Metamorphic Rocks
metamorphism
• To change
• Change can be due to variations in temperature
and/or pressure
• Can be
– Mineralogy
– Texture
– Chemical composition
• No melting -> if the rock melts and recools then it
is igneous
metamorphism
• Change is short geologically, usually
millions of years
• Changes in response to temperature and
pressure
• Changes usually occur at great depths
Metamorphism and Earth’s heat
flow
P=gh
Heat flow
• Rate of change of temperature with depth
• Increases at about 30°C/km
• Ranges between 20° - 60°C/km
Temperature and Metamorphism
Geothermometers
• Minerals that crystallize at specific
temperatures give information about
environment
• Usually more than one are found
– Geologists look for mineral assemblages
– Assign a grade to the rock
• Low
• Intermediate
• High
Metamorphic Grade
• The intensity or rank of metamorphism;
measured by the mineralogy and texture of
the rock
• Mineral isograds (same grade) connect
points where index minerals first appear
Metamorphic Grade and
mineralogy
The northeast
Metamorphic Grade
• The intensity or rank of metamorphism;
measured by the mineralogy and texture of
the rock
• Mineral isograds (same grade) connect
points where index minerals first appear
• Metamorphic grade and parent rock
composition
Basalt metamorphism
Shale metamorphism
Metamorphic Facies
• 'A facies is a body of rock with specified
characteristics... A facies should ideally be a
distinctive rock that forms under certain
conditions of sedimentation, reflecting a particular
process or environment.'
• The same grade of metamorphism will produce
different rocks from different parents
• The same parent rock can form different
metamorphic rocks at different grades
Metamorphic Facies
Pressure and Metamorphism
• Also referred to as stress (force/area)
• Confining pressure
– Pressure applied equally in all directions
Confining pressure
Pressure and Metamorphism
• Confining pressure
– Pressure applied equally in all directions
• Directed pressure
– Differential stress
Differential stress
Metamorphism caused by differential stress
Pressure and Metamorphism
• Confining pressure
– Pressure applied equally in all directions
• Directed pressure
– Differential stress
– Shear stress
Shear stress
Gneiss and marble that have been folded by shearing
Pressure and Metamorphism
• Confining pressure
– Pressure applied equally in all directions
• Directed pressure
– Differential stress
– Shear stress
– Tension
Pressure and Metamorphism
• Confining pressure
– Pressure applied equally in all directions
• Directed pressure
– Differential stress
– Shear stress
– Tension
• Geobarometers - minerals that indicate
pressure conditions
Fluids
• Water can be present in rocks (clay
minerals)
• Groundwater circulating
• Magmatic origins
Hydrothermal circulation in the
oceans
Textural changes
• Texture
– describes the size, shape and arrangement of grains in a
rock
• Previous:
– Igneous - aphanitic (fine) or phaneritic (coarse)
– Sedimentary - boulders, gravel, pebbles, sand, silt
Metamorphic Textures
Texture: describes the size, shape and
arrangement of grains in a rock
• Foliated
– Foliation is a set of wavy or flat parallel lines produced
by deformation
• Non-foliated
– If foliated has lines, then non-foliated…
Foliated textures
• Four criteria for classification:
– Crystal (or grain) size
– Nature of foliation
– Degree of mineral segregation
– Metamorphic grade
Foliated textures
• Minerals and structural features of a rock are
in parallel alignment
• A result of a variety of mechanisms, including:
– Rotation of minerals parallel to plane of foliation
– Ductile deformation
– Growth of minerals influenced by stress field
Direction of
compressive
forces
Preferred
mineral
orientation
Types of foliation
• Rock (slaty) cleavage: microscopic platy
minerals
• Schistose: visible platy or needle-shaped
minerals, scaly appearance, sparkly
• Gneissic: minerals segregated into light and
dark bands
Slaty cleavage in sandstone and siltstone
Schistose texture
Schist in photomicrograph
Gneiss
Large crystal (porphyroblastic)
texture
• Porphyroblasts grow
by replacement of the
matrix
Classification of
metamorphic rocks
Slate
Slate Roof
Phyllite
Schist
Mica-
staurolite
schist
Folded Schist
Gneiss
Augen gneiss Augen: german for eye
Folded gneiss
Texture and depth of burial
Migmatite, Vishnu Schist, Grand Canyon
Non-foliated rocks
Nonfoliated textures
• Marble
Carrara marble quarry, Apuan Alps, Italy
Recumbant fold in marble
Metaconglomerate
Quartzite
Kinds of Metamorphism: Regional
• Occurs where rocks are exposed to high
temperatures and pressures over large regions
• Associated with convergent margins and
continental collisions
Kinds of Metamorphism: Contact
• Occurs in country rock immediately
adjacent to igneous intrusives
• Contact aureoles
• Associated with convergent margins and hot
spots
• Can occur together with regional
metamorphism
Contact Metamorphism
Plate Tectonics and
Metamorphism
• Plate Interiors
– Contact, burial, some regional at the bottom of the plate
• Divergent margins
– Seafloor alteration through hydrothermal circulation, contact
metamorphism from magma
• Convergent margins
– Regional, high-pressure and ultra-high-pressure, contact
metamorphism
• Transform boundaries
– Seafloor alteration, shearing (mylonite zones)
Paired metamorphic belts
