Dr. Pamela Gore
Georgia Perimeter College
- Identify metamorphic rocks by their physical and chemical properties.
- Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks in terms of the rock cycle.
- Discuss several ways in which metamorphic rocks form.
- Explain what is meant by the term "parent rock" and be able to give examples of metamorphic rocks and their parent rocks.
- List and describe the characteristics of foliated metamorphic rocks, including textures and composition.
- List and describe the characteristics of non-foliated metamorphic rocks, including textures and composition.
Metamorphism means "changed form".
Agents of Metamorphism
Changes occur because of:
- Chemical fluids
Rocks adjust to become more stable under new, higher temperatures and pressures.
There are several sources of heat for metamorphism.
- Geothermal gradient
Temperature increases with depth at a rate of 20 - 30 degrees C per km in the crust.
Ultimate source of the heat? Radioactive decay.
Increase of temperature and pressure with depth causes Regional Metamorphism
Heat may come from large bodies of molten rock rising under a wide geographic area.
- Intrusions of hot magma can bake rocks as it intrudes them. Lava flows can also bake rocks on the ground surface.
Lava or magma in contact with other rock causes Contact Metamorphism.
Hornfels is a common contact metamorphic rock.
Contact metamorphism along a narrow (approx. 1 meter wide) diabase dike in the Deep River Basin of North Carolina.
Diabase weathers tan. Contact metamorphic aureole rocks (hornfels) are gray. Host rocks are red siltstones.
- Burial Pressure. Pressure increases with depth due to the weight of the overlying rocks.
A cubic foot of granite weighs 167.9 pounds. Increase of pressure and temperature with depth causes
Regional metamorphism occurs at depths of 5 - 40 km.
- Tectonic pressures associated with convergent plate boundaries and continental collision also cause
- Pressure along fault zones causes Dynamic Metamorphism, the crushing and ductile flow of rock.
Rocks formed along fault zones are called mylonites.
- Chemical Fluids
In some metamorphic settings, new materials are introduced by the action of hydrothermal solutions
(hot water with dissolved ions). Many metallic ore deposits form in this way.
- Hydrothermal (hot water) solutions associated with magma bodies can introduce new ions and remove existing ions (ion exchange)
How do rocks change?
Metamorphism causes changes in:
The original rock (usually sedimentary or igneous) which is changed by metamorphism is referred to as the parent rock.
The processes of compaction and recrystallization change the texture of rocks during metamorphism.
- The grains move closer together.
- The rock becomes more dense.
- Porosity is reduced.
- Example: clay to shale to slate
Growth of new crystals. No changes in overall chemistry. New crystals grow from the minerals already present.
A preferred orientation of minerals commonly develops under applied pressure. Platy or sheet-like minerals such as muscovite and biotite become oriented perpendicular to the direction of force. This preferred orientation is called foliation.
The foliated metamorphic rocks
As shale is subjected to increasing grade of metamorphism (increasing temperatures and pressures),
it undergoes successive changes in texture associated with an increase in the size of the mica grains.
- Slate - very fine grained rock. Resembles shale. Has slaty cleavage which may be at an angle
to the original bedding. Relict bedding may be seen on cleavage planes. Often dark gray in color.
"Rings" when you strike it. (Unlike shale, which makes a dull sound. Temperature about 200 degrees C;
Depth of burial about 10 km. Shale is the parent rock of slate.
- Phyllite - fine-grained metamorphic rock. Has a frosted sheen, resembling frosted eye shadow.
This is no coincidence. Cosmetics commonly contain ground up muscovite (ground to a size similar to that
occurring naturally in phyllite.) Shale is the parent rock of phyllite.
- Schist - metamorphic rock containing abundant obvious micas, several millimeters across. Shale is the parent rock of schist.
Several types of schist may be recognized, based on minerals which may be present:
- Mica schist (muscovite schist, biotite schist)
- Garnet schist
- Chlorite schist
- Kyanite schist
- Gneiss - (pronounced "nice") - a banded or striped rock with alternating layers of dark and light minerals.
