METAMORPHISM

Metamorphism - Solid state changes in sedimentary or igneous rocks. Takes place within the crust and in
response to the agents of metamorphism.
Agents of Metamorphism
1) Heat
a) frictional sliding of plates
b) radioactivity
c) gravitational compression
2) Pressure
a) burial (lithostatic)
b) directed pressure due to tectonism
3) Chemically Active Fluids
a) Water - circulates in response to heat generated by cooling magmas. Exchanges ions
between the solution and the rock through which it is traveling.
Types of Metamorphism
Dynamic metamorphism - Metamorphism along faults zones in response to pressure. Involves a brittle
deformation of the rock during which it is ground into fine particles. Heat and chemical fluids are less
important. Most important rock is mylonite a very distinctive lineated rock.
Contact metamorphism - Alteration of rocks at or near the contact of a cooling pluton. Most important
agents of metamorphism are heat and circulating fluids. Pressures usually less important, often in the
range from 1-3 kilobars. Temperatures 300-800 degrees C. Produces a series of zones characterized
by the presence of one or more diagnostic minerals.
Regional metamorphism - Occurs over a very large area in response to increased temperature and
pressure. Circulating fluids are unimportant due to the great depth of regional metamorphism.
Pressure seals pore space in the rocks and fluids can't circulate. A variation on regional
metamorphism is burial metamorphism, the latter occurs solely in response to burial. Generally,
regional metamorphism occurs in tectonically active areas (i.e. plate margins).
Classification of Metamorphic Rocks
Process oriented classification just as is that for the igneous rocks. The two dominant processes are regional
and contact metamorphism.
Foliated - Contain linear or planar features. Form in response to active pressure during regional
metamorphism. Foliation is not to be confused with the original sedimentary layering.
Slate - Fine grained, with nice rock cleavage. Cleavage due to the parallel orientation of the mica
grains.
Phyllite - Well developed foliation. Grains slightly larger than those of a slate. Again composed of mica.
Poorer rock cleavage.
Schist - Contains grains that can be seen by the eye. Still has noticeable foliation. May be most
common of all metamorphic rocks.
Gneiss - Consists of alternating light (feldspar-quartz) and dark (amphibole-biotite) bands. Requires a
higher degree of metamorphism.
Non-foliated - Show no evidence of foliation and are apt to form in a contact metamorphic environment where
pressure is unimportant.
Marble - Recrystallized limestone (calcite).
Quartzite - Metamorphosed quartz sandstone.
Hornfels - "Spotted rock" due to the presence of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
Regional Metamorphism
To attack complex regional metamorphism we obviously needed a different approach since index minerals
often will not work. There would be one for each different starting rock type and the result would be so complex
it would be difficult to interpret.
Characteristics of regional metamorphism:
1. Occurs over large areas (1000's of sq. miles)
2. Closely related to episodes of mountain building
3. Both temperature and pressure important
Metamorphic facies - An assemblage of minerals that reached equilibrium under a specific set of temperature
and pressure conditions. Each facies named for a readily recognizable characteristic mineral or other feature.
Remember that any one mineral does not have to be present, the facies is characterized by several different
minerals
1. Zeolite - Transitional from sedimentary conditions. P 2-4 kb and T 200-300 degrees C.
2. Greenschist - Low temperature and pressure facies of regional metamorphism. P 3-8 kb and T 300-
500 degrees C. Characterized by the green minerals chlorite, epidote and actinolite.
3. Amphibolite - Moderate to high temperature and low pressure regional metamorphic facies. P 3-8 kb
and T 500-700 degrees C. Characterized by the presence of amphibole.
4. Granulite - High temperature and low to moderate pressure regional metamorphic facies. P 3-12 kb
and T >650 degrees C. Characterized by quartz, feldspar, same minerals in a granite, hence the
name.
5. Blueschist - Low temperature and high pressure metamorphic facies. Occurs only in areas of
abnormally low geothermal gradients. P >4 kb and T 200-450 degrees C. Name from the blue mineral
glaucophane. Common rock type on Catalina Island. Actually very rare in much of the world.
6. Eclogite - Mantle rock, probably not a valid metamorphic facies. Requires P >10 kb and T from 350-
750 degrees C.
7.
8. There are two main mechanisms of metamorphism,
heat and pressure.
9.
10. HEAT:
There are two sources of heat, one comes from the geothermal gradient - the increase in temperature that
occurs with increase in depth in the earth. The average Geothermal Gradient is approximately 1 degree C for
every 30 meters (~100 feet) of depth, although under local conditions it may vary from this ideal.
The second source of heat is from intrusive bodies of magma, such as Batholiths. As these bodies cool they
release heat to the surrounding country rock, leading to metamorphism.

