METAMORFICAS

Chapter 8: Metamorphism: A Process of Change Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 3
rd
edition, by Stephen Marshak
Chapter 8
Metamorphism: A Process of Change
2008 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Portrait of a Planet
Third Edition
earth
LECTURE OUTLINE
Prepared by
Ron Parker
Earlham College Department of Geosciences
Richmond, Indiana
rd
Introduction
Metamorphic Changed from an original parent.
Meta = Change.
Morph = Form or shape.
Parent rocks are called protoliths.
Metamorphism can
occur to any protolith.
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Introduction
Protoliths undergo pronounced changes in
Texture.
Mineralogy.
Due to change in physical or chemical conditions.
Burial.
Tectonic stresses.
Heating by magma.
Fluid alteration.
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Metamorphism
Metamorphism occurs in the solid state.
It doesnt include weathering, diagenesis, melting.
Metamorphics often look totally unlike protoliths.
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Metamorphic Character
Metamorphic rocks have distinctive properties.
Unique texture Intergrown and interlocking grains.
Unique minerals Some that are only metamorphic.
Staurolite, Kyanite, Sillimanite, etc.
Unique foliation A planar fabric from aligned minerals.
These transformations can change the rock utterly.
Red mudstone
Garnet gneiss
Fossiliferous limestone
Marble
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Metamorphic Processes
Metamorphic change is slow and in the solid state.
Several processes are at work.
Recrystallization Minerals change size and shape.

Phase change New minerals form with
Same chemical formula.
Different crystal structure.
Kyanite
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Several processes may operate at the same time.
Neocrystallization New minerals with P-T changes.
Initial minerals become unstable; change to new minerals.
Decomposition of the original minerals in the protolith.
Chemical reaction of the elements to form new minerals.
In this way, a shale can transform into a garnet mica schist.

rd
Several processes may operate at the same time.
Pressure solution Mineral grains partially dissolve.

Plastic deformation Mineral grains soften and deform.
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Causes of Metamorphism
The agents of metamorphism are
Heat (Temperature T).
Pressure (P).
Differential stress.
Hydrothermal fluids.
Not all agents are required; they often do co-occur.
Rocks may be overprinted by multiple events.

rd
Heat (Temperature)
Metamorphism occurs as the result of heat.
Temperature (T) ranges between 200
o
C and 850
o
C.
The upper T limit ismelting. It varies based upon
rock mineral composition and water content.
Heat energy breaks and reforms atomic bonds.
Sources of heat.
The geothermal gradient.
Magmatic intrusions.
Compression.

rd
Pressure (P)
P increases with depth in the crust.
270 to 300 bars per km (1 bar is almost 1 atm = 14.7 psi).
Metamorphism occurs mostly in 2 to 12 kbar range.
T and P both change with depth.
Mineral stability is highly dependent upon T and P.
This stability can be graphed on a phase diagram.
Changes in T and P lead
to changes in minerals.
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Pressure that is greater in one orientation.
A commonplace result of tectonic forces.
Two kinds of differential stress: Normal and shear.
Normal stress Operates perpendicular to a surface.
Tension Pull-apart normal stress.
Compression Push-together normal stress.