The dark layers commonly contain biotite, and the light layers commonly contain quartz and feldspar. Shale is the usual parent rock of gneiss.
Granite is Shale is the parent rock of the parent rock of some gneisses.
- Migmatite - a very high grade metamorphic rock that has been subjected to
such high temperatures that it has partially melted.
It is intermediate between the metamorphic and the igneous rocks. Look for swirled banding.
The light colored minerals have undergone melting and flow. The dark colored minerals have been contorted by flow.
Example - the Lithonia Gneiss in the area southeast of Atlanta.
The non-foliated metamorphic rocks
- Marble - fizzes in acid because its dominant minerals is calcite (or dolomite).
The parent rock is limestone.
- Quartzite - interlocking grains of quartz. Scratches glass. The rock fractures through the grains (rather than between the grains as it does in sandstone).
The parent rock is quartz sandstone.
- Hornfels - A fine-grained, tough, dense, hard, massive rock. Usually (but not always) dark in color.
Finer grained than basalt, which it may superficially resemble. This rock forms through contact metamorphism.
The parent rock is commonly siltstone or basalt, but may be other types of rock.
- Serpentinite - A dark green, dense, tough, massive, hard rack. May contain veins of asbestos.
The parent rock is peridotite, an ultramafic rock.
- Soapstone (sometimes called steatite) - a soft, easily carved rock with a slippery feel
because it contains talc and chlorite. The parent rock is peridotite (ultramafic), probably with more water
associated with it than in the formation of serpentinite. Example - Soapstone Ridge southeast of Atlanta.
- Metabasalt (sometimes called greenstone if massive and green, or greenschist
if foliated and green) - the green color comes from chlorite (soft and bluish green) and epidote (pea green).
The parent rock is basalt. The grade of metamorphism is LOW.
- Amphibolite - Abundant amphibole is present; may be lineated. Usually black. The parent rock is basalt.
The grade of metamorphism is HIGH. Has been subjected to higher temperatures and pressures than metabasalt,
greenstone, or greenschist.
- Mylonite - A dynamic metamorphic rock which forms along fault zones.
Mylonite along the Linville Falls Fault, Linville Falls, NC. Relatively undeformed conglomeratic quartzite lies above the
layered mylonite zone.
Mineral changes in metamorphic rocks
- Recrystallization - rearrangement of crystal structure of existing minerals.
Commonly many small crystals merge to form larger crystals, such as the clay in shale becoming micas in slate, phyllite,
Also, fine-grained calcite in limestone recrystallizes to the coarse-grained calcite mosaic in marble.
- Formation of new minerals - there are a number of metamorphic minerals which form during metamorphism
and are found exclusively (or almost exclusively) in metamorphic rocks:
- Garnet - dark red dodecahedrons (12 sides)
- Staurolite - brown lozenge-shaped minerals, commonly twinned to form "fairy crosses". State mineral of Georgia.
- Kyanite - sky-blue bladed minerals with differential hardness. Scratch lengthwise with a knife or nail, but not sideways.
- Chlorite - dark bluish green, soft. Fe, Mg
- Talc - white or pale green and soft.
- Graphite - metamorphosed carbon
- Tourmaline - commonly black. Forms elongated crystals with a rounded triangular cross-section.
Can see at Stone Mountain.
- Asbestos - fibrous mineral. Commonly light greenish. Occurs in veins (seems to fill a crack) with the
fibers oriented perpendicular to the edged of the vein. Associated with lung diseases. Mesothelioma and asbestosis.
Found in serpentinite. "Serpent rock" name due to snake-like veins of asbestos.
- Micas - muscovite (silvery), biotite (dark brown), phlogopite (light brown)
Animated gif of regional metamorphism used with permission of Bruce E. Herbert, Texas A & M University,
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This page created by
Pamela J. W. Gore
Georgia Perimeter College, Clarkston, GA
October 23, 1995
Modified May 6, 1997
Modified December 12, 1998
Modified July 17, 1999
Modified May 12, 2000
Modified June 4, 2000