At the extreme end of metamorphism melting takes place. The melting temperature for a rock ranges from a
low of 700-800 degrees C to as high at 1000 degrees C. The melting temperature is controlled by a number of
things. For example, the composition of the parent rock. Take aGranite vs a Basalt parent rock, both being
metamorphosed. Because a basalt crystallizes at a higher temperature than a granite (i.e. is higher in Bowen"S
Reactions Series), it takes more temperature to melt a basalt.
But other factors are equally important in determining melting temperature. Pressure: the higher the pressure,
i.e. the deeper the rock is, the more temperature it takes to melt it. Conversely, a very deep, hot rock brought to
the surface quickly will melt very quickly because of the decrease in pressure. It is akin to what happens in a
pressure cooker. The increasing pressure in the cooker causes the water to boil at a higher temperature, thus the
food cooks more quickly, but if the pressure is suddenly released the water flashes to steam.
Fluids are also important in melting. The more fluids there are, typically water, but others as well, the easier it
is for the rock to melt. Fluids allow the chemicals to move more quickly and easily, and the increased mobility
makes for easier melting. Conversely, a dry rock is very hard to get to change. Without the fluids chemical
changes are just harder to take place.


PRESSURE:
There are two types of pressure involved in metamorphism: confining pressureand directed pressure.
Confining pressure (also hydrostatic) is equal in all directions and comes from the weight of the overlying
rock - buial. It is analagous to the pressure you feel when diving deep in a swimming pool - it presses in on you
equally on all surfaces.
Directed pressure (stress) is not equal in all directions and is associated with mountain building processes
when rock is squeezed, crumpled, and stretched as one continent slides over the edge of another.
Pressure not only influences the rate and degree of metamorphism, with deeply buried rocks requiring more
time and heat to undergo a particular metamorphic processs, pressure also causes textural changes in the rock
(more later) - how large the crystals are and their orientations - that are so distinctive of metamorphic rocks.
11. Chemical changes occur when a substance combines with another to form a new substance,
called synthesis or, alternatively, decomposes into two or more different substances. These processes
are called chemical reactions and, in general, are not reversible except by further chemical reactions.
Some reactions produce heat and are called exothermicreactions and others may require heat to
enable the reaction to occur, which are called endothermic reactions. Understanding chemical
changes is a major part of thescience of chemistry.
12. Clastic sedimentary rocks
13. Clastic rock
14. Claystone deposited in Glacial Lake Missoula, Montana, United States. Note the very fine and flat
bedding, common for distal lacustrine deposition.
15. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of silicate minerals and rock fragments that were transported
by moving fluids (as bed load, suspended load, or by sediment gravity flows) and were deposited when
16. these fluids came to rest. Clastic rocks are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock (lithic)
fragments, clay minerals, and mica; numerous other minerals may be present as accessories and may
be important locally.
17. Clastic sediment, and thus clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant
particle size (diameter). Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworthgrain size scale and divide
unconsolidated sediment into three fractions: gravel(>2 mm diameter), sand (1/16 to 2 mm diameter),
and mud (clay is <1/256 mm andsilt is between 1/16 and 1/256 mm). The classification of clastic
sedimentary rocks parallels this scheme; conglomerates and breccias are made mostly
of gravel,sandstones are made mostly of sand, and mudrocks are made mostly of mud. This tripartite
subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites, respectively, in older
literature.
18. Subdivision of these three broad categories is based on differences in clast shape
(conglomerates and breccias), composition (sandstones), grain size and/or texture (mudrocks).
19.