Differential Stress
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Differential Stress
Two kinds of differential stress: Normal and shear.
Shear stress Operates sideways across a surface.
Causes material to be smeared out.
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At higher T and P, differential stress deforms rock.
Rocks change shape slowly without breaking.
Differential Stress
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Differential Stress
Deformation acts on minerals with specific shapes.
Equant Roughly equal in all dimensions.
Inequant Dimensions not the same.
Platy (pancake-like) 1 dimension shorter.
Elongate (cigar-shaped) 1 dimension longer.
Differential stress causes these minerals to align.
Alignment fabric records stress trajectory.
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Differential Stress
Preferred platy mineral alignment is called foliation.
Foliation imparts a layered or banded appearance.
Rocks commonly break parallel to foliation planes.
Foliation develops perpendicular to compression.
Minerals flatten, recrystallize, and rotate.
Inequant grains align by rotation and new growth.
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Hydrothermal Fluids
Hot water with dissolved ions and volatiles.
Hydrothermal fluids facilitate metamorphism.
Accelerate chemical reactions.
Alter rocks by adding or subtracting elements.
Hydrothermal alteration is called metasomatism.
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Metamorphic Rock Types
Two major subdivisions of metamorphic rocks.
Foliated Has a through-going planar fabric.
Subjected to differential stress.
Has a significant component of platy minerals.
Classified by composition, grain size, and foliation type.
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Metamorphic Rock Types
Two major subdivisions of metamorphic rocks.
Non-foliated No planar fabric evident.
Crystallized without differential stress.
Comprised of equant minerals only.
Classified by mineral composition.
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Metamorphic Rocks
Slate Fine clay, low-grade metamorphic shale.
Has a distinct foliation called slaty cleavage.
Develops by parallel alignment of platy clay minerals.
Slaty cleavage oriented perpendicular to compression.
Slate breaks along this foliation creating flat sheets.
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Metamorphic Rocks
Phyllite - Fine mica-rich rock.
Formed by low medium grade alteration of slate.
Clay minerals neocrystallize into tiny micas.
Micas reflect a satiny luster.
Phyllite is between slate and schist.
rd
Schist Fine - coarse rock with larger micas.
Medium-to-high-grade metamorphism.
Has a distinct foliation called schistosity.
Parallel alignment of large mica crystals.
Micas are visible because they have grown at higher T.
Schist often has other minerals due to neocrystallization.
Quartz.
Feldspars.
Kyanite.
Garnet.
Staurolite.
Sillimanite.
Large non-mica minerals are called porphyroblasts.
Metamorphic Rocks
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Metamorphic Rocks
Gneiss Has a distinct banded foliation.
Light bands of felsic minerals (quartz and feldspars).
Dark bands of mafic minerals (biotite or amphibole).
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Metamorphic Rocks
Compositional banding develops in several ways.
Original layering in the protolith.
Extensive high T shearing.
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Metamorphic Rocks
Compositional banding

Solid-state chemical differentiation.
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Migmatite
Migmatite is a partially melted gneiss.
It has features of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Mineralogy controls behavior.
Light-colored (felsic) minerals melt at lower T.
Dark-colored (mafic) minerals melt a higher T.
Felsics melt first; mafics remain metamorphic.
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Metamorphic Rocks
Non-foliated rocks lack a planar fabric.
Absence of foliation possible for several reasons.
Rock not subjected to differential stress.
Dominance of equant minerals.
Absence of platy minerals.
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Metamorphic Rocks
Amphibolite Dominated by amphibole minerals.
Basalt or gabbro protolith.
Usually not well foliated.
Hornfels Alteration by heating.
Associated with plutonic intrusions.
Finely crystalline.

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Metamorphic Rocks
Quartzite Almost pure quartz in composition.
Forms by alteration of quartz sandstone.
Sand grains in the protolith recrystallize and fuse.
Like quartz, it is hard, glassy, and resistant.
Metamorphic Alteration
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Metamorphic Rocks
Marble - Coarsely crystalline calcite or dolomite.
Forms from a limestone or dolostone protolith.
Extensive recrystallization completely changes the rock.
Original textures and fossils in the parent are obliterated.
Used as a decorative and monument stone.
Exhibits a variety of colors.

Metamorphic Alteration
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Metamorphic Rocks
Type depends on protolith.
Minerals contribute elements.
Some protoliths yield specific rocks.
Broad compositional classes.
Pelitic.
Basic (or Mafic).
Calcareous.
Quartzo-feldspathic.

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Metamorphic Classes
Pelitic Shale protoliths.
Al-rich clay minerals yield micas.
Rock type depends on grade.
Slate.
Phyllite.
Schist.
Gneiss.
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Metamorphic Classes
Mafic Basalt or gabbro protolith.
Rich in Fe and Mg and poor in Si, Al, Na, and K.
Turn into biotite- and amphibole-dominated rocks.
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Metamorphic Classes
Calcareous Carbonate protolith.
Rich in Ca (limestones) and Ca and Mg (dolostones).
Recrystallize into calcite and dolomite marbles.
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Metamorphic Classes
Quartzo-feldspathic Granitic protolith.
Quartz + feldspar in granites stable under metamorphism.
Recrystallize and become foliated into granitic gneisses.

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Metamorphic Intensity
Different minerals are stable as T and P changes.
Grade is a measure of metamorphic intensity.
Low grade Slight.
High grade Intense.

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Metamorphic Intensity
Specific minerals typify particular grades.
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Metamorphic Grade
Prograde Metamorphism via increasing T and P.
Common in rocks that are buried in orogenic belts.
Progressive changes.
Recrystallization causes mineral growth.
Neocrystallization results in new mineral assemblages.
Mineral changes release water.

rd
Metamorphic Grade
Example: Prograde metamorphism of a pelitic rock.
Low grade Shale protolith.
Clays recrystallize into larger, aligned clays to yield a slate.
Clays neocrystallize into tiny, aligned micas in a phyllite.
Intermediate grade
Micas recrystallize and grow large to form a schist.
New minerals grow in the schist.
High grade
Micas decompose; elements recombine into new minerals.
Neocrystallization yields quartz and feldspars in a gneiss.
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Metamorphic Grade
Retrograde Metamorphism via decreasing T and P
Common in rocks that are brought from depth by erosion.
Accompanied by addition of H
2
O by hydrothermal fluids.
Many prograde rocks arent retrograded.
Rocks at the surface can preserve prograde conditions.

