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Petrology
Chapter 4
Ananta MS Pradhan

Introduction
Petrology is a branch of geology which deals with
the study of rocks.
Petrography is the study rocks in terms of
composition, texture and structure in hand
specimen as well as in thin section. It helps to
classify the rocks.
Petrogenesis is the study of origin and evolution
of rock.
Rocks are naturally occurring aggregates of
minerals.

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The Rock Cycle

a cycle that continuously forms and changes rocks

The rock cycle is used to explain how the three

rock types change to each other.

Earth movement can change a rock

from one type to another through
time

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Convection is the driving force of the rock cycle !

Rock divisions occur in three major families

based on how they formed: igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic.

Plate tectonic movement is responsible for the recycling of rock materials. As

the earths plates slowly move, the rocks that make up the plates are
continuously recycled and change from one form to another

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3 Types of Rocks
How are they formed???

3 Rock Types
Sedimentary

Weathering and Erosion

Metamorphic

Igneous

Heat, Pressure,
Chemical Activity

Melting,
Cooling,
and
Solidification

IGNEOUS ROCKS
Igneous rocks form

when molten rock

cools and becomes
solid.
Molten rock is called magma when it is
below the Earths surface. It cools and
hardens to form INTRUSIVE igneous
rocks.
It is lava when it is above and then cools
and hardens to form EXTRUSIVE igneous
rock.

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Texture of Igneous rock

Texture is defined as the geometrical
relationship among the component of rock. In

igneous rock texture is described on the basis

of :

Crystallinity i.e. relative proportion of glass

and crystals.
Hollocrystalline: 100% crystal
Hypo crystalline: both crystalline as well as glassy
Holohyaline: 100% glassy

Granularity (size of crystal):

Aphanitic- crystals too small to see by eye
Phaneritic- can see the constituent minerals
Fine grained- < 1 mm diameter
Medium grained- 1-5 mm diameter
Coarse grained- 5-50 mm diameter
Very coarse grained- > 50 mm diameter
Porphyritic- bimodal grain size distribution
Glassy- no crystals formed

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Mutual relationship or arrangement of crystal

Equigranular texture: uniform size of the crystals
Inequigranular texture: difference from grain to
grain.
Porphyritic texture: large crystal are surrounded
by fine grained crystals

Classification of Igneous rock

Mode of occurrence:
Intrusive rock: magma cools below the surface of
earth.
Plutonic rocks: deep seated origin.
Hypabyssal rocks: shallow depth.

Extrusive rock or volcanic rocks: magma erupts

out as lava and cools outside from the surface of
the earth.

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On the basis of composition of silica content

Acidic rock: if silica content of rock is > 66%
Intermediate rock: 52-66% silica
Basic rock: 45-52% silica
Ultrabasic rock: <45 % silica

IUGS classification:
International union of geological science

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SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
The forces of wind, rain, snow, and
ice combine to break down or
dissolve (weather), and carry away
(transport) rocks exposed at the
surface.
Rain washes rock away
Little bits of Earth
Wash downstream
Layer after layer
Eroded Earth is pressed on top

Any rock (igneous, sedimentary, or

metamorphic) exposed at the Earth's
surface can become a sedimentary rock

Texture of sedimentary rock

Clastic texture:
Size of grains
Coarse grained: sediment or clast size > 5mm
Medium grained: size 1-5 mm
Fine grained: size <1mm

Shape of grains
Rounded : clast are of round shape.
Sub rounded: partially or semi-rounded
Angular: angular shape.

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Non clastic texture:

Macrocrystalline: >20 micrometer
Microcrystalline: < 20 micrometer
Cryptocrystalline: individual grains can not be
distinguished under microscope.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS
The term "metamorphic" means "to change form."
Sediment sinks

Pressure and Heat

Sediment turns into Metamorphic rock

magma

Rocks metamorphose
when they are in a place
that is very hot and
pressure is high

Have you heard that

caterpillars can
metamorphose into
butterflies? Well,
rocks can
metamorphose too!

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Types of metamorphism
Regional metamorphism: large scale
metamorphism due to plate movements.
Contact metamorphism: intrusion of hot
igneous body to country rocks.
Cataclastic metamorphism: due to fault and
shearing friction.
Burial metamorphism: due to pressure and
temperature of overlying load.

Classification of metamorphic rocks

Foliated rocks:
Showing development of parallelism in their
mineralogical constituents as indicated by rock
cleavages like slaty cleavage, schistosity etc.

Non foliated rocks:

Absence of parallelism

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THANK YOU

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