CE-312

Engineering Geology and Seismology

Lecture-3
Rocks

Instructor:
Dr. Shahid Ullah

Earthquake Engineering Center

Department of Civil Engineering, UET Peshawar.
 Contents of the Lecture
 What are rocks?
 Classification of rocks
 Classification of Igneous rocks
 Classification of sedimentary rocks
 Classification of metamorphic rocks

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 What are rocks?
 Rock is defined as:
• Naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and or non-
minerals (organic substance, and
• does not have a specific chemical composition.
 The properties and nature of rocks are determined by:
• As the basic constituent of rock, minerals control much of
rock behavior. Some minerals are very strong and resistant
to deterioration and produce rock with similar properties,
while others are much softer and produce weaker rock.
• The manner in which minerals are arranged relative to each
other i.e. The texture of the rock.
• *texture is the size, shape and arrangement of mineral grain in a
rock.
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 Classification of rocks
 Based on their formation, the rocks have been
classified into three main types:
 Igneous rocks:
• The rocks which are formed by cooling and solidification
of magma.
 Sedimentary rocks:
• The rocks which are formed by consolidation and
cementation of the sediments deposited, mostly, under
water.
 Metamorphic rocks:
• The rock which are formed when the pre-existing rocks
have been changed in texture and composition by increased
temperature and pressure.

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 Igneous rocks
 Magma is a hot viscous solution of silicates and non-
silicates minerals, containing gases.
• When magma comes out upon on the earth‘s surface, is called
lava.
 Based on the composition, two types of magma:
 Acid magma: It is rich in Si, Na, K and poor in Ca, Mg and Fe.
Acid igneous rocks are light in color, low in specific gravity
(2.7) , and have high proportion of minerals like Quartz,
Feldspars and some mica. e.g. Granite.
 Basic magma: It is rich in Ca, Mg and Fe and poor in Si, Na and
K. Basic igneous rocks are dark in color (often black) ,relatively
high in specific gravity (3.2) , and are rich in minerals like
augite, hornblende, plagioclase and iron ore. e.g. Basalt.
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 Igneous rocks
Granite rock

Granite
rock Basalt
rock

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 Igneous rocks
 Based on silica content, igneous
rocks can be classified as:
a) Ultra basic rocks: contains less
than 45% silica e.g. Peridotite.
b) Basic rocks: contains silica
between 45% and 55 % e.g.
Basalt.
c) Intermediate rocks: contains Diorite
silica between 55% and 65% .
e.g. Diorite.
d) Acid rocks: contains more than
65% silica. e.g. Granite.

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 Texture of igneous rocks
 Texture means the size, shape and arrangement of
mineral grains in a rock.
 Texture is controlled by the cooling rate of magma.
• Slower the cooling rate: coarser is the grain of rock
• Rapid cooling rate: leads to glassy texture (non-crystalline)
• Between these two extremes are fine grained and
cryptocrystalline texture.
 Phaneritic: Igneous rocks whose constituent
mineral grains can be seen with the nacked eyes.
 Aphanitic: Otherwise

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 Texture of igneous rocks
 Types of Texture:
• Holocrystalline: if the rock is made up entirely of crystalline
material (100% crystals)
• Coarse grained: if the average grains or crystals of the
minerals are more than 5 mm in diamete.
• Fine grained: like granulated sugar, if the average diameter is
less than 1 mm.
• Cryptocrystalline: if the crystals are invisble to the nacked
eyes, and visible only under the microscope.
• Glassy: no crystallization. Magma is consolidated as an
amorphus mass.
• Porphyritic: when large and small crystals are both present in
the same rock. Due to cooling of magma in two or more
stages.
• Vesicular: glassy volcanic rock which contain gas cavities,
called Visicles.
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 Igneous rocks
• Classification of igneous rocks based on texture and
mode of occurrence:
1) Plutonic (intrusive) rocks: are formed when magma
cools slowly and crystallize at great depth. Leading to
coarse grained texture. e.g. Granite.
2) Volcanic (extrusive) rocks: are formed when the
magma erupts at the earth‘s surface and cools rapidly.
Leading to fine grained or glassy texture. e.g. Basalt.
3) Hypabyssal rocks: are formed due to injection of
igneous bodies near to the earth‘s surface. (at depths in
between plutonic and volcanic). examples of such
igneous bodies are Dykes and sills. Leading to fine
grained, porphyritic or partly glassy texture. e.g. Granite
porphyry, dolerite.
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 Igneous bodies
Dyke: A dyke is vertical wall-like igneous body that cuts across the
bedding of the rock. The thickness of the dyke may vary from a few
centimeters to a hundred meter or more. Dyke actually represents a
crustal fracture into which the magma was injected. Dyke is always
younger than the rocks that contain it.
Sill: A sill is a sheet like
igneous body which vary in
thickness from a few
centimeter to several hundred
meters. The sill is parallel to
the bedding of rock and may
be horizontal, inclined or
vertical depending upon the
strata. The sill does not cut
across preexisting rocks, in
contrast to dikes, which do cut
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across older rocks.
 Common igenous rocks
Granite: is coarse grained, an intrusive rock. It is the most
common and familiar igneous rocks. Granite contains
primarily orthoclase feldspar and quartz, with some biotite
and amphibole. The average granite contains 60% felsdpars,
30% quartz and 10% ferromagnesian minerals. It is mostly
light in color with a white or pink tint according to the color
of the feldspar.
 Engineering properties: It as an excellent frost
resistance. Because of the minerals composition and
interlocking of crystals, granite is hard and abrasion
resistant. The compressive strength of granite is on
average 24,500 psi. Granite can be used to support any
load of ordinary structures.
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 Common igenous rocks
Diorite: is coarse grained, an intrusive rock. It is mainly
composed of plagioclase feldspar (more than 50 %) and
hornblends. However, in some varieties augite and biotite
may be present. Most diorites contain little or no quartz. It is
less abundant than granite.
 Diorite is a relatively rare rock.
 Diorite has been used for crushed stone for monumental
and decorative purposes than for structural purposes.
 Diorite is an extremely hard rock, making it difficult to
carve and work with. It is so hard that ancient
civilizations (such as Ancient Egypt) used diorite balls to
work granite. Its hardness, however, also allows it to be
worked finely and take a high polish, and to provide a
durable finished work
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Common igenous rocks

