Rock
Rock
Rocks are naturally occurring aggregation of minerals
(including hard and soft materials), fossils or other hard
materials.
Rocks are classified by how they formed and what they’re
made of.
There are 3 general classes of rocks.
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Classifying Rocks
• Igneous Rocks…are formed when lava and magma
crystallize to form solid rock
• Metamorphic Rocks…are formed when an existing
rock is partially melted, squeezed, or both
• Sedimentary Rocks…are formed when sediments
(sand clay, and silt) are compressed and become
solid rock
Major Rock Groups
Igneous
◦ Formed from a melt (molten rock)
◦ Plutonic (intrusive):slow cooling and crystallization
◦ Volcanic (extrusion): quick cooling at the surface
Sedimentary
◦ Formed at the Earth’s surface
◦ Clastic (Mineral Fragments or grains, clays)
◦ Chemical (crystalline chemical/biochemical precipitates)
Metamorphic
◦ Changed by pressure, temperature and fluids.
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THE ROCK CYCLE
All rocks on Earth are locked into a system of cycling and
re-cycling known as the Rock Cycle.
Fig. 2.9
MAGMA
IGNEOUS
Crystallization
MAGMA
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IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
MAGMA
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Volcanic
(Extrusive)
IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
MAGMA
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Weathering
Volcanic
(Extrusive)
IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
Uplift MAGMA
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Weathering SEDIMENT
Volcanic
(Extrusive)
IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
Uplift MAGMA
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SEDIMENT Erosion
Weathering
Transport
Volcanic Deposition
(Extrusive) SEDIMENTARY
IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
Uplift MAGMA
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SEDIMENT Erosion
Weathering
Transport
Volcanic Deposition
(Extrusive) SEDIMENTARY
IGNEOUS
Plutonic (Intrusive)
Crystallization
Uplift MAGMA
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SEDIMENT Erosion
Weathering
Transport
Volcanic Deposition
(Extrusive) SEDIMENTARY
IGNEOUS
Increased P&T
Plutonic (Intrusive)
METAMORPHIC
Crystallization
Burial
Uplift MAGMA
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SEDIMENT Erosion
Weathering
Transport
Volcanic Can you see Deposition
IGNEOUS any shortcuts? SEDIMENTARY
Plutonic (Intrusive) Increased P&T
METAMORPHIC
Crystallization
Melting
Burial
Uplift MAGMA
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SEDIMENT Erosion
Weathering
Transport
Volcanic Deposition
(Extrusive) SEDIMENTARY
IGNEOUS
Increased P&T
Plutonic (Intrusive)
METAMORPHIC
Crystallization
Melting
Burial
Uplift MAGMA
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TYPES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS
At the surface, LAVA hardens to form EXTRUSIVE
rocks with tiny (FINE-GRAINED) crystals or GLASSY
(no crystal) TEXTURES
Beneath the surface, MAGMA hardens to form
INTRUSIVE rocks with easily visible
(COARSE-GRAINED) crystal texture.
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Igneous Rock
Intrusive Igneous Rock Extrusive Igneous Rock
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Granite
• Granite is a light-colored igneous rock with grains large
enough to be visible with the unaided eye.
• It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below
Earth's surface.
• Granite is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar with
minor amounts of mica, amphiboles, and other minerals.
• This mineral composition usually gives granite a red, pink,
gray, or white color with dark mineral grains visible
throughout the rock.
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Uses
• Counter tops
• Floor tiles
• Paving stone
• Curbing
• Stair treads
• Building veneer
• Cemetery monuments
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Granite - intrusive
tourmaline
The term PEGMATITE is
a textural term. It refers
feldspar
to large crystals, usually
inches in length. The
biggest crystals in the
world are from pegmatites
and are 1000’s of YARDS
mica
long.
quartz
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Diorite - intrusive
feldspar biotite
Uses are similar to those of granite.
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Gabbro - intrusive
Peridotite - intrusive
Uses similar to granite. Gabbros consisting of primarily
labradorite feldspar (a variety of moonstone) makes beautiful
countertops as the crystals display a rainbow of blues, greens,
golds and reds.
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Rhyolite – extrusive
This is another sample of rhyolite.
