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Rock Groups

Rock Groups

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It took years of back-breaking labor for nineteenth-century

workers to chisel and chip ledges and tunnels through hard rock
to run a rail line across a mountain range. In the process, the
workers became very familiar with the nature of rock.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th Edition

Copyright © 2012 W. W. Norton & Company

FIGURE B.2
Types of rock exposures.

(a) Outcrops are natural

rock exposures. These
outcrops rise as cliffs
above the forest of the
Rocky Mountains in
Colorado.

(b) In arid (dry) climates,

a lack of vegetation
leaves outcrops
unobscured.

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FIGURE B.2
Types of rock exposures.

(c) By blasting into the

ground to produce a more
level grade for roads,
highway engineers
produce roadcuts.

(d) Stream cuts form

where flowing water
grinds into the land and
strips away soil and
vegetation.

FIGURE B.7 Studying rocks in

thin section.
(a) Using a special saw, a
geologist cuts a thin chip of a
rock specimen.
(b) The geologist glues the chip
to a glass slide and grinds it
down until it is so thin that light
can pass through it.
(c) With a petrographic
microscope, it’s possible to view
thin sections with light that
shines through the sample from
below.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th Edition

Copyright © 2012 W. W. Norton & Company

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Describing a rock

Mineralogy

Grain size

Texture

Describing a rock
 Grain size

fine-grained coarse-grained

Some rocks may include

mineral populations with
different grain sizes
(porphyritic):

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Describing a rock
 Mineralogy

• What minerals are in the rock?

• How much of each? (relatively speaking;

100%)

• We care about:
o Abundance
o Importance

Describing a rock: texture

t.s. expanded
h.s.

(a) Clastic texture is illustrated by the grains and

cement in a sandstone. t.s. expanded
h.s.
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th Edition
Copyright © 2012 W. W. Norton & Company

(b) Crystalline texture is illustrated by the

interlocking crystals in a granite.

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Describing grains in rock: “fabric”

expanded
Grains in rock
view come in a variety
of shapes. Some
are equant,
whereas some are
boulder
inequant. In this
example of
foliation
metamorphic rock,
direction
inequant grains
align to define a
foliation.

Fabric describes the shape and arrangement of

the mineral grains and their spatial orientation;
Rocks with no “preferred orientation” of minerals
(such as igneous rocks, for example) are described
as “massive”-textured.

Layering in rock:

(a) Bedding in a sedimentary

rock, here defined by alternating
layers of coarser and finer
grains, as exposed on a cliff
along an Oregon beach. Older
beds were tilted before younger
ones were deposited.

(b) Foliation in metamorphic

rock, here defined by
alternating layers of light
minerals and dark minerals.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th Edition

Copyright © 2012 W. W. Norton & Company

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ROCKS
Rock = a naturally occurring solid aggregate
(mixture) of minerals or mineraloids (glass, opal)
Do not confuse rocks with minerals. Minerals are
chemical compounds and rocks are mixtures of
minerals.
Genetic Classification (based on mode of origin) of
rocks:
• Igneous rocks – solidification of molten material
(magma) @ high T
• Sedimentary rocks – accumulation of loose
eroded material @ surface of Earth and low T
• Metamorphic rocks – transformation of
sedimentary and igneous rocks @ moderate P and
T

FIGURE B.3 Examples of

the three major rock groups:

(a) Lava (molten rock)

freezes to form igneous
rock. Here, the molten tip of
a brand-new flow still glows
red. Older flows are already
solid.

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(b) Sand, formed from

grains eroded off the rock
cliffs, collects on the beach.
If buried and turned to rock,
it becomes layers of
sandstone, such as those
making up the cliffs.

(c) Metamorphic rock forms

when preexisting rocks
endure changes in
temperature and pressure
and/or are subjected to
shearing, stretching, or
shortening. New minerals
and textures form, as seen
in this decorative floor tile.

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These fundamental rock types are interrelated through the

ROCK CYCLE

IGNEOUS ROCKS

Form by solidification of MAGMA (molten rock

material)

• Magma generated below surface of Earth and

moves towards surface along conduits.
• Flows out on surface as lava.

Solidification within conduits - Intrusive rock

Solidification on surface – Volcanic or Extrusive rock

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VOLCANIC

Rapid cooling = glass, or very

fine grain size (aphanitic), or a
mixture.

Gases boiling out + rapid

cooling = “fossil gas bubbles”;
vesicles (empty) or amygdales
(filled) in the rock.

VESICLES or preserved gas bubbles in lava

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VESICLES

AMYGDALES – Vesicles filled by secondary minerals (white)

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INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS

Slow cooling: no glass, no vesicles, medium to coarse

grain size (phaneritic)

Hypabyssal = cooling at shallow depth

Plutonic = cooling at greater depth

Texture: the overall appearance of the rock (including

grain size and shape) depends on environment of
solidification, which is continuously variable

Rocks of same composition but solidified in different

environments can look quite different.

