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How do igneous rocks differ from one another?
Texture – size of crystals
1. Coarse-grained rocks
2. Fine-grained rocks
3. Mixed texture rocks
Texture is related to rate of cooling.
1. Intrusive igneous rocks
2. Extrusive igneous rocks
Andesite - granite near the surface
At which plate boundary does water-aided melting help
generate magma?
1. Intrusive: crystallized from slowly cooling
magma intruded within the Earth’s crust;
e.g. granite, gabbro
2. Extrusive: crystallized from rapidly cooling
magma extruded on the surface of the Earth as
lava or erupted as pyroclastic material.
Extrusive Igneous Rocks Include:
1. rocks formed from the cooling of lavas
2. rocks formed by the cooling of pyroclastic
material, i.e. fragmented pieces of magma and
material erupted into the air
Composition and Classification of Igneous Rocks
1. Felsic (Feldspar and Silica)
2. Intermediate
3. Mafic (Magnesium and Ferric)
4. Ultramafic
Two basic compositional groups:
1. Felsic igneous rocks
2. Mafic igneous rocks
The color and mineral distribution indicate an increasing
density and melting temperature. Darker igneous rocks
generally weigh more and are formed at higher
temperatures and pressures. This reflects the density-
stratification of the whole Earth!
Felsic Igneous Rocks: Igneous rocks rich in minerals high
in silica. They include: Granite and Rhyolite
Intermediate Igneous Rocks: Igneous rocks in between
in composition between felsic and mafic igneous rocks.
They include: Diorite and Andesite
Mafic Igneous rocks -very low silica content, and consist
primarily of mafic minerals. The most common
ultramafic rock is: Peridotite
What controls the melting temperatures of minerals?
1. External pressure
2. Water content
*Internal composition (including internal water content)
Pressure: Increased Pressures raises melting points
Water Content (internal and external to the mineral):
Increased Water Content lowers melting points
Composition: Felsic minerals melt at lower
temperatures than mafic minerals
Magmas – formed by melting or partial melting of rocks
Why do rocks melt?
When the temperature exceeds the melting point of the
rock or some minerals within the rock.
Partial melting - occurs when some of the minerals
forming a rock melt at lower temperatures than other
minerals within the same rock
If different minerals melt at different pressures that
means that different minerals become solid at different
temperatures too. What does this imply about the
internal composition of a magma body as it cools??
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Magmatic Differentiation
If, during fractional crystallization, the remaining
magma were to erupt it would be (a) more felsic or
(b) more mafic than the original magma?
What do we know about the shape of magmatic
bodies? Are they sheets? Blobs? Spheres?
Dykes are near-vertical
Sills are horizontal and squeeze in between other layers
of rock
Plutons are deep (km) bodies of solidified magma. An
example of a plutonic rock is granite or gabbro.
Magmatic geosystems:
1. Island arc plate subduction
2. Plate divergence
3. Hot-spot volcanism
4. Continental plate subduction
Agents of Metamorphism
1. Heat- The most important agent
 Recrystallization results in new, stable minerals
Two sources of heat
1. Contact metamorphism – heat from magma
2. Regional Metamorphism - increase in
temperature with depth due to the geothermal
gradient
Contact metamorphism  examples: chlorite-
muscovite, biotite-andalusite, silimanite, hornfels with
granite pluton
Regional metamorphism
Original minerals:
Quartz, feldspars, ferromagnesians, carbonates, clays

Island Arc Plate Subduction Chlorite + muscovite + biotite; clay disappears

1. Mafic to intermediate intrusives (plutonism)
2. Mafic to intermediate extrusives (volcanism) Staulorite + epidote + garnets; amphiboles increase
Forms: Island Arc volcano and subduction zones
New garnets + pyroxenes
Plate Divergence
1. Basaltic Extrusives 2. Pressure  Increases with depth
2. Basaltic Instrusives  Confining pressure applies forces equally in all
Forms: mid-oceanic ridge directions
 Rocks may also be subjected to differential stress
Hot-Spot Volcanism which is unequal in different directions and causes
1. Basaltic extrusives deformation
2. Basaltic intrusives
Forms: hot-spot volcanos from mantle plume Metamorphic Textures
Foliation - any planar arrangement of features within a
Continental Plate Subduction rock
1. Mafic to felsic intrusives Foliation can form in various ways:
2. Mafic to felsic extrusives Rotation of platy and/or elongated minerals
Forms: Subduction zones and continental margin Recrystallization of minerals in the direction of
volcano preferred orientation
Changing the shape of equidimensional grains
into elongated shapes that are aligned
Metamorphism: the transition of one rock into another
in the solid state under conditions unlike those under Foliated textures
which it formed Slaty cleavage
 Closely spaced planar surfaces along which
Metamorphic rocks are produced from: rocks split
1. Igneous rocks
2. Sedimentary rocks Schistosity
3. Other metamorphic rocks