This has a crystal of garnet that
grew after the rhyolite was
deposited. This is an example of
banded rhyolite. (*)
If you look closely, you might see tiny clear phenocrysts of
feldspar. (*) 27
Many igneous rocks are PORPHYRITIC, i.e. they exhibit 2
distinct crystal sizes. The larger crystals (or phenocrysts)
represent a period of time during which the magma was
cooling relatively slowly; the smaller crystals represent a
period during which the rate of cooling was accelerated.
The dark garnet visible in the rhyolite grew by pneumatolytic
processes. Means, it grew out of hot mineral-rich vapors
permeating the porous rock.
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Andesite - extrusive
Andesitic lavas are
also very viscous.
Volcanoes with this
type of lava include
the Andes of South
America, the Cascades
of northwestern
United States, and
(historic) San
Francisco Peaks of
northern Arizona.
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Basalt - extrusive
Vesicular (Scoria)
Volcanic Bomb
Gases released near the surface
of a lava flow create bubbles or
vesicles that are “frozen” in
stone. (*)
Amygdaloidal (*)
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Basalt - extrusive
XENOLITH = a small to very
large piece of the country
rock (rock through which the
magma ascended) that was
torn off and incorporated into
the cooled magma/lava.
Often, xenoliths will have
“blurred’ edges, where they
have been partially
assimilated into the hot
magma.
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Basalt - extrusive
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Obsidian - extrusive
Apache tear
Flow banding
The “flakes” in snowflake obsidian
Snowflake
are spherical crystal aggregates of
the mineral andalusite. 33
Perlite - extrusive
Apache Tear
When perlite is heated to the softening
point (about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit),
it expands due to formation of steam
from its included water. The expanded
form resembles pumice. This form is
used in thermal and acoustical
insulation, in liquid fuel systems, in
nursery potting soils, in filtering of
liquids for human consumption and as
a light weight aggregate. Finely
ground and expanded perlite is used as
a specialty filler in paints, light weight
cast plastic resin products and sealants.
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Pumice - extrusive
Pumice is used as a light
weight aggregate with
Portland cement to
produce light weight
concrete, in cleansing
powders, in abrasive soap,
and to produce “stone
washed” and “acid
washed” garments.
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Tuff - extrusive
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Volcanic Breccia - extrusive
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SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS are composed of
particles derived from pre-existing rocks or by
the crystallization of minerals that were held in
solutions. A general characteristic of this group
is the layering or stratification.
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More about sedimentary rocks
Shale is the most
common sedimentary
rock
Sedimentary rocks
cover about
three-quarters of the
land surface
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METAMORPHIC ROCKS
METAMORPHIC ROCKS have changed (meta ) their form
(morphic). Under the influence of heat, pressure and fluids,
pre-existing rocks are modified in form and even in internal
atomic structure to produce new rocks stable at the new
conditions. This is done within the solid state, i.e. without
melting.
Changes that occur include: increase in grain size, new minerals
and foliation (parallel alignments).
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METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Metamorphic rocks that exhibit parallel alignments of
minerals are called FOLIATED. In these rocks, the
minerals all line up perpendicular to the exerted
pressure.
Metamorphic rocks composed of minerals that are
not elongated or flat, do not exhibit parallel
alignments and are called NON-FOLIATED.
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SLATE - foliated
Note the relatively dull luster of slate.
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PHYLLITE - foliated
Note the phyllitic sheen.
SCHIST - foliated
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MARBLE – non-foliated
Aguila, AZ
Hewitt Canyon, AZ
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QUARTZITE – non-foliated
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SERPENTINITE – non-foliated
Used in heat resistant
materials, such as brake
linings, laboratory
gloves/mats, pipe
coatings. It has lost
favor, due to lung
complications from the
inhalation of some
varieties, but no fully
satisfactory substitute
exists.
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METACONGLOMERATE –
non-foliated
Conglomerate
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Metamorphism of shale
SHALE is the most common sedimentary rock.
Through the agents of metamorphism it changes to rocks that
are stable at higher temperatures and pressures.
These changes take place in the solid state.
GRANITE
MELTING Produces
GRANITE
Slate Schist
Shale Phyllite Gneiss
Increasing Temperature and Pressure
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