Intrusive vertical sheet of igneous rock known as a dyke, Namib desert

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Thin Section of lava

1 mm seen under the
microscope

Crystals of
plagioclase
feldspar =
phenocrysts

Glassy
groundmass

amygdale

Obsidian (glass)

Crystalline rhyolite

These two rocks are both rhyolites with identical composition. The colour difference
arises from one being entirely glassy and the other crystalline.

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Gabbro

Basalt

Classification of Common Igneous Rocks

Mineralogical classification:
Classify based on the types and abundance of silicate
minerals present (modal classification).
Note that the mineralogy of rocks is continuously
variable; boundaries between rock types artificial and
arbitrary (compare: biological classification).
Textural classification:
Different names are given to intrusive and extrusive
rocks with same mineralogy.
Chemical classification:
Based on % of chemical constituents; used for very
fine-grained or glassy igneous rocks.

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Classification of Common Igneous Rocks

Komatiite

Peridotites

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Gabbro

Basalt

GABBRO

plagioclase pyroxene
olivine 4mm

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Fine-Medium Grained Felsic

Granodiorite minerals =
white

Mafic minerals
= dark

Gabbro Granite

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SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Formed by lithification of loose sediment derived from:
• erosion OR
• precipitation of chemical compounds from solution OR
• both

Sediment = collective name for loose rock and mineral

fragments (CLASTS) or plant and animal remains.

Converted from loose sediments into rocks during

diagenesis
• Includes lithification, fossilisation, compaction

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
CLASTIC Sedimentary rocks - dominant type of
sedimentary rock. Accumulate in layers (bedding) over
long time periods.

Clasts made up of only the toughest fragments that can

survive erosion and transportation - clastic sedimentary
rocks have mineralogically simple assemblages:

• Quartz
• Clay Minerals
• Feldspar(s)
• Carbonate (may include shell fragments)

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Classification of Sedimentary Rocks

Mineralogy too simple as a basis for classification

Classification based on texture:

• principally the size of clasts
• secondary consideration given to:
• Degree of rounding of clasts
• Degree of sorting (variability of clast size)
• Nature (i.e., type) of clasts

Textural classification conveys genetic information -

energy of environment of deposition

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Angular

Degree of rounding –
self-explanatory?

Degree of sorting –
extent to which the
majority of clasts or
grains are more-or-less
the same size
Well-rounded

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Conglomerate bed

Sandstone bed

CONGLOMERATE + SANDSTONE – high energy environment

Well-sorted conglomerate in the making

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Poorly-sorted conglomerate in the making

BRECCIA – clasts are angular

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0.5 mm
Feldspar

SANDSTONE
Well-sorted - most of the
grains are about the same size

Quartz

Non-Clastic (or Chemical) sediments

These are chemical precipitates
• Evaporites (e.g., halite, gypsum)
• Banded Ironstone
(also known as Banded Iron Formation, or BIF)

Mining banded ironstone at Sishen

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130 Ma-old gypsum deposits, Angola, resulting from evaporation

of brackish water in closed–off lagoons

Non-Clastic sediments

• Limestone – clastic rock which is essentially calcium

carbonate made up of the accumulation of the skeletal
remains of animals (coral reefs). With time the clasts
readily recrystallize and lose their clastic character.
• Dolomite – chemical sediment, formed by transformation of
existing limestone, or “grown” at seawater-freshwater
interface

• Chert – similar story to

above, forming
microcrystalline silica

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Metamorphic Rocks

Rocks that are texturally and mineralogically transformed in

the solid state by chemical reactions and recrystallization =
metamorphism.

Main agents of metamorphism are:

 HEAT (temperature)
 STRESS (pressure)
 effects of fluids

Heat and Stress

Directed stress results in new platy or acicular minerals
growing in parallel alignment - foliation
Heat only
No directed Stress, no foliation. Occurs adjacent to an
magma conduit – contact metamorphic rocks or hornfels
Secondary classification criteria are grain size and mineralogy

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This quarry, in northwestern Italy, provides blocks of pure white

marble, some of which were carved into beautiful sculptures. It
also provides a view into the bedrock that lies beneath rugged
peaks.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th Edition

Copyright © 2012 W. W. Norton & Company

sedimentary rock
metamorphosed by
heat from nearby
igneous intrusion

Rock completely recrystallized, but

original sedimentary bedding preserved

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Strongly-folded shales and siltstones, now metamorphosed to phyllites and schists,

near Ugab River, Namib Desert, Namibia.

Strong Folding - rocks experienced directed stress, acquired a foliation

Foliated Schist/Phyllite in outcrop. (Hammer for scale)

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0.5 mm

Foliation in mica schist as seen under the microscope. Parallel

arrangement of long direction of minerals and the cleavage direction in
biotite mica (the brown mineral).

Gneiss – note the

foliation and the
banding (concentration
of felsic minerals and
mafic minerals into
bands which are
oriented parallel to the
pen)

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What metamorphic rock

is this?

Next up:
Earth’s heat, mass & magnetic field

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