Geology Notes

LECTURE 1:

 cluster of earthquakes in the Soloman Islands, Araucania (Chile)

 Why do these areas have so many earthquakes?

 an earthquake in Japan shifted the Earth’s axis by 2 cm

 most earthquakes occur where tectonic plates meet

 fracking causes small earthquakes in the states

 in order to help people, look at PATTERNS formed by areas with high frequency of
earthquakes

Earthquakes in Ottawa
 Ottawa actually has quite a few earthquakes (follow a diagonal pattern going North-
West)
 Why is the rock under stress? It is not situated at the junction of tectonic plates
2 Theories:
 Fault in the tectonic plate under Ottawa area
o Fault: crack in rock that results in rock being displaced
 Rebounding of rock after ice removed (15 000 years ago this area was under 2 km of
ice – very heavy)

Earthquakes in Yellowstone and Hawaii

 Caused by volcanoes: lava movement beneath Earth’s surface causes friction
 Earthquakes centered around area with volcano

 Some animals can sense an oncoming earthquake

o For example, in Italy toads left before an earthquake

 Correlation (not causation) between death of thousands of birds and toads and
earthquake

The science of the solid Earth

 Geology is the science that pursues an understanding of planet Earth
 Modern approach is to examine Earth as a SYSTEM
o Atmosphere (air)
o Biosphere (earth)
o Cryosphere (ice)
o Hydrosphere (water)
o Lithosphere (crust)
  the intellect & practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure
& behaviour of the physical & natural world through observation & experiment

The nature of scientific enquiry:

 Science assumes the natural world is consistent and predictable

Geology differs from other science:

1. Deals with large spatial scales and complex systems

 Controlled experiments are difficult/impossible
 Observation and description acquire proportionately more importance
 Relating zircon crystals (200 microns) to mountains (8.1 km) in Pakistan

2. Deals with time scales that are immense compared to human lives
 Impossible to observe entire process directly (only able to view snapshots)
 Spatial variation can be interpreted as temporal evolution
o Principal of Uniformitarianism: geological processes and natural laws that
operate today have acted throughout geologic time

 oldest continental rock: 4.6 billion years old

 extinction of dinosaurs: 65 million years ago
 evolution of Homo sapiens: 500 thousand years ago
 last glacial maximum: 15 000 years ago
 duration of average earthquake: <10 seconds

Earth is ~4.6 Ga (billion years old) ...compressed into 1 year

Jan 1: Earth formed
Feb 21: life formed
Oct 25: complex organisms
Dec 7: reptiles evolved
Dec 25: dinosaurs extinct
Dec 31, 11:00 pm: homo sapiens appear
Dec 31, 11:59:59.97: Columbus discovers Americas
• typical university course: 0.0000011% of Earth’s history

3. Geologic evidence is fragmented/incomplete

 conclusions & models may be non-unique and dependent on intuition & experience
 knowledge + experience = wisdom
 emphasis on the collection & interpretation of field data
o discern signal from noise
 art & science of "geologizing" - geocognition
o organize & resolve disparate data sources
 chemistry
 physics
 biology

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  geography

 Scientists collect "facts" through observation & measurements, but facts are
secondary to understanding
 Goal of science is to discover patterns in nature & use the knowledge to make
predictions
 It's not what you know, but how you know it!

How or why things happen are explained using:

1. Inductive (Baconian) method

 early stages, recon
 collection of data without regard to theory
 expect explanation will become apparent from organization & synthesis of large
data sets

2. Deductive (Darwinian) method

 later stages, focused
 devised model(s) account for set of observations, and used to make predictions
about nature
 iterative

Hypothesis (model): a tentative (or untested) explanation

 model: testable, powerful, parsimonious

Theory: a well-tested & widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best
explains certain observable facts

Law: statement based on repeated experimental observations that describes some

phenomenon of nature with high degree of confidence (does not always explain WHY it
happens)

Deductive scientific method (using dinosaur example):

1) Collection of scientific facts (data)
2) Development of one or more working hypotheses to explain the facts
3) Development of observations & experiments to test the hypotheses
4) Acceptance, modification, or rejection

Theories of why dinosaurs went extinct:

 meteor impact
 volcanic eruption
 disease

Several mass extinctions have occurred, but

we hear about the extinction of dinosaurs the

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most.

Ma = mega-annum = millions of years = 106 years

Ga = giga-annum = billions of years = 109 years

1. Data collection or observations

 Dinosaurs extinct @ ~65 Ma
 Many plankton extinct @ ~65 Ma
 Many(!) other organisms extinct @ ~65 Ma • Extinction was FAST
 Corresponds to unique geochemical anomalies (Ir, S, C) in rock record
o Peak in Iridium (platinum group metal), which is found in:
 Earth's primordial lavas & the core
 meteorites, comets, cosmic dust
o Peak in Sulfur, which is derived from:
 Bolide impact on evaporite/carbonate terrain (volatilization of
gypsum/anhydrite: SO42-)
 Volcanism releases S(reduced gases, SO2 ... oxidized to SO42-)
o Peak in Carbon (terrestrial carbon)
 Result of fires from volcanoes

2. Theory development
 Comet or asteroid impact created the geochemical anomalies (vs. lava eruptions)
 Testable? Side effects?
o Crater(s)
o Dust cloud + fireball = "nuclear winter" instant death (vs. synchronous
numerous and thick lava flows)