Diorite Porphyry vase from

predynastic Ancient Egypt, ca.
3600 BC; approx 30 cm.
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 Common igenous rocks
Pumice: rocks are igneous rocks which were formed
when lava cooled quickly above ground. You can see
where little pockets of air had been. This rock is so
light, that many pumice rocks will actually float in
water. It is formed on the surface of acid lavas. Because
this rock is so light, it is used quite often as a decorative
landscape stone. Ground to a powder, it is used as an
abrasive in polish compounds and in Lava soap.
A 10 centimeter (6 -
inch) piece of pumice
supported by a rolled
- up U.S. 20-dollar
bill demonstrates its
very low density.
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 Common igenous rocks
 Pumice is widely used to make lightweight concrete or
insulative low-density breeze blocks. When used as an
additive for cement, a fine-grained version of pumice
called pozzolan is mixed with lime to form a light-
weight, smooth, plaster-like concrete. This form of
concrete was used as far back as Roman times. Roman
engineers used it to build the huge dome of the Pantheon
and as construction material for many aqueducts.

 It is also used as an abrasive, especially in polishes, pencil

erasers, cosmetic exfoliants, and the production of stone-
washed jeans. "Pumice stones" are often used in beauty
salons during the pedicure process to remove dry and
excess skin from the bottom of the foot as well as
calluses. It was also used in ancient Greek and Roman
times to remove excess hair.
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 Common igenous rocks
Basalt: is a dense looking black extrusive
(volcanic) rock that makes up most of the world's
oceanic crust, produced from upwelling mantle
below ocean ridges.
 Its texture is fine-grained to glassy, so that the
individual minerals are not visible, but they
include pyroxene, plagioclase feldspar and
olivine. These minerals are visible in the coarse-
grained, plutonic version of basalt called Gabbro.
 Basalt is used in construction (e.g. as building
blocks or in the groundwork), making
cobblestones (from columnar basalt) and in
making statues. Heating and extruding basalt
yields stone wool, an excellent thermal insulator.
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 Common igenous rocks
Syenite: It is a coarse grain rock, mainly
composed of orthoclase (Alkali feldspar) ,
soda-plagioclase and one or more mafic
minerals such as biotite and hornblende. It
has little or no quartz. Color is variable but
are generally light in color.
 The general properties of Syenite are
similar to granite. It is rare compared to
granite. It is used as dimension stone for
building facings, foyers etc (often
preferred to granite due to its better fire-
resistant qualities); can be used as
aggregate in the building and roads.
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Engineering Properties of Some Un-weathered Igneous Rocks

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 Engineering Considerations of Igneous Rocks
 Fine-grained igneous rocks cannot be used as aggregates
in Portland cement due to volume expansion caused by
the Alkali-silica reaction. Solutions include:
(a) Can be used in low alkali cement;
(b) Non-reactive aggregates go with the high alkali cement;
(c) Add pozzolans, coal-ashes, etc. in the aggregate-cement mixture
to minimize the reaction.
 Fine-grained igneous rocks (e.g., basalt) are good for
aggregates (e.g., basalt) as paving aggregates goes with
asphalt.
 Siting of foundations needs to avoid weathered rocks
(e.g., dams, bridge piers, etc.);
 Igneous rocks are good for dimension stone (tombstone
etc.) because their resistance to weathering but one need
to avoid fractures.

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