERED
APPEARANCE OR FOLIATION.
 2. CRYSTALLINE TEXTURES
RESULT WHEN THE PARENT ROCK IS EXPOSED WITH
ENOUGH HEAT THAT IT INCLUDES RECRYSTALLIZATION
OF THE EXISTING MINERAL.