3. Observations & experiments

 Test/confirm world-wide geochemical anomalies
 Test/confirm abrupt end to dinosaurs & plankton
 Identify crater |
 Identify large lava eruptions | multiple working hypothesis

o Several occurred very close to potential meteorite crater

Volcanic origin?
 Deccan Traps (India)
 flood basalts; 60-68 Ma
o > 2,000 m thickarea

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 o > 500,000 km2
o volume > 512,000 km3

Bolide impact?
 Wanapitei crater, ON, 37 Ma
 Manicouagan crater, QC, 214 Ma
 Charlevoix crater, QC, 342 Ma
 Sudbury crater, ON, 1850 Ma
o nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, gold
 Chicxulub crater: 65 Ma
o Crater identified
o Anomalies associated with ash, soot, glass (tektites)
 Tektites: little glass balls formed by melting at high temperatures

4. Accept, modify, reject?

 Almost abrupt end to terrestrial & marine life
 Geochemical anomalies are world-wide
 Anomalies associated dust cloud/fireball
 Crater!
 Some large lava eruptions

Theory of Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics
 composite of ideas that explain the observed motion of Earth’s lithosphere thru
mechanisms of subduction & sea-floor spreading which generate continents & ocean
basins

LECTURE 2

Solar System
o Consists of our star, the sun, the planets, their satellites, and asteroids
o Located on the arm of a very large spiral galaxy
o Within the Milky Way galaxy (system of stars held together by gravity)

Geocentric Perspective
o Proposed by Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
o Geocentric universe (Earth at center) deeply entrenched in church doctrine
o But, was challenged by Aristarchus (312-230 BCE)
o Simple spheres containing the planets and the sun revolving around Earth
did not explain the retrograde motion of planets

Retrograde Motion

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 • apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies within its
system, as observed from a particular vantage point

Geocentric Perspective: Ptolemy (150 CE – Common Era)

o proposed that planets also follow a smaller circular orbit (epicycles)
o predictable periods of retrograde motion

Retrograde Motion: Copernicus (1473-1543)

o suggested that because Mars has the larger retrograde motion it is the closest
to Earth while Saturn, having the smallest retrograde motion is the furthest
from the Earth
o proposed that the Earth spins on its axis leading to sunrise and sunset
o first suggested heliocentric model

Kepler (1571-1630)
1) law of ellipses
• The orbit of each planet is an ellipse with sun at one focus
2) law of orbital harmony
• For any planet, the square of the orbital period in years is proportional to the cube
of the planet’s average distance from the sun
3) law of equal areas
• A line drawn from a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time
• The orbital velocity changes

Compared to astronomy, geology is a very 'young' science

4th century BCE 17th century CE

geocentric heliocentric
Circular orbitals Elliptical orbitals

Planet Diameter Density

(km) (g/cm3)
Know relative sizes of planets, why some bigger Mercury 4880 5.4
or smaller than others, why some are denser
and some not so dense – look for patterns Venus 12 104 5.24

Earth 12 760 5.52

Scaled-down model of solar system

distance (m) diameter (cm) The Moon 3 475 3.3

S UN 0 2.4 Mars 6 787 3.96
Mercury 1.0 0.008
Venus 1.8 0.02 Jupiter 143 000 1.33
Earth 2.5 0.02
Mars 3.9 0.01 Saturn 121 000 0.69
Jupiter 13.2 0.24
Saturn 24.2 0.20 Uranus 51 000 1.27
Uranus 48.6 0.09
Neptune 76 0.08
Neptune 49 500 1.766
Pluto 100 0.004
Pluto 2 300 2.3
Mercury
• 0 satellites
• 70% metallic & 30% silicate composition
• internally layered
• largest temperature range (-170° to 425°C)
• scarps: surface of planet broken
o right after Big Bang, Mercury was semi-molten
o as the planet contracted, cracks (known as scarps) formed at the surface
• craters on surface from bolide impacts

Venus
• 0 satellites
• Earth's twin
• ancient volcanoes (tectonics?)
• few impact craters
• thick (deadly) atmosphere (inhibits telescope observation)
• pancake volcanoes 
• We can make predictions of rock composition from the shape of the volcanoes

Earth
1 satellite: The Moon
• Moon formed during Big bang activity (2 theories)
1. Impact theory of formation during initial spiraling of nebula
o something hit earth and moon came out of earth on other side
2. the Earth’s gravity captured the already formed Moon
• However, rocks on the Moon look very similar to those on Earth, so Theory 1
(impact theory) is more popular

Highlands:
• 90% plagioclase feldspar
• "foam" on magma ocean

Maria:
• flood basalts: sea of volcanic rock

Moon evolution:
1. formation of crust
2. lunar highlands
3. maria basins
4. rayed craters

Mars
• 2 satellites

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 • ancient volcanoes & tectonics
o one volcano as large as the state of Arizona
o biggest volcano is our solar system (12 km high)
 Mount Everest is 8 km high
o Indication of the strength of Mars’ crust
• internally layered
• crust: basalt
• polar ice

Water on Mars
1. could be indication of life on Mars
2. if we go to mars, we would need water for propulsion to return to Earth

Picture of Mars’ surface (colour is elevation)

• low elevation in North of planet
• more craters on the right (opposite side of planet) – has been there the longest
o other side + blue part not as many craters (younger)
o these craters formed over 4 billion years ago
• crevices that might have held water leading into an ocean
• Mars has evidence of rivers, cliffs, valleys (water running processes)
• sinusoidal channel (old rivers ?)

