What is a Rock?

 A rock is an aggregate of mineral particles – but may also

contain organic materials

 So, minerals are essentially the building blocks of rocks

 Bedrock → Outcrop → Regolith → Soils

 Rock Classification
• Igneous Rocks
form due to the cooling and
crystallization of magma

• Sedimentary Rocks
form through lithification of
sediments from other rocks

• Metamorphic Rocks
form via recrystallization of
other rocks due to heat,
pressure, and chemical
alteration
IGNEOUS ROCKS
Igneous Rocks Are Subdivided into Two Classes:
 Volcanic (Extrusive) Igneous Rocks
 Volcanic extrusive igneous rocks form on earth's surface as lava
cools
 Basalt
 Basalt is the most widespread volcanic rock
 It is a dark, fine-grained rock
 Basalt is the rock of the sea floor
 Plutonic (or Intrusive) Igneous Rocks
 Plutonic igneous rocks form deep underground where magma
cools slowly; these rocks have a coarse crystalline texture
 Granite
 Granite is the most widespread of plutonic igneous rocks.
It underlies much of the continental crust.
Igneous Rocks
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Most sedimentary rocks are formed of layers of materials
that have washed into lakes, rivers and oceans –
• Sedimentary rocks form strata
• Often layers are tilted by earth movements
• Sedimentary rocks contain fossils

How do sediments turn into hard rock?

 Through Lithification Processes:
 Compaction

 Cementation

 Crystallization
Subclasses of Sedimentary Rocks:

1. Clastic: form from bits and pieces of other rocks

2. Chemical: consist of minerals deposited from a solution

3. Organic: consist of organic matter such as plants and

animal remains

Organically-formed sedimentary rocks form from

the remains of plants and animals (fossil
limestone, coal)
Sedimentary Rocks
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have been changed in form due to
heat, pressure, and chemical alteration.

FOLIATED NONFOLIATED
  Slate Marble
  Schist Quartzite
Gneiss

Slate: forms when shale is compressed by heat and pressure; splits easily
Schist: dominated by platy or needle-like minerals that form shiny layers
Gneiss: under pressure the minerals in granite recrystallize to form bands
of light and dark minerals
Marble: Limestone recrystallizes into marble – a denser and more
crystalline form of calcite
Quartzite: Sandstone changes into quartzite; Sand grains recrystallize to
form a hard mass of quartz
Metamorphic Rocks
HOW ROCKS RECYCLE ?
 The rock cycle is a general model that describes how
various geological processes create, modify, and influence
rocks

 The origin of all rocks can be ultimately traced back to the

solidification of molten magma

 Magma consists of a partially melted mixture of elements

and compounds commonly found in rocks

 Magma exists just beneath the solid crust of the Earth in an

interior zone, the mantle
 The Rock Cycle shows how rocks of any rock class can be
recycled into rocks of any other rock class.
The Rock Cycle
Stages in the Rock Cycle
 All rock types physically and chemically decomposed by a variety of
surface processes collectively known as weathering

 The debris thus created often transported by erosional processes via

streams, glaciers, wind, and gravity

 When this debris is deposited as permanent sediment, the processes of

burial, compression, and chemical alteration over long periods of time
produce sedimentary rocks

 Geologic processes like tectonic folding and faulting exert heat and
pressure on both igneous and sedimentary rocks, altering them physically
or chemically – rocks modified in this way are termed metamorphic
rocks

 Any of the rock types can eventually be returned to Earth's interior by

tectonic forces at areas known as subduction zones

 Once in Earth's interior, extreme pressures and temperatures melt the rock
back into magma to begin the rock cycle again