METAMORPHISM

Agents of Metamorphism

a. HEAT AND TEMPERATURE. Heat is thermal energy that can move

(flow) from one place to another or from one substance – such as rock,
magma, or water – to another.
b. PRESSURE AND DEPTH. Burial causes rocks to experience lithostatic
pressure, also called confining pressure.
c. DIRECTED STRESS, sometimes called differential pressure, is a force
that is not the same in all directions, applied to a volume of material -
associated with places where rock folding, faulting, or other deformation,
d. METAMORPHIC FLUIDS. Metamorphism often involves fluids,
which may be liquids or gases
Different Kinds of
Metamorphism
a. BURIAL METAMORPHISM. It is the lowest-energy kind of metamorphism.
It is the precursor to regional metamorphism and occurs when rocks undergoing
diagenesis are buried to significant depth.
b. REGIONAL METAMORPHISM is associated with continental collisions and
subduction zones. It can affect very large areas and typically creates large
metamorphic terranes, regions characterized by distinctive metamorphic rocks.
c. CONTACT METAMORPHISM. Heat from the intrusion can cause contact
metamorphism that affects shallow or surficial surrounding rocks, which we
call country rocks.
d. DYNAMIC METAMORPHISM. High shear stresses associated with fault
zones can cause dynamic metamorphism (also called fault-zone
metamorphism).
Different Kinds of Metamorphism

e. Hydrothermal Metamorphism. Some metamorphism occurs when

water flows through a rock without significant changes in temperature or
pressure.

f. Impact Metamorphism, also called shock metamorphism, occurs when

a meteorite or other extraterrestrial body impacts Earth.
EXOGENIC
PROCESSES
Weathering
- process of breaking down rocks into smaller pieces called sediments.

Types of Weathering
 Mechanical weathering is a process wherein rocks are broken down
into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition due to
different temperatures and water.
 Chemical weathering is a process wherein rock materials are changed
into other substances that have different physical and chemical
compositions.
 Biological weathering is a process when living things, such as insects
and roots of the trees, contribute to the disintegration of rock materials.
Erosion (the transportation of weathered rocks)
Types of Erosion
a. Water erosion is a type of erosion where the water carries the
sediments to different parts of the bodies of water such as rivers.
b. Wind erosion happens when light materials, such as small rocks and
pebbles, are carried by wind to different places.
c. Glacial erosion happens when the ice moves downhill and plucks out
chunks of rocks and causes scraping between the ice and the rock.
Plucking and scraping can lead to the development of other landforms
if, for example, the glaciers hit a mountain and erode it.
d. Soil erosion happens when the top soil is removed and leaves the soil
infertile. This is caused by wind or flood in an area.
Deposition
the laying down of sediments to its depositional environment or final destination

 Continental includes streams, swamps, caves, and deserts.

 Coastal includes lagoons, estuaries, and deltas.

 Marine includes slopes and bottom of the ocean or abyssal

zone.
ENDOGENIC PROCESSES
Mantle Convection
Magmatism
Plutonism Vs Volcanism

Volcanism Plutonism
(extrusive) (intrusive)
Melting in the mantle requires one of three possible events to
occur:
 An increase in temperature:
Conduction in mantle happens when
heat is transferred from hotter molten
rocks to the Earth’s cold crust.
Melting in the mantle requires one of three possible events to
occur:
 A decrease of pressure: Mantle rocks
remain solid when exposed to high
pressure. However, during convection,
these rocks tend to go upward (shallower
level) and the pressure is reduced.
Melting in the mantle requires one of three possible events to
occur:
 Addition of volatiles: When water or carbon
dioxide is added to hot rocks, flux melting
occurs. The melting points of minerals
within the rocks decrease. If a rock is already
close to its melting point, the effect of
adding these volatiles can be enough to
trigger partial melting. It occurs around
subduction zones.
Types of Stresses in the Earth Crusts
a. Compression causes the rocks to push or to collide with each other. This can make the rocks
come together or make the plates rise. Mountains and hills could be formed when two plates
collide.
b. Tension is the opposite of compression. The tension force pulls the rocks away from each other.
This force created continental drifts and mid-ocean ridges. It moved the oceanic crust away from
each other that resulted in the rising of less dense rocks coming from the mantle.
c. Shear force pushes the crust in different directions. Shearing results in the breaking of the large
parts of the crust into smaller sizes. This force always happens along the plate boundaries. Plate
boundaries are the location where the two plates meet. When the two plates rub each other and
move in opposite directions, it creates friction. This friction leads to the shaking of the Earth’s
ground or earthquake.