Jupiter
• layered atmosphere, giant storms
• surface is liquid nitrogen
• 63 satellites + moonlets
• Jupiter large but not very dense, mostly gases
o core region (solid) is surrounded by dense metallic hydrogen, which extends
outward to about 78% of the radius of the planet

Io ( ¼ Galilean Satellites – Jupiter’s moons)

• currently volcanically active
o Volcanoes on Io caused by contraction and expansion of planet caused by its
position from Jupiter
o Volcanic plumes on Io - fountains of lava gushing 160 km in height
 Io without atmosphere, so lava ejected into space
• melting is from tidal energy

Saturn
• Core similar to Earth surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an
intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer
• magnetic field
• rings: <100 m thick
• 56 satellites + moonlets
• Saturn’s density is so low it would float on water

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 • Hexagon shaped storm ?

Saturn’s Moons:
1. Titan
• (liquid methane) lakes and seas
• atmosphere sinkholes and karst landscape
2. Mimas

The Twins: Uranus and Neptune

• ice dominating over gases = Ice Giants
• a rocky center, an icy mantle and an outer gaseous hydrogen/helium envelope
• ice: water, ammonia and methane

Uranus
• rotates on its side
• 27 satellites

Neptune
• 13 satellites
o Triton contains cryovolcanism (ejects ice, ammonia, other – not molten
rock)
 we can see a plume from a geyser (wind ?)

Pluto
• largest member of a distinct population of rock, metals, and ices called the Kuiper
belt (dwarf planets, moons, planetesimals)
• Why is it no longer considered a planet?
o Non – concentric orbit around sun
o other objects of similar size that would have to be considered as planets too

Terrestrial Jovian
Hard silicate rocky surfaces Very large outer planets
Close to the sun Turbulent
Larger ones have atmospheres Composed of gases H, He, NH3,
CH3
Dense metallic cores

Few satellites Many satellites

High density (4 to 5.5 g/cm3) Low density (0.6 to 1.8 g/cm3)

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,

Mars Neptune

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Jovian = from Jupiter

Solar nebula theory: Some observations to consider...

o All planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction (counter clockwise
when viewed from top, i.e. Earth north).
o All planets revolve within the same plane (ecliptic) except for Pluto (17°
tilted from the ecliptic).
o Nearly all planets revolve counter clockwise on their axes (Venus is
clockwise, Uranus is severely tilted).
o Sun also revolves counter clockwise on its axis (251/2 Earth days).
o Axes of rotation of sun and planets are nearly all perpendicular to the
ecliptic.
o Sun probably used to rotate faster
o Days are longer than they were before

Solar nebula theory

• Solar nebula, cloud of He, H, some heavier dust
• 4.6-4.4 Ga ago, gravitational contraction, cloud initiates rotation
• Gravitational collapse, increase T, light elements driven towards outer edges of disk
• Planets result from accretion ( of dust, planetisimals
• Sun originates from concentration of mass at the centre

A few problems:
• Venus rotates clockwise, contrary to the majority of planets
• Origin of the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter), destruction of an early planet
by collision or failed accretion of planetisimals?
• Rotation speed of Sun is too slow given its position at the center of the disk.

Age of solar system

• Meteorites 4.53 to 4.58 Ga
• Moon rocks 4.4 to 4.5 Ga
• Oldest rock on Earth, Acasta gneiss in NWT is 4.03* Ga (but Earth is tectonically
active, rocks keep getting recycled...)
• Oldest mineral on Earth, zircon in Australia is 4.4 Ga
o *4.28 Ga in N. Quebec; highly controversial

Meteors: glowing fragments of rock that are inside the Earth’s atmosphere (shooting stars)

Meteoroid: a meteorite before it hits the surfaceMeteorite: piece of rock from outer space
that hits the Earth

Meteorite: piece of rock from outer space that hits the Earth

Fire balls: very bright meteors

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Meteor showers: when Earth’s orbit passes through a belt of cosmic dust and rock
• (Perseid – mid-August; Leonid – mid-November)

Meteorites:

Stones: resemble rocks found on Earth; most common type of meteorite

• chondrite: most common, Fe-, Mg-, and Ni-bearing minerals, magnetic composed of
small round spheres (chondrules); 4.6 Ga
• achondrites: same composition, but lack the chondrules

Irons: composed of Fe-Ni alloy (high density); likely candidate that resembles Earth’s core

Stony Irons: mix of stony silicate material and iron

Most meteorites appear to be fragments of larger bodies: parent bodies (small planets,
larger asteroids, etc)

• The Asteroid Belt:

o between Mars and Jupiter, a swarm of 100,000 objects called asteroids
o small rocky bodies with irregular shapes and cratered surface
o 4000 have been officially classified and named
o likely produces Near Earth Objects, 150 NEOs with 1-8 km diameters;1700
NEO are potentially hazardous

• Comets:
o a body that orbits around the Sun with eccentric orbit
o ice + rock solar radiation generates gases from evaporation of comet’s
surface, giving the comet its tail
o tail points away from Sun
o ~10-20% of comets are in Earth-crossing orbits
o 700 long-period comets (T > 200 yrs)
o 25 short-period comets (T ≤ 200 yrs)
o 95% have lost their tails = “stealth comets”
o Our first warning is likely to be their initial entry into Earth’s atmosphere

o Impactors (meteors, bolides, fireballs)

o < 10 m diameter - burnup in atmosphere
o Larger ones.. ?

