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METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
Alters rocks over a large geographic region.
Appalachians of New England
North Cascades of Washington-British Columbia

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
BURIAL METAMORPHISM
Occurs deep in sedimentary basins.
Requires depths > 10 km
At these depths and greater, lithostatic pressure and
geothermal heat drive metamorphic reactions and
recrystallization.
Does not require a tectonic process.
Does not create mountain belts.
Generally no foliation because no directed pressure.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
BURIAL METAMORPHISM

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
DYNAMOTHERMAL METAMORPHISM
Affected by pressure (squeezing) and heat (magma).
Occurs when converging plates squeeze rock caught
between the plates.
Crust generally thickens.
Surface rocks get taken deep into the Earth.
Rocks are subjected to high temperatures, lithostatic
pressure and directed pressure.
Rocks become foliated.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
DYNAMOTHERMAL METAMORPHISM
Produced metamorphic rocks found in the Alps,
Himalaya, and Appalachian Mountains.
Also produced the greatly eroded metamorphic rocks
in the Great Lakes region.
These rocks are exposed by uplift (faulting) and rapid
erosion.
The process doesnt reverse itself.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

OTHER TYPES OF METAMORPHISM


HYDROTHERMAL METAMORPISM
Chemical alteration of pre-existing rocks by hot water.
Occurs primarily beneath ocean floor near divergent
plate boundaries.
Creates water-rich minerals.
Includes serpentine, talc, and chlorite
In addition, when steam hits ocean water and cools
rapidly, valuable metals such as Cu, Ni, Fe and
Pb are precipitated.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

OTHER TYPES OF METAMORPHISM


FAULT ZONE METAMORPISM
Produced by rocks grinding past each other at a fault.
Produced by directed pressure and frictional heat.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

OTHER TYPES OF METAMORPHISM


SHOCK METAMORPISM
Produced by meteorite impact.
Forms shock varieties of quartz.

Stishovite
Coesite

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

OTHER TYPES OF METAMORPHISM


PRYOMETAMORPHISM
Results from ultra-high temperatures that occur in low
pressure environments.
Usually produced by lightning hitting surface rocks or
sediments.

Fulgurite

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

OTHER TYPES OF METAMORPHISM


PRYOMETAMORPHISM
Fulgurite

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

COMMON METAMORPHIC ROCKS


Classified on the presence or absence of FOLIATION.
FOLIATION is the parallel alignment of tabular
minerals in the rock due to heat and pressure.

Gneiss
Foliated

Quartzite
Nonfoliated

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

COMMON METAMORPHIC ROCKS


Some metamorphic rocks can be produced from a
number of parent rocks, i.e., gneiss.
They are then distinguished by their appearance and
the conditions under which they form rather than
by composition.
Others form from specific parent rocks, i.e., slate.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

COMMON METAMORPHIC ROCKS


METAMORPHIC GRADE describes the severity of
metamorphism.
Designated low, medium and high grade.
The higher the metamorphic grade, the less similar is
the metamorphic rock to the original parent
rock.

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Foliated

Nonfoliated

Metamorphic
Rock

Parent Rock

GrainSize

Metamorphic
Grade

Slate

Shale

Fine

Low

Phyllite

Shale

Fine

Low

Schist

Basalt, greywacke,
Shale, impure ls.

Medium

Medium to High

Gneiss

As in schist, but also


felsic igneous rocks

Coarse

High

Marble

Limestone or
Dolomite

Varies

Low

Quartzite

Quartz
Sandstone

Varies

Low to High

Anthracite
Coal

Peat

Varies

Low to High

Greenstone

Basalt

Varies

Low to High

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

COMMON METAMORPHIC ROCKS

METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC ROCKS

USES OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS


Building and foundations
Road and railroad construction (slate and quartzite)
Art - Sculpture (marble)
Fire protection (asbestos)
Sinks and counters (soapstone)
Powder (talc)
Metal ores (from metamorphism)

TELLING TIME GEOLOGICALLY


Time is a critical ingredient to most geologic processes.
Geologic time has an immense vastness.
We have 4.6 BILLION years to work with.
(info comes from the moon and meteorite)
To us a decade is a long time!
Lots of events happen in this interval of time.
How big is a billion?
Consider 1,000,000,000 seconds.
1,000,000,000 seconds equals 31.71 YEARS!

TELLING TIME GEOLOGICALLY


Earth processes do occur rapidly.
Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods
and meteorite impacts.
Most take place slowly.
Opening of ocean basins, mountain building,
differentiation of the Earth.
This section will focus on the timing of geologic events
and the ages of Earth materials.
This process is called GEOCHRONOLOGY.

TELLING TIME GEOLOGICALLY


GEOCHRONOLOGY generally cant be done to
precise instants in time.
Dates will typically have errors applied (+/-).
Geologists use a variety of clocks for geochronology.
They include trees, fossils, and radioactive isotopes to
start with.

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