Geology and Geomorphology Engineering

AL-Albayt UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Engineering
Surveying Engineering Department

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh

Summer Semester 2021

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

 Chapter 4
Lectures 10
Rocks Types Metamorphic Rocks

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

 Metamorphism (Metamorphic Rock Formation)
◼ Metamorphic rocks are formed when existing
parent rocks are transformed (metamorphosed)
by heat and pressure deep below the surface of
the earth or along the boundary of tectonic
plates.
◼ The three primary causes of metamorphism
include one or more of the following conditions:
heat, pressure, and/or chemically active fluids.
◼ During metamorphism, rocks may fold, fracture,
or even partially melt to a viscous state and flow
before reforming into a new rock. Metamorphic rock (gneiss):The dark
◼ Metamorphic rocks change in appearance, bands are amphibole-rich (composed of
double chain SiO4 tetrahedra), the light
mineralogy, and sometimes even chemical
bands are feldspar-rich (silicate group
composition from their parent rock source.

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

 Metamorphism (Metamorphic Rock Formation)

Most metamorphism results from the

burial of igneous, sedimentary, or pre-
existing metamorphic rocks to the point
where they experience different pressures
and temperatures than those at which
they formed.

That rock may be returned to surface for

us to see, but if it gets buried deeper still it
may partially melt to become magma.
 Type of Metamorphic Rocks
1. Contact or Thermal Metamorphism

◼ Contact or Thermal Metamorphism: occurs

when parent rock is intruded by magma (usually
an igneous intrusion). Metamorphic changes
under these conditions are primarily the result of
temperature changes associated with the
intruding magma. Additionally, when hot ion-rich
water circulates through fractures in a rock, it can
also cause chemical changes to the parent rock.
 Type of Metamorphic Rocks
2. Regional metamorphism
Combination of Heat and pressure

◼ Regional Metamorphism: occurs when

rocks are subjected mainly to high
pressure on a regional scale. It is
caused by burial deep in the crust and is
associated with large scale deformation
and mountain building. It is the most
widespread form of metamorphism.
Factors that control metamorphic processes

• The mineral composition of the parent rock,

• The temperature at which metamorphism takes place,
• The amount and type of pressure during metamorphism,
• The types of fluids (mostly water) that are present during
metamorphism, and
• The amount of time available for metamorphism.
Parent Rock

The parent rock is the rock that exists before metamorphism starts. Sedimentary or igneous
rocks can be considered the parent rocks for metamorphic rocks. Although an existing
metamorphic rock can be further metamorphosed or re-metamorphosed, metamorphic rock
doesn’t normally qualify as a “parent rock”

◼ Parent rocks provide the minerals and ion sources that are transformed into new minerals and rocks.
◼ In most cases the new metamorphic rock has the same chemical composition as the parent rock that
they formed from.
Sandstone Quartzite
Sedimentary Metamorphic

Granite Gneiss
Igneous Metamorphic

Limestone Marble
Sedimentary Metamorphic

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

 Temperature/Heat
◼ Heat provides energy for chemical reactions to proceed resulting in new
minerals
◼ Heat provides the energy that enables individual ions in the rock to mobilize
and migrate between other ions recrystallizing and forming into new minerals.
◼ Heat involved in metamorphism comes from two main sources:
1. Heat transferred during contact metamorphism from magma or igneous
intrusions.
2. Progressive temperature increase associated with geothermal gradient as
rocks are transported to greater depths below the Earth’s surface.
 Pressure
◼ Pressure equals force per unit area: (Pressure = F/A).
◼ Pressure increases with depth as the weight and thickness of the
overlying rocks increases.
◼ Pressure during metamorphism is manifested by two different
forces:
◼ Body force(confining pressure) —forces are applied equally in
all directions (gravity and weight), as a result individual grains
are compressed closer and closer together.
◼ Surface force (differential stress)—operates across a surface
and occurs when rocks are compressed or extended along a
single plane (push-pull forces). As a result, the rocks are
shortened or extended in the direction the pressure is
applied.
◼ Near the Earth’s surface, the cooler temperatures make rocks
brittle and more susceptible to fracturing than folding.
◼ Deep below the Earth’s surface, higher temperature
conditions, make the rocks ductile and they flatten and
elongate as opposed to breaking along a fracture, the resulting
rocks then exhibit complex folding patterns.
Pressure Causes flattening of mineral crystals

11/14/2022
 Chemically Active Fluids

◼ Chemically active fluids that are present between mineral grains during metamorphism act to
facilitate ion movement and the re-crystallization of existing and new minerals.

◼ Higher temperatures increase the reactive capability of ion-rich fluids.

◼ Chemically active fluids have the ability to move between different rock layers and transport
ions from one rock to another before they recrystallize.
 Time
Most metamorphic reactions take place at very slow rates. For example, the
growth of new minerals within a rock during metamorphism has been
estimated to be about 1 millimeter per million years.

For this reason, it is very difficult to study metamorphic processes in a lab.