1908 Tunguska, Russia

o 2000 km2 of fallen trees, blast witnessed from 300 km away, and heard from
1000 km away
o Meteor was 60-190 m in size
o Largest impact in historical record

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 o Meteor exploded on impact
o Sonic boom from air compression
o From 100 km height, 200 km radius from sonic boom

Impacts
o Atmospheric frictional heat may raise surface temperature to 3,000°C,
creating tail to fireball
o At 115 km above ground, atmosphere is dense enough to heat meteoroids
until glowing
o Meteoroids typically visible 100 km above ground, vaporized before reaching
60 km above ground
o Violently compresses air (creates mini- sonic boom)

1994: Impacted Jupiter’s atmosphere, at up to 60 km/s

o Initial flash at collision
o Superheated gas fireball, thousands of kilometers above clouds
o Radiation as plume crashed back down at high speed
o Largest (1 km) fragment created impact scar larger than Earth
o Pic: red spots from meteor impacts

 Biggest meteor in last 150 Ma was in Mexico, killed dinosaurs

 Impact scars on land only represent 1/3 of craters on Earth
o We don’t know about bolide impacts in ocean (not as obvious to find)
 Most of craters happened in beginning of universe creation
 Biggest impact crater in Gulf of Mexico (one that extricated dinosaurs)
 Maybe no craters in West of North America because of mountain (movement of
Earth over years destroyed them)
 Metal deposits not from meteors, meteors just displaced those metals on impact

Frequency of Large Impacts

o Determined by examination of Moon’s maria: one major impact every 110
million years
o Extrapolated to Earth’s (80x) larger surface area: 2,400 impacts leaving
craters bigger than 25 km diameter; 720 of them on land
o More than 160 craters discovered so far, most smaller than 25 km diameter;
remainder probably buried or destroyed
o Extremely small odds that Earth will be hit by large asteroid during human
lifetime
o Meteoroids greater than 350 tons in weight not slowed down by atmosphere
o Hit ground at nearly original speed, explode and excavate craters
o Craters are erased by erosion, destroyed by plate tectonics and buried under
sediments
o 164 known impact craters, including 57 in US and Canada

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Wanapitei crater, ON, 37 Ma
Manicouagan crater, QC, 214 Ma
Charlevoix crater, QC, 342 Ma
Sudbury crater, ON, 1850 Ma
• nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, gold

Meteorite flux
• 107 to 109 kg/year
o 1 mm diameter objects hit the Earth once every 30 seconds
• Meteoroids 1 gram or more pass through atmosphere to Earth’s surface
• Speeds of 11 – 30 km/sec - atmosphere behaves like solid
• Frictional resistance of atmosphere melts away exterior, protecting interior - glazed,
blackened crust

Summary of effects of Impacts

o Massive earthquakes
o Dust and ash released into atmosphere, blocking solar radiation (cool)
o Widespread wild fires (more dust and ash) (cool)
o If impact into ocean, large amount of water vapor / steam would be released;
H2O + CO2 scatters solar radiation and has long residence in atmosphere
(warm)
o Shock would produce nitrogen oxides; combined with water = nitric acid
(acid rain)
o If impact into ocean = tsunami

 Melting of crust
o Ejecta – little glass balls (when things are really hot and cool quickly they
turn into glass)
 Melting from meteorite caused metals in Sudbury
 Researchers go to poles because easier to find rocks from space in snow

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LECTURE 3

Theory of Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics
• Centuries of observations have concluded that the Earthʼs make-up is not random.
• Pattern recognition: earthquakes occur where mountains rise & volcanoes
explode.
• Composite of ideas that explain the observed motion of Earthʼs lithosphere thru
mechanisms of subduction & sea-floor spreading which generate continents & ocean
basins

Plate Tectonics can be summarized with 4 concepts:

1) Outer portion (shell) of the Earth is composed of rigid layers called plates
2) The plates move ...... slowly*
3) Most large-scale geologic activity occurs at plate boundaries
4) Interior (center) of plates are relatively geologically quite

What is an earthquake?
• vibration of Earth produced by the rapid release of energy stored in rock subjected
to stress (plates rubbing past each other)
o energy released radiates in all directions from its source (like sound)
o energy is in the form of waves
o body & surface waves

Transmission of P and S waves thru a solid:

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Significant characteristics of body waves
o velocity is proportional to density & elasticity
 Higher density the rock is the faster the wave
o velocity increases with depth
o P (primary) - waves propagate thru all mediums, like slinky
o S (secondary) -waves propagate thru solids, sinusoidal motion
o Pʼs travel faster than Sʼs (P’s released first)
o density/composition change in medium = waves are refracted (bent) &/or
reflected (mirrored)

How can we "use" earthquakes? (not only quakes, but also nuclear testing)
o allows us to "x-ray" image the Earth (flashlight)
o variations in travel-times which are not accounted for by distances traveled
o Remember:waves propagate in 3D shown as rays paths, not waves

Planet interior
• what would seismic waves thru a uniform, homogenous
planet look like?

But we know in Earth: pressure (P) increases with depth (h) =

increase density (r)
(P = rgh)

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P increases with d = increase r = increase velocity

But we also know:

• Earth is chemically (vertically) differentiated
• Waves can be refracted across boundaries
• Angle of wave refraction dictated by Snell's Law:

• Using travel-times to measure the depth of the

'layers'
• Waves can also reflect off boundaries
• Law of Reflection says that the angle at which
the wave is incident on the surface equals the
angle at which it is reflected.