 Platy minerals are discernible with the
unaided eye and exhibit a planar or layered
structure
 Rocks having this texture are referred to as
schist
Gneissosity
 During higher grades of metamorphism, ion
migration results in the segregation of minerals
into layers
 Gneissic rocks exhibit a distinctive banded
appearance
Metamorphic rocks that lack foliation are
referred to as non-foliated
 Develop in environments where deformation is
minimal
 and/or composed of minerals that exhibit
equidimensional crystals
 General name is granofels
Foliated Metamorphic Rocks
Slate: compact, very fine-grained, metamorphic
rock with a well-developed cleavage. Freshly
cleaved surfaces are dull
Phyllite: a rock with a schistosity in which very
fine phyllosilicates (sericite/phengite and/or
chlorite), although rarely coarse enough to see
unaided, impart a silky sheen to the foliation
surface. Phyllites with both a foliation and
lineation are very common.
Schist: a metamorphic rock exhibiting a
schistosity. By this definition schist is a broad
term, and slates and phyllites are also types of
schists. In common usage, schists are restricted
to those metamorphic rocks in which the foliated
minerals are coarse enough to see easily in hand
specimen.
Gneiss: a metamorphic rock displaying gneissose
structure. Gneisses are typically layered (also
called banded), generally with alternating felsic
and darker mineral layers. Gneisses may also be
lineated, but must also show segregations of
felsic-mineral-rich and dark-mineral-rich
concentrations.
Specific Metamorphic Rock Types
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Marble: a metamorphic rock composed
predominantly of calcite or dolomite. The
protolith is typically limestone or dolostone.
Quartzite: a metamorphic rock composed
predominantly of quartz. The protolith is
typically sandstone.
Greenschist/Greenstone: a low-grade
metamorphic rock that typically contains
chlorite, actinolite, epidote, and plagioclase.
Such a rock is called greenschist if foliated, and
greenstone if not. The parent is either a mafic
igneous rock or graywacke.
Amphibolite: a metamorphic rock dominated by
hornblende + plagioclase. Amphibolites may be
foliated or non-foliated. The parent is either a
mafic igneous rock or graywacke.
Mountains and Mountaing Building
Rock Deformation
Deformation is a general term that refers to a
change in size or shape of rocks in the earth's
crust.
Deformation occurs when stress, or a force over
a given area occurs.
The amount of deformation that occurs and can
be measured, either by a change in shape or
volume of rocks in the earth's crust is referred to
as strain.
The four factors that influence rock deformation
are temperature, pressure, rock type, and time.
Temperature and Pressure
When rocks are near the earth's surface and
temperatures and pressures are normal, rocks
undergo brittle deformation and fracture.
When rocks are at great depths, the
temperatures and pressures are very high.
Under extreme temperatures and pressures
rocks can behave elastically.
When rocks are elastic the type of deformation
that occurs is referred to as ductile deformation.
Rock Types and Time
Igneous Rocks like Granite and Basalt usually
deform by brittle deformation. Sometimes they
deform by ductile deformation.
Metamorphic Rocks are more likely to deform by
ductile deformation.
Often times Sedimentary Rocks show that
ductile deformation has occurred. One possible

explanation for the ductile deformation is the
sedimentary rocks folded before they hardened
(lithification).
The longer stress is applied to rocks, the more
deformation will occur.
Types of Stress
The three types of stress can be applied to rocks.
Tensional Stress – When rocks pull apart.
Compressional Stress – When rocks push
together.
Shear Stress – When rocks twist or push in
opposite directions.
Folds
Often times when Compressional Stresses and
ductile deformation occurs during mountain
building, rocks will fold or bend much like sheets
of paper.
When a fold bends upward in an arching shape,
an anticline forms.
When a fold bends downward in the shape of a
trough, a syncline forms.
When a fold occurs in a step or stair-like fashion
a monocline can occur.
Faults
Stresses can also cause a fault or fracture in the
earth's crust to occur due to brittle deformation.
There are four main types of faults.
Normal faults – these are caused by tensional
stresses. When this occurs the head (hanging)
wall moves down relative to the foot wall.
When discussing the relative motion of the
earth's crust along faults, the hanging wall or
head wall refers to the side of the fault that rests
on the foot wall.
The foot wall is the side of the fault that appears
to support the head wall or hanging wall.
Reverse Faults – faults that are caused by
compressional stress. In the case of a reverse
fault, the hanging wall moves up relative to the
footwall.
Thrust Faults – these faults are low angle (less
than a 45 degree angle) reverse faults.
All faults that move up and down (normal,
reverse, and thrust faults) are referred to as dip-
slip faults.
Strike-Slip Faults – These faults move side to
side.
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Mountain Building
The formation of mountains is called orogenesis.
Mountains that are formed by compressional
stresses are called folded mountains.
In folded mountains, compressional stresses can
cause anticlines and synclines to occur, or they
can produce reverse faults and thrust faults.
Examples of folded mountain ranges are the
Appalachian Mountains, The northern Rocky
Mountains, and the Alps in Europe.
Mountains that are formed by tensional stresses
are called fault-block mountains.
Most fault-block mountains are formed as a
result of normal dip-slip faults.
When a normal fault occurs, a block of the
earth's crust (the hanging wall) collapses, leaving
behind a low-lying valley called a graben.
Graben is a German word for a ditch or trench.
The uplifted or higher elevated foot wall(s) is/are
referred to as a horst(s).
Examples of fault-block mountains include the
Teton Range of Wyoming, the Sierra Nevada
Range of California, and the Basin and Range
area of Nevada, Utah, and California.
A circular bulge or upwarping of the earth's crust
is called a dome.
A circular dip or downwarping of the earth's
crust is called a basin.
THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT
 Alfred Wegener
 Found evidence for PANGAEA and proposed the
theory of continental drift.
 theory that continents were once part of a single
landmass that broke apart and have moved to their
present locations
 can drift apart from one another and have done so in
the past
 Continents “fit together” like puzzle pieces
Fossil Evidence
Fossils are remains of living things that lived long
ago. Similar fossils have been discovered in
matching coastlines on different continents.
Mountains
Some mountain ranges on different continents
seem to match.
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Ex: ranges in Canada match Norway and Sweden

Ex: Appalachian Mountain match with UK
Mountain

Climatic evidence such as glaciers in areas that

are now close to the Equator