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Contact Metamorphism
Certain minerals have a limited P-T range.
These index minerals record metamorphic grade.
Index mineral maps.
Define metamorphic zones.
Grade boundaries called
isograds.
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Metamorphic Facies
Metamorphic facies Mineral assemblage from a
specific protolith at specific P-T conditions.
The same minerals result from the same
Protoliths.
T and P conditions.
Named for dominant
mineral.

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Metamorphic Environments
Metamorphism occurs in different settings.
Different settings yield different effects via
Geothermal gradient.
Differential stresses.
Hydrothermal fluids.
These characteristics are governed by tectonics.

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Metamorphic Environments
The types (and settings) of metamorphism are...
Thermal Heating by a plutonic intrusion.
Burial Increases in P and T by deep burial in a basin.
Dynamic Shearing in a fault zone.
Regional P and T alteration due to orogenesis.
Hydrothermal Alteration by hot water leaching.
Subduction High PLow T alteration.
Shock Extreme high P attending a bolide impact.
Mantle Extreme high mantle P causes phase changes.
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Due to heat from magma invading host rock.
Creates zoned bands of alteration in host rock.
Called a contact (or metamorphic) aureole.
The aureole surrounds the plutonic intrusion.
Zoned from high (near pluton) to low grade (far from pluton).
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Grades of alteration form bands around the pluton.
Bands range from highly altered to slightly altered.
Analogous to changes in pottery with increased heating.
The width of each aureole zone is due to
The size of the plutonic intrusion.
The degree of metasomatism.
The dominant rock is hornfels.

rd
Burial Metamorphism
As sediments are buried in a sedimentary basin
P increases because of the weight of the overburden.
T increases because of the geothermal gradient.
Requires burial below diagenetic effects.
This is ~ 815 km depending on the geothermal gradient.

rd
Dynamic Metamorphism
Breakage of rock by shearing at a fault zone.
Fault location determines type of alteration.
Shallow crust Upper 10-15 km.
Rocks behave in a brittle fashion.
Mineral grains crush and pulverize forming fault breccia.
Deeper crust Below 10-15 km.
Rocks behave in a ductile manner.
Minerals smear like taffy to form mylonite.
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Regional Metamorphism
Tectonic collisions deform huge mobile belts.
Directed compression thickens mountains.
Rocks caught up in mountain building are
Heated via the geothermal gradient and plutonic intrusions.
Squeezed and heated by deep burial.
Smashed and sheared by differential stresses.

rd
Regional Metamorphism
Regional metamorphism creates foliated rocks.
This type of metamorphism is, by far, the most
important in terms of the amount of rock altered.
Collisional belts are often
1000s of km long.
100s of km wide.

rd
Hydrothermal Metamorphism
Alteration by hot, chemically aggressive water.
A dominant process near mid-ocean ridge magma.
Cold ocean water seeps into fractured crust.
Heated by magma, this water then reacts with mafic rock.
The hot water rises and is ejected via black smokers.
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Subduction Metamorphism
Subduction creates the unique blueschist facies.
Trenches and accretionary prisms have
A low geothermal gradient low temperature.
High pressures.
High P Low T favor
glaucophane, a blue
amphibole mineral.

rd
Shock Metamorphism
Rarely, Earth is struck by a comet or asteroid.
Impacts generate a compressional shock wave.
Extremely high pressure.
Heat that vaporizes or melts large masses of rock.
These conditions generate high-pressure minerals.
Coesite.
Stishovite.

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Exhumation
How do metamorphic rocks return to the surface?
Exhumation is due to...
Uplift Compression squeezes deep rocks upward.
Extensional collapse Uplifted range spreads outward.
Erosional unroofing Weathering and erosion removes
vast amounts of rock.
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Finding Metamorphics
Large regions of ancient high-grade rocks called
shields are exposed in continental interiors.
Shields are eroded remnants of orogenic belts.
Shield rocks form the basement under sedimentary cover.
rd
Chapter 8
2008 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Portrait of a Planet
Third Edition
earth
LECTURE OUTLINE
This concludes the

METAMORFICAS

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Chapter 8: Metamorphism: A Process of Change Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 3

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