Using travel-times to measure

the depth of the 'layers':

Discovering Earth’s major interior boundaries

crust-mantle boundary
o aka: Mohorovičić Discontinuity (Moho)

o discovered by A. Mohorovičić (1909)

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 o based on the observation that seismic velocities are slower in crust (6 km/s)
than the mantle (8 km/s)

core-mantle boundary
o discovered by B. Gutenberg (1914)
o based on the observation that P waves disappear at 105° from the earthquake and
reappear at about 140° - this belt is named the P-wave shadow zone

core
o I. Lehmann (1936) proved seismic
waves travel in/out of core
o characterized by bending (refracting) of
the P waves
o the fact that S waves do not travel
through the core provides evidence for
the existence of a liquid layer beneath
the rocky mantle (S-wave shadow
zone)

Seismic waves & Earth’s structure

• abrupt changes in seismic-wave velocities that occur at particular depths helped
seismologists conclude that Earth must be composed of distinct shells
o because of density sorting during an early period of partial melting, Earthʼs
interior is not homogeneous

layers are defined by:

• composition / chemistry
• mechanics / physics

Layers of Earth based on chemical & physical differences:

chemistry/composition
1) crust: oceanic & continental; solid, strong, rigid; 30-70 km thick
2) mantle: solid, weak, ductile; 2900 km thick
3) core: outer (liquid) & inner (solid); 3480 km thick

physical/mechanical
A) lithosphere = crust & upper mantle
(~100 km)
B) asthenosphere = below lithosphere
(~140 km)
C) mesosphere = below asthenosphere
D) core outer (liquid) & inner (solid)

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1) crust
continental crust
• 4000 Ma
• 3-70 km thick (0-100+ km) avg: 40 km
• Si-O, Al (K, Na, Ca)
• average: granodiorite; r: 2.7 g/cm3

oceanic crust
• 180 Ma
• 3-15 km thick (0-20+ km) avg: 10 km
• Mg & Fe (Si-O)
• average: basalt; r: 3.0 g/cm3

2) mantle
• 3000 km thick
• Mg & Fe
• peridotite; r: 3.3 g/cm3

3) core
• 3500 km radius
• Fe&Ni;r:11g/cm3
• T: 6700°C

So, Earth is layered but...

• competing P&T forces complicate things:
• increase depth = increase T = melting
• increase depth = increase P = increase rock strength

Layers defined by physical properties

o depending on the temperature & depth, a particular Earth material may
behave like a brittle solid, deform plastically, or melt and become liquid
o main layers of Earthʼs interior are based on physical properties and hence
mechanical strength

A) lithosphere
• cool & strong; brittle
o continental: 100-200 km thick
o oceanic: 5-100 km thick
---- detached ----
B) asthenosphere
• partially melted; ductile
• extends to depth of 660 km

C) mesosphere
• strong & hot

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 • extends 660 km to 2900 km in depth
D) core
• outer: liquid, metallic Fe, 2300 km thick
• inner: solid, Fe, 10% Ni (S, O), 1200 km radius

Earthʼs temperature gradually increases with an increase in depth at a rate known as the
geothermal gradient
• varies considerably from place to place
• averages between about 10°C to 20°C/km in the crust (rate of increase is much less
in the mantle and core)

Why is there heat? 3 reasons:

1. heat flow in the crust

• process called conduction
• rates of heat flow in the crust varies

2. mantle convection
• no large change in temperature with depth in the mantle
• mantle must have an effective method of transmitting heat from the core outward

Core
• Earthʼs magnetic field requirements for core to produce magnetic field:
1)  composed of material that conducts electricity
2)  it is mobile
• liquid outer shell convecting around solid inner shell = magnetic field
• inner core rotates faster than the Earthʼs surface
• the axis of rotation is offset >10° from the Earthʼs poles

Whatʼs so important about the Earthʼs magnetic field?

• It’s essentially a force field - protects us from radiation and prevent solar flares from
penetrating Earth

• magnetic field has a North & South magnetic pole

• magnetic field allows use of compasses
• magnetic field occasionally 'flipsʼ
• Normal polarity (now) & Reverse polarity (time of opposite poles)

Magnetic poles have flipped in the past

(Picture: Black part – North pole at North pole, Light part – North pole at South of planet)
• How long does this reversal take?
• Extinctions linked with this reversal
• Switches around every 660 000 years
• Big (unknown) block in Cretaceous because rocks from that period were destroyed
• Airports have had to change direction of landing strips because field changing

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 • Have to recalibrate compasses

How do we know poles have flipped in the past?

• rock magnetism and paleomagnetism use mineral magnetic alignment to
determine the direction and distance to the magnetic pole
o steeper dip angles indicate rocks formed closer to the magnetic pole
• marine magnetic anomalies are bands of normal and reversed magnetic field
signatures
o parallel magnetic bands preserved in rock under ocean
o symmetric "bar-code" anomaly pattern reflects plate motion away from ridge
coupled with magnetic field reversals