While the rate of metamorphism is slow, the tectonic processes that lead to
metamorphism are also very slow, so in most cases, the chance for
metamorphic reactions to be completed is high.
 Classifying Metamorphic Rocks by
Different Types of Textures

◼ Texture is used to describe the size, shape, and arrangement of grains within a rock.
◼ The different textures of mineral grains within metamorphic rocks are used to
gather information about the conditions which formed them.
◼ Many of the mineral grains in metamorphic rocks display preferential orientations
where the alignment of the minerals is parallel or subparallel to one another.
◼ Rocks that exhibit parallel or sub-parallel orientation are categorized as foliated,
while those that do not exhibit orientations are categorized as nonfoliated.
Foliated Rocks: Slate
◼ Slate is a fine-grained rock composed of mica flakes and quartz grains that
enable the rock to break into thin pieces of rock, along planes of slaty cleavage.
◼ Slate forms in low-grade metamorphic environments from a parent rock of
either shale, mudstone, or siltstone.
◼ Slate is commonly thought of as black, but it can also be red when it contains
iron oxide minerals, or green when it contains chlorite. Weathered slate may
even appear light brown in the example below.

This example of slate is part of the

Carolina Slate belt which traverses
through the Piedmont of South
Carolina. This image also provides a
good example of the slaty cleavage
that has also been folded.

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Photo: SCGS
Table of Contents
Proprieties and uses of Slate

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

Foliated Rocks: Schist
◼ Schist exhibits schistosity, which is formed by the alignment of platy medium- to
coarse-grained minerals formed under moderate- to high-grade metamorphic
conditions.
◼ Schists are primarily composed of silicate minerals such as mica (muscovite and
biotite), quartz, and feldspar .
◼ Shale, siltstone, and some sandstones can provide the parent rock for schist.
◼ Schist may contain accessory minerals such as garnet, tourmaline, and pyrite.

This schist is from the Piedmont region in

South Carolina. Notice how the different
layers are weathering at slightly different
rates, the layers of darker, mica rich schist are
weathering more quickly than the tan,
feldspar and quartz-rich layers
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Dr. Hussein
Photo: SCGS Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University
Table of Contents
Schist
types
Foliated Rocks: Phyllite
◼ Phyllite is a low- to moderate-grade metamorphic rock that contains aligned platy mica
minerals and has slaty cleavage.
◼ The individual crystals are fine grained and generally consist of muscovite, white mica,
and chlorite (green rocks).
◼ Phyllite has a lustrous appearance and waxy texture.
◼ Phyllite is a metamorphic form of shale, mudstone, and siltstone.

These samples of phyllite all came from

the same quarry in South Carolina. The
slaty cleavage of the phyllite is what
makes it a foliated rock. As phyllite
weathers it parts along the cleavage
planes.

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Foliated Rocks: Gneiss
◼ Gneiss is a medium- to coarse-grained rock formed under high grade-metamorphic conditions.
◼ Gneiss is primarily composed of quartz, potassium feldspar, and plagioclase feldspar with lesser amounts
of biotite, muscovite, and amphibole.
◼ Granites and sometimes rhyolite provide the parent rock for gneiss

Gneisses are generally light colored

because they contain a large amount
of quartz and feldspar. The alternating
light and dark bands in this gneiss
illustrate the segregation of different
minerals during crystallization. This
example also shows folds in the rock.
This gneiss most likely formed from a
metamorphosed igneous intrusion.

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Photo: SCGS

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

Table of Contents
Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University
Nonfoliated Rock Textures
◼ Nonfoliated rock textures form under two basic conditions, metamorphism of
monomineralic rocks and metamorphism in the absence of directed stress.

◼ Nonfoliated textures form during recrystallization of monomineralic rocks where the

distribution of mineral growth is approximately equal, i.e. minerals grow at same rate
and to same size.
◼ In the absence of directed stress, minerals with high aspect ratio are randomly
oriented and show no preferential alignment.
◼ Marble and Quartzite are examples of a metamorphic rock with a nonfoliated texture

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Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University
Table of Contents
Nonfoliated Rocks: Quartzite
◼ Quartzite is a metamorphic rock formed under moderate to high-grade metamorphism that exhibits
both foliated and nonfoliated structure.
◼ The parent rock to quartzite is sandstone.
◼ Quartzite forms from the recrystallization of quartz grains in the sandstone and often the resulting
metamorphic rock will preserve vestiges of the original bedding patterns .
◼ Quartz is predominantly white in color, but can also contain pinkish or grayish shades depending on the
presence of iron oxides.
This example of quartzite show a couple
of interesting features. First, notice how
the different bedding planes have been
preserved during the metamorphism.
Secondly, there is a fault running though
the quartzite that occurred after the
formation of the rock. This particular
example is of a foliated quartzite (due
primarily to the preservation of the
bedding planes) however some quartzite
rocks are classified as nonfoliated

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Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

Table of Contents
Nonfoliated Rocks: Marble
◼ Marble is a nonfoliated, coarse-grained metamorphic rock formed from the parent rock
limestone or dolostone.
◼ Because it is formed from limestone or dolostone it is predominantly composed of the
mineral calcite, which metamorphoses into various carbonate and other minerals. As
calcite recrystallizes, all the grains are active at the same time and they grow to the
same size and shape, which leads to its nonfoliated texture.
◼ Different color schemes in marble are the result of impurities or the presence of
weathered materials deposited in or near the limestone.

Marble is used as a building material and is

popular for statues. The word ‘marble’
derives from a Greek word that translates
as “shining stone” because it can be
polished. Limestone that metamorphoses
into marble may contain a lot of fossils;
however, the heat and pressure of
metamorphism destroys preexisting
features primarily through recrystallization.
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Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University

Table of Contents
Proprieties and uses of civil engineering importance

Dr. Hussein Harahsheh Geology and Geomorphology Engineering – Al Albayt University