Minerals 8
Minerals 8
Minerals 8
Metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic rocks, and the processes that create them, are key
parts of the rock cycle that also includes igneous and
sedimentary rocks and processes. Most metamorphic rocks form
when heat, pressure, or chemically reactive fluids cause
changes in preexisting rocks. The preexisting, or parent
rocks, are called protoliths. Protoliths can be igneous,
sedimentary, or metamorphic rock of all sorts. The changes
that occur during metamorphism may involve changes in rock
texture, in the minerals present, and sometimes in overall
rock composition. These changes record geologic processes and
events of the past. Metamorphic petrologists study metamorphic
rocks to interpret those histories.
8.15 The Dora Maira whiteschists and Napier Complex metapelites represent extremes of metamorphism
Chopin (1984) and others have concluded that the Dora Maira rocks may have originated as shallow
crustal rocks but were subsequently metamorphosed at about 35 kbar pressure and temperatures of
700 to 750 °C. While the temperature is not extreme, the pressure is; 35 kbar is equivalent to a
depth in Earth of more than 100 km (see the diagram in Figure 8.15). There are few places where
rocks metamorphosed at that depth are found at Earth’s surface – especially if their protoliths
originally came from the shallow crust. The Dora Maira rocks were carried to great depth and
returned to the surface during the Alpine Orogeny in southern Europe.
8.16 Sapphirine (blue) is a rare high-temperature aluminous mineral. Red garnet and quartz are
also seen in this photo.
Metapelites (metamorphosed clay-rich sediments) of the Napier Complex, Enderby Land, Antarctica,
are examples of extremely high-temperature metamorphism. An example is found in Figure 8.16. The
rocks contain distinctive high-temperature mineral assemblages, which include the relatively rare
minerals pigeonite, osumilite, and sapphirine. Several studies concluded that the Napier rocks
were metamorphosed at pressures of 7 to 8 kbar and temperatures of more than 1,000 °C, perhaps as
high as 1,075 °C. How did these rocks get so hot, and how did they escape melting? The answer to
the first question is not known. Some investigators believe that a magmatic heat must have been
involved. The answer to the second is that the rocks are of a composition that does not melt
easily when water is absent. The Napier rocks were apparently metamorphosed in the absence of
water.
8.17 The temperature
increase with depth in
Earth in various
settings. The numbers
in the columns are
temperature in ̊
C.
8.18 Lithostatic
pressure
8.21 A mylonite, a
highly deformed rock
from Otrøy in the
Western Gneiss Region,
Norway
8.23 A garnet-muscovite
schist from Syros, Greece.
The garnet porphyroblasts
are nearly as large as the
1-euro coin.
8.3.3 Slate
8.3.4 Phyllite
8.3.5 Schist
8.3.6 Gneiss
At higher grades, metamorphic rocks may develop compositional
layering because different minerals concentrate in layers of
contrasting colors. We call such rocks gneisses. The defining
characteristics of most gneisses, such as the gneisses seen in
Figure 8.29 and Figure 8.30, are that the rocks are medium- to
coarse-grained and contain alternating layers of light and
dark-colored minerals that give the rock foliation called
gneissic banding. The banding in the garnet gneiss (Figure
8.30) is not particularly well-developed but is present.
8.37 An example of
quartzite
The diagram on the right shows the same information, but the
reactions are labeled, not the stability fields. Petrologists
use both kinds of diagrams. These diagrams tell us that rocks
containing kyanite form at low temperature and high pressure,
rocks containing andalusite form at low pressure, and those
containing sillimanite form at high temperature. The diagram
also allows us to make predictions: for example, if a rock
containing andalusite is metamorphosed at high temperature,
the andalusite will change into sillimanite.
Stable Minerals in
the System:
Al2O3 – SiO2 – H2O
Mineral Formula
kaolinite
(Ka)
quartz (Qz)
Al4(Si4O10)(OH)8
pyrophyllite
SiO2
(Py)
diaspore Al2Si4O10(OH)2
(Dsp) AlO(OH)
andalusite Al2SiO5
(And) Al2SiO5
sillimanite Al2O3
(Sill)
corundum
(Co)
8.40 Minerals and reactions in the system Al2O3 –
SiO2 – H2O
metasandstones sandstones
limestone or
metacarbonates
dolostone
metamorphosed iron
iron-rich sediments
formation
8.45 A staurolite-muscovite
schist from Michigamme,
8.44 A garnet-muscovite schist
Michigan
8.47 Blue cordierite with
8.46 Blue kyanite in a schist quartz, from Brazil.
Centimeter ruler for scale.
8.49 Metamorphosed
sandstone from South
Australia. Sample is 10 cm
across.