Plate Tectonics
• 1962 Harry Hess proposed seafloor spreading
o seafloor moves away from the mid-oceanic ridge due to mantle convection
o convection is circulation driven by rising hot material and/or sinking cooler
material
• 1965 J. Tuzo Wilson
o Earth is composed of lithospheric plates that move on asthenosphere due to
convection in mantle
o 7 major plates; several minor ones
o when sufficiently cool & dense, these rocks may sink back into the mantle at
subduction zones
o overall young age for sea floor rocks (everywhere <200 Ma), ridge elevation,
high heat flow, and abundant undersea volcanism are evidence of this
• Gravity is the driving force: old tectonic plates sink at convergent margins and are
formed at divergent margins – like a conveyor belt, they get recycled in the mantle
• mantle convection may be the cause or an effect of circulation set up by:
o slab-pull: pulling of crust into mantle by down-going slab during subduction
o slab-push: pushing of crust resulting from elevated position of oceanic ridge
system, causing crust to gravitationally slide down flanks of ridge
• All evidence leads to theory of Plate Tectonics
o composite of ideas that explain the observed motion of Earth’s lithosphere
thru mechanisms of subduction & sea- floor spreading which generate
continents & ocean basins
• tectonic plates are composed of the relatively rigid, brittle lithosphere
• plates "float" upon ductile asthenosphere
• plates interact at their boundaries, which are classified by relative plate motion:
o move apart at divergent boundaries
o slide past one another at transform boundaries
o move together at convergent boundaries

 Boundary of Pacific plate is called the Ring of Fire (region with lots of earthquakes
and volcanoes)

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 o *Plate boundary does not have to be coincident with edge of continent*
o Middle of plates quite – no earthquakes, activity at boundaries

 Continents fit together like a puzzle

o Used to be only one continent called Pangea

 Outer earth composed of tectonic plates

 Under plates hotter with different composition
 Tectonic plates moving at rates fingernails grow at

 How do we know about tectonic plates/Earth’s composition?

o Continental crust 40 km thick: How do we know? We’ve drilled 12 km down
o Send sound waves into ground, they reflect and bounce back up
o Volcanoes start at depth – material that comes out of volcanoes come from
30-40 km depth
o Earthquakes

 Vancouver and San Francisco are concerned because they have not had a big
earthquake in a while

 Nuclear explosions produce very specific earthquakes

 When shuttle landed and left moon set off explosion – seismology

 Because density increases going deeper in earth (faster the velocity of waves),
things refract (lines not straight)
 Based on density changes, velocity changes and angle of refraction changes
 Law of refraction and law of reflection (same as reflection on lake)
 Crust must be denser because seismic velocity is slower
 Moho = crust-mantle boundary

 105° to 140° won’t feel any earthquakes if earthquake at north pole

 must be reflected off core-mantle boundary

 must be some liquid in middle of earth because S waves cannot travel through it
 Earth – 3 layers
o solid crust on top of solid mantle
o outer core only part of Earth that’s liquid

 glass in old houses warped because of gravity – mantle behaves in same way
(ductile, flows, but solid) brittle
 asthenosphere – no strength
 diagram!

 Disparity between oldest continental crust and oldest oceanic crust

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 o Oceanic crust quite a bit denser
o Continental crust mostly made out of granite/silica
o Oceanic crust = basalt

 Core very dense and very hot

 P = pressure
 T = temp

 Generally, earthquakes in top 100 km because of intense pressure deeper that

prevents them
 Lithosphere detached from asthenosphere
 Know relative proportions of thicknesses, not specific numbers

 More pressure = denser = more friction = more heat

Why is the centre of Earth hot?

 Since Big Bang, earth was hot, heat that is retained from Big Bang
 Recrystallizing and melting in core generates heat
 Crust generates radiogenic heat as it decays (radioactive decay) potassium and
other trace elements
 Convection cells in mantle move heat and mass around
 Where earthquakes (active areas) also higher heat flow - Himalayas
 Heat works its way up from core, volcanic trail, returns to mantle

 Geographic north is axis of rotation of Earth

 Magnetic north when magnetic field comes into earth (Northern Greenland)
 Offset between two is around 15°
 At north pole, compass wants to point up and down
 Magnetic field away from sun is distorted from solar wind

 When rock at equator crystallizes it will acquire magnetic field horizontal to land
surface
 At north pole will be perpendicular to Earth’s surface

 Compasses don’t work well underwater

 Strips in ocean floor represent reversals through time
o Can see how tectonic plates have moved
o Symmetry in magnetic lines about plate change

 Young rocks on meeting point of two plates

 Hot material is less dense – will rise
 Cold material is denser – will sink
 Conveyor belt motion driven by heat and gravity

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  Middle of atlantic mountain belt – thermally boyant rocks (because warmer and
younger)
 Rocks want to slide down because they are cooling, slide back into mantle (plate
(slab) pull and push)

LECTURE 4

• All Earth is SOLID (except outer core) even though it can flow, move, etc.

Tectonic Plates are part of the lithosphere .. which is rock made of minerals .. enriched in
elements:
• Si, Al, (K, Na, Ca)
• rocks termed felsic or acid (silicic, sialic)

Asthenosphere & mesosphere are rock enriched in elements:

• Mg & Fe
• rocks termed (ultra-) mafic or basic

Minerals are building blocks of rocks:

• naturally occurring
• solid
• definite chemical composition (elements; expressed by a chemical formula)
• characteristic crystal structure ("water" ice or quartz)

Elements is a form of matter that cannot be broken down into simpler form by heating,
cooling, or chemical reaction (H, O or Si, O)
• Compound – combination of 1 or more elements in specific proportions -atoms
bond to form minerals in regular geometric shapes
o (crystals => H2O : ice or SiO2 : quartz)

Atoms – smallest particles of an element that retains all of the element's chemical
properties (distinguishing characteristic)

Classification of minerals
Combination of elements to form minerals depends on a few characteristics of atoms of
that element:

1) relative abundance of available elements (w/in crust):

O : 45%
Al : 8%
Ca : <5%
Na : <5% BIG 8

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Si : 27%
Fe : 5%
Mg : <5%
K : <5%

