TYPES OF ROCKS

Jessa Mae E. Gastar

WHAT ARE ROCKS?
 Rocks are naturally formed, consolidated material composed of grains of one
or more minerals. 
 They form within the Earth and make up a large part of our planet.

 It  is a natural substance

composed of solid crystals of
different minerals that have
been fused together into a
solid lump.
TYPES
Types ofOF
rocksROCKS

• What are the

different types of
rocks?
• Can you name them?
Igneous rocks
Sedimentary rocks
Metamorphic rocks
 c k s
s ro Igneous rocks are formed from the solidification
e ou of molten rock material.
Ign Igneous rocks form when magma (molten rock)
cools and crystallizes, either at volcanoes on the
surface of the Earth or while the melted rock is still
inside the crust.
All magma develops underground, in the lower
crust or upper mantle, because of the intense heat
there.
Igneous rocks can have many different
compositions, depending on the magma they cool
from.
Dacite is a fine-grained igneous rock that
is normally light in color. It is often
porphyritic. Dacite is found in lava flows,
lava domes, dikes, sills, and pyroclastic
debris.

Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, 

igneous rock composed mainly of 
plagioclase and pyroxene minerals. 
Igneous rocks
• Some form below Earth's surface. Some form on or above Earth's surface.
• The two main categories of igneous rocks are extrusive and intrusive.
• Intrusive igneous rocks crystallize below Earth's surface, and the slow
cooling that occurs there allows large crystals to form. Examples of
intrusive igneous rocks are: diabase, diorite, gabbro, granite, pegmatite
, and peridotite.
• Extrusive igneous rocks erupt onto the surface, where they cool quickly
to form small crystals. Some cool so quickly that they form an amorphous
glass. These rocks include: andesite, basalt, dacite, obsidian, pumice, 
rhyolite, scoria, and tuff.
Extrusive igneous rocks
• When lava comes out of a volcano and solidifies into extrusive
igneous rock, also called volcanic, the rock cools very quickly.
• Crystals inside solid volcanic rocks are small because they do not
have much time to form until the rock cools all the way, which
stops the crystal growth.
• These fine-grained rocks are known as aphanitic—from a Greek
word meaning “invisible.” They are given this name because the
crystals that form within them are so small that they can be seen
only with a microscope. If lava cools almost instantly, the rocks
that form are glassy with no individual crystals, like obsidian.
 Intrusive igneous rocks
• Intrusive rocks, also called plutonic rocks,
cool slowly without ever reaching the surface.
• They have large crystals that are usually
visible without a microscope. This surface is
known as a phaneritic texture.
• Perhaps the best-known phaneritic rock
is granite. One extreme type
of phaneritic rock is called pegmatite, found
often in the U.S. state of
Maine. Pegmatite can have a huge variety of
crystal shapes and sizes, including some
larger than a human hand.
 M
E
T
A
M
O
R
P
H
I
C
ROCKS
 What are metamorphic rocks?
• Metamorphic rocks started out as some
other type of rock, but have been
substantially changed from their original 
igneous, sedimentary, or earlier
metamorphic form.
• Metamorphic rocks form when rocks are
subjected to high heat, high pressure, hot
mineral-rich fluids or, more commonly,
some combination of these factors.
Process of Metamorphism:
The process of metamorphism does not
melt the rocks, but instead transforms
them into denser, more compact rocks. -
New minerals are created either by
rearrangement of mineral components or
by reactions with fluids that enter the
rocks. Pressure or temperature can
even change previously metamorphosed
rocks into new types. Metamorphic rocks Despite these uncomfortable
are often squished, smeared out, and conditions, metamorphic rocks do not
get hot enough to melt, or they would
folded. become igneous rocks!
 Common Metamorphic Rocks
Common metamorphic rocks include phyllite, schist, gneiss, quartzite
and marble.
schist quartzite
phyllite

gneiss
 Foliated Metamorphic Rocks
Some kinds of metamorphic rocks -- granite gneiss and biotite
schist are two examples -- are strongly banded or foliated.
(Foliated means the parallel arrangement of certain mineral
grains that gives the rock a striped appearance.)
Foliation forms when pressure squeezes the flat or elongate
minerals within a rock so they become aligned. These rocks
develop a platy or sheet-like structure that reflects the direction
that pressure was applied.
 Non-Foliated Metamorphic Rocks
Non-foliated metamorphic rocks do not have a platy or sheet-like
structure.
There are several ways that non-foliated rocks can be produced. Some
rocks, such as limestone are made of minerals that are not flat or
elongate.
No matter how much pressure you apply, the grains will not align!
Another type of metamorphism, contact metamorphism, occurs when
hot igneous rock intrudes into some pre-existing rock. The pre-existing
rock is essentially baked by the heat, changing the mineral structure of
the rock without addition of pressure.
S E D I M E N T A R Y ROCKS
Sedimentary Rocks

They are formed on or

near the Earth’s surface
from the compression
of ocean sediments or
other processes.
Sedimentary rocks are formed
on or near the Earth’s surface,
in contrast to metamorphic and
igneous rocks, which are
formed deep within the Earth.
The most important geological
processes that lead to the
creation of sedimentary rocks
are erosion, weathering,
dissolution, precipitation, and
lithification.
 Erosion and weathering
• Erosion and weathering include the effects of wind and rain,
which slowly break down large rocks into smaller ones.
• Erosion and weathering transform boulders and even
mountains into sediments, such as sand or mud.
• Dissolution is a form of weathering—chemical weathering.
With this process, water that is slightly acidic slowly wears
away stone. These three processes create the raw materials
for new, sedimentary rocks.
 Precipitation and lithification
• Precipitation and lithification are processes that build new rocks or
minerals.
• Precipitation is the formation of rocks and minerals from chemicals
that precipitate from water. For example, as a lake dries up over many
thousands of years, it leaves behind mineral deposits; this is what
happened in California’s Death Valley.
• Lithification is the process by which clay, sand, and other sediments
on the bottom of the ocean or other bodies of water are slowly
compacted into rocks from the weight of overlying sediments.
References:
• https://digitalatlas.cose.isu.edu/geo/basics/rock.htm
• https://geology.com/rocks/igneous-rocks.shtml
• https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-metamorphic-rocks#:~:text=Me
tamorphic%20rocks%20started%20out%20as,some%20combination%
20of%20these%20factors
.
• https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sedimentary-rock