Compared with metamorphosed pelites, metamorphosed sandstones,
also called metasandstones or metapsammites, are often
nondescript. Normal sandstones are mostly quartz, perhaps with
some feldspar. When metamorphosed, they still contain quartz
and feldspar because these minerals are stable at all
metamorphic grades. At low grades, metasandstones typically
appear massive and homogeneous, containing light-colored
quartz and feldspar grains. The rock seen here (Figure 8.49)
is an example. Sometimes small micas and other dark minerals
may be scattered evenly throughout.
phlogopite (Mg-rich
diopside monticellite
biotite)
CaMgSi2O6 CaMgSiO4
K(Mg,Fe)3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
prehnite
low
Ca2Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 igneous
grade
pumpellyite rock with
(Ca,Na)2(Si,Al)4O8
epidote
Ca2(Al,Fe)3(Si3O12)(OH)
chlorite
greenstone
(variable chemistry)
actinolite
Ca2(Fe,Mg)5(Si8O22)(OH)2
amphibolite
hornblende
(complex amphibole)
mafic
garnet (almandine-
gneiss
pyrope)(Fe,Mg)3Al2Si3O12
biotite
K(Mg,Fe)3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
mafic
high augite (pyroxene)
granulite
grade CaMgSi2O6
orthopyroxene (enstatite)
Mg2Si2O6
prehnite or pumpellyite +
prehnite-pumpellyite
quartz
orthopyroxene or garnet +
granulite
clinopyroxene + quartz
blueschist glaucophane
high-pressure metamorphism
eclogite omphacite + garnet ± quartz
Mg3Si4O10(OH)2
c
brucite
Mg(OH)2
c
magnesite
low MgCO3
grade c
serpentine
Mg6Si4O10(OH)8
c
olivine
(Mg,Fe)2SiO4
c
anthophyllite
(Mg,Fe)7Si8O22(OH)2
c
garnet (pyrope-
almandine)
high (Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12
grade
c
clinopyroxene
(diopside)
CaMgSi2O6
c
orthopyroxene
(enstatite)
Mg2Si2O6
Na2(Fe,Mg)3Al2Si8O22(OH)2
low
lawsonite
grade
CaAl2Si2O7(OH)2∙H2O
epidote
Ca2(Al2Fe)3Si3O12(OH)
jadeite
NaAlSi2O6
aragonite
CaCO3
kyanite
Al2SiO5
garnet (pyrope-almandine)
high (Mg,Fe)3Al2Si3O12
grade
omphacite
(Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)Si2O6
white line
white line
●Figure Credits
Uncredited graphics/photos came from the authors and other primary contributors to this book.
8.1 Zoisite, corundum, and hornblende, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.4 Green Mountains schist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.5 Outcrop of gneiss, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.7 Metamorphism along a fault, Qfl247, Wikimedia Commons
8.8 Shatter cones, jmgas, Wikimedia Commons
8.9 Sheared serpentinite, Nam Thai, Wikimedia Commons
8.10 Garnet granulite, Kurt Hollocher
8.12 Diamond in kimberlite, StrangerThanKindness, Wikimedia Commons
8.14 Talc-kyanite schist, pinterest.com
8.16 Sapphirine etc., Wikiwand.com
8.20 Gneiss, slideserve.com
8.21 Mylonite, anonymous, Wikimedia Commons
8.22 Fluid inclusions, Kazantseva Mary, Wikimedia Commons
8.23 Garnet-muscovite schist, Graeme Churchard, Wikimedia Commons
8.24 Aligned crystals of hornblende, Kurt Hollocher
8.26 Green slate from Pawley, Vermont
8.27 Phyllite, Kurt Hollocher
8.28 muscovite schist, anonymous, Wikimedia Commons
8.29 Biotite-quartz gneiss , James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.30 Garnet gneiss, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.31 Deformed granitic gneiss, Chmee2, Wikimedia Commons
8.32 Augen gneiss, Eurico Zimbres, Wikimedia Commons
8.35 Metamorphosed pillow basalt, Matt Affolter, Wikimedia Commons
8.36 Blue calcite marble, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.37 Quartzite, Kurt Hollocher
8.38 Garnet granulite, Piotr-Sosnowski, Wikimedia Common
8.44 Garnet-muscovite schist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.45 Staurolite-muscovite schist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.46 Blue kyanite in a schist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.47 Cordierite with quartz, Density, Wikimedia Commons
8.49 Quartzite, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.50 Quartzite, Gabriel Haute Maurienne, Wikimedia Commons
8.51 Kyanite quartzite, Siim Sepp
8.52 Marble, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.53 Phlogopite in marble, earthphysicsteaching.homestead.com
8.54 Tremolite and graphite in marble, Ogdensburg-Mineralogical-Society
8.55 Forsterite marble, modified from gimpf, flickr
8.57 Banded iron formation, Graeme Churchard, Wikimedia Commons
8.58 Hematite, ebay.com
8.59 Actinolite, Wisconsin Geological Survey
8.60 Grunerite, geology.today
8.61 Greenalite, erocks.com
8.62 Siderite with calcite, John Betts Fine Minerals
8.63 Pyrite, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.64 Metagranite, Woudloper, Wikimedia Commons
8.65 Greenstone, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.66 Greenschist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.67 Amphibolite, Chmee2, Wikimedia Commons
8.70 Lizard Complex, Ashley Dace, Wikimedia Commons
8.71 Pyke Hill, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.72 Serpentinite, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.73 Lizardite with stichtite, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.74 Chrysotile, Andrew Silver, Wikimedia Commons
8.75 Talc, Siim Sepp
8.76 Brucite, Andrew Silver, Wikimedia Commons
8.77 Magnesite, Prof.lumacorno, Wikimedia Commons
8.78 Blueschist, James St. John, Wikimedia Commons
8.79 Eclogite, Kevin Walsh, Wikimedia Commons
8.80 Lawsonite crystals, Kelly Nash, Wikimedia Commons
8.81 Jadeite from Myanmar, rruff.info
8.82 Glaucophane with fuchsite, Didier Descouens, Wikimedia Commons
8.83 Omphacite and pyrope, John Krygier, Wikimedia Commons