2) T & P at time of formation

• controls structural growth of crystal
• e.g. C = diamond & graphite !
o (polymorphs .. same chemistry, different structure)
o Carbon at surface is graphite
o Carbon at depth is diamond
o Heating up graphite and diamond turns them into CO2

3) size & charge of atoms and ions

Composition of minerals

Atomic structure
• central region called the nucleus
o Consists of protons (positive charges) and neutrons (neutral charges)
• electrons
o Negatively charged particles that surround the nucleus
o Located in discrete energy levels called shells
• Atom is neutral if protons = electrons; so, why do atoms bond and interact?
• Chemical stability requires 8 electrons in outermost shell (octet rule)

Oxygen
• Second most abundant element in Earth by weight (most abundant in crust)

Element %:
Fe 34.6
O 29.5
Si 15.2
Mg 12.7

Chemical bonding
• Formation of a compound by combining two or more elements

1) Ionic bonding
• Atoms gain or lose valence electrons to form ions (charged particles)
• Ionic compounds consist of an orderly arrangement of oppositely charged ions;
neutral / stable
• Halite (NaCl) – ionic bonding (Sodium +1, Chlorine -1)

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Covalent bonding
• Atoms share electrons to achieve electrical neutrality
• Covalent compounds are generally stronger than ionic bonds (C = diamond)

Other types of bonding

a) Metallic bonding
o Cloud of valence electrons are free to migrate among atoms
o Metals = conductors
o Weaker and less common than ionic or covalent bonds
b) Van der Wall forces (secondary bonding)
• Weak electrostatic forces
• Very weak (e.g. graphite .. also C)
polymorphs .. same chemistry, different structure

• Not only is charge a factor in creating compounds, but also ionic radius (distance
from nuclei center to outermost electron)
• atoms competing for space in crystallizing liquid

Certain atoms have same charge & nearly same radius:

Fe2+ 0.83 nm
Mg2+0.78 nm
= easily substituted
= substitution of 1 atom for another is called

SOLID SOLUTION
Olivine:
Mg2SiO4
Fe2SiO4

change chemistry, not structure

What's the difference between solid sol'n & polymorph?

Opposites: polymorph - same chemistry, different structure
Solid sol’n – different chemistry, same structure

Classification of Minerals

1. So now we can start building minerals - silicates: 4000+, 20 are common

BIG 7 (from Big 8 which make 98% of crust)

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Other minerals: nonsilicates
• Several major groups exist including
o Oxides Fe2O3 (iron ore)
o Sulfides PbS (lead ore)
o Sulfates CaSO4 (gypsum)
o Native Elements Au (gold)
o Carbonates CaCO3 (calcite)

Biominerals
• tooth enamel (apatite: Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH))
• bones of vertebrates (apatite)
• stones in urinary track (calcium & phosphate deposits)
• shells of molluscs and other invertebrates (calcite)

The apatite cycle

• Phosphate: most stored in sea water
• Phosphate in fish, eaten by birds, who defecate, large phosphate deposits are found
in areas with birds

Igneous Rocks
• Magma is molten rock and contains crystals & gases within the Earth.
• Melt is generally only the liquid portion of the process.
• Lava is molten rock and contains crystals & gases at the surface of the Earth.

What is magma?
• Nature of magma consists of 3 components:
o Liquids (melt) composed of mobile ions
o Solids (crystals / minerals)
 Generally silicates, SiO2 : 40-70 wt% + variable amounts of other
oxides, e.g. Al2O3, K2O, Na2O, CaO, MgO, FeO, etc.
o Gases (volatiles) dissolved in the melt from 0.5-5.0 of wt%
 water vapor (H2O)
 carbon dioxide (CO2)

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  sulfur dioxide (SO2)
 N, Cl, Ar

Where does igneous rock come from?

 Before crystals / minerals form:
o liquid magma has random atoms suspended in non-crystalline structure
..magma or lava
 During magma cooling:
o atomic vibrations slow & bonds begin to form compounds & eventually a
crystalline structure
 After cooling = igneous rock
o rock which cooled & crystallized directly from molten material at/near
surface
o Vulcan (god of fire) & Pluto (god of underworld)
extrusive / volcanic & intrusive / plutonic
surface subsurface

Characteristics of magma
 Cooling of magma results in: systematic crystallization pattern
 Silicate minerals crystallize in: predictable order!
Bowenʼs Reaction Series
 An explanation for the diversity of igneous rock types that appear to have evolved
from a single magma source (basalt)
 As they slowly cool in deep reservoirs (magma chambers) different minerals
achieve saturation at different temperatures
 Crystallization of the minerals changes the chemical composition of the magma

Bowenʼs series crystallization occurs in 2 ways:

1) Discontinuous
 Fe, Mg minerals crystallize one after another in a specific sequence
 composition & structure change (simple -> complex)

2) Continuous
 Ca-plagioclase preferentially crystallizes early (hi-T)
 gradually as magma cools, Na ions continuously replace Ca in crystal
 little structural change

• Solid earth melts, recrystallizes again, 2 distinct pathways:

• Discontinuous (left side of diagram)
• olivine always crystallizes first
• Continuous (right side of diagram)
• calcium-rich first

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Bowenʼs reaction series... assumes:
1) Closed system
2) Early minerals would remain in contact with magma, reacting to form new minerals
3) Demonstrates that a full range of igneous rocks could be produced from the same mafic
magma

But reality is:

1) crystals settle to bottom of magma chamber or get stuck on chamber walls = fractional
crystallization / magmatic differentiation...analogous to distillation & precipitation of salts
from sea-water
2) Assimilation of wallrock material
3) Magma mixing
 Involves two bodies of magma intruding one another
 Two chemically distinct magmas may produce a composition quite different from
either original magma

Assimilation & magmatic differentiation

How does magma form?

1) Temperature increase:
 radioactive decay within Earth
 early Earth produced during Big Bang
 ± frictional heat of tectonic plates
 transfer of heat (convergent margins) ..crustal thickening

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2) Add flux (H2O, CO2):
 addition of volatiles along plate margins reduced the melting temperature of a solid
 wet melting: volatiles 'disrupt' chemical bonds of other compounds

3) Pressure decrease:
 Hi-P results in higher T to melt solid (bonds are closer together = stronger)
 If quickly release Hi-P, solid will melt
 (plate divergent margins) ..crustal decompression

• Liquid-solid line shifts to right with water (water breaks SiO2 bonds)
• Isothermal decompression: temp constant, pressure decreased
• At great pressure, atoms held closer together
• Inner core solid because of high pressure
• Outer core same temp, lower pressure, material then liquid

Where does magma form?

 Igneous activity along plate margins
Subduction zones
o one plate goes under the other (introducing materials into plate), can create
mountains/volcanoes
o Occur in conjunction with deep oceanic trenches (plate convergence)
o Descending plate partially melts + release H2O (wet melting)
o Magma slowly moves upward (transfer heat)
o Rising magma can form either:
 An island arc if in the ocean
 A volcanic arc if on a continental margin
o Associated with the Pacific Ocean basin
 Region around the margin is known as the 'Ring of Fire'
 Most of the world’s explosive volcanoes

Spreading centers

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 o Greatest volume of volcanic rock is produced along the oceanic ridge system
(plate divergence)
o Mechanism of (decompression) melting
 Lithosphere pulls apart
 Less pressure on underlying rocks
 Results in partial melting of mantle
 Large quantities of basaltic magma are produced

Where does magma form?

• Intraplate volcanism
o Activity within a tectonic plate
o Associated with plumes of heat in the mantle (transfer of heat)
o Form localized volcanic regions in the overriding plate called a hot spot
(tectonic plate moving over hot spot creates a volcanic trail)
 Produces basaltic magma sources in oceanic crust (e.g., Hawaii and
Iceland)
 Produces granitic magma sources in continental crust (e.g.,
Yellowstone Park)

Hot spot = extinction of the dinosaurs?

Deccan Traps (India)
• flood basalts
• 60-68 Ma
• > 2,000 m thickarea
• > 500,000 km2
• volume > 512,000 km3
Mackenzie Hot Spot (Canada)
• 1267 Ma Dike Swarm
• >3000 km long
• No evidence of volcano (no hot spot), but linear volcanic rocks point to a mantle
plume
Great Meteor Hotspot

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 • 150 Ma to today
• Hills arounds Montreal and New England seamounts are products of this hotspot
• Volcanic material created as continent passed over hot spot
• Great Meteor hotspot now located in ocean (past NE seamounts)

Rock Composition
How do we know?
• Polarizing microscopes
• Thin sections
• Composition of melted rock determines what type of rock will be produced

Magma compositions:

1) Mafic
Igneous rocks... silicates dominate!!!
• Dark (ferromagnesian) silicates
o Olivine
o Pyroxene
o Amphibole
o Biotite mica
• 45-55 wt% SiO2 (relatively low in silica)
• + MgO, FeO, CaO (magnesium, iron, calcium)
• 'fluid', low volatile concentration

Where does mafic rock come from: Volcanic

• Erupt, flow, or explode at the Earthʼs surface
• Cooling times range from seconds to years
• May have no crystals (all glass) or small + large crystals
• Basalt is the archetype - composed of very fine-grained minerals (chiefly Fe- and
Mg-rich minerals, ~50% SiO2), forms mostly on the ocean floor; = 70% of all magma
erupted
• Volcanic rock that’s mafic moves very quickly (like liquid)

2) Felsic
Igneous rocks...silicates dominate!!!
• Light (nonferromagnesian) silicates
o Quartz
o Muscovite mica
o Feldspars
• >65 wt% SiO2 (higher in silica)
• + K2O, Al2O3, Na2O
• viscous (doesn’t flow as far as igneous rocks)

Where does felsic rock come from: Plutonic

o Intrude at depths of 0.1's-10's of km within the crust

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 o mm-cm scale crystals are generally evident
o Can form huge masses that likely cool over a million years
o Granite is the archetype - composed of K-, Na- and Si-rich (~70% SiO2)
minerals and commonly found on the continents

3) Intermediate (andesitic) composition

• Contains 55-65 wt% SiO2; relative to granitic: more FeO & MgO, less Na2O & K2O,
less volatile, less viscous
• Associated with explosive volcanic activity
• Andesitic named after Andes mountains, which are high in andesitic rocks

4) Ultramafic (komatiite) composition

• <45 wt% SiO2; high in MgO & FeO
• Rare composition that is composed of olivine and pyroxene; common >2.6 Ga
• Humans have already depleted ultramafic rock reserves

Rock textures

Igneous textures
• Texture is used to describe the overall appearance of a rock based on the size,
shape, and arrangement of interlocking minerals
• Factors affecting crystal size:
1) Rate of cooling
 Slow rate promotes the growth of fewer but larger crystals
 Fast rate forms many small crystals
 Very fast rate forms glass
2) Amount of silica (SiO2) present
More silica = more polymerization = more viscous = more explosive
3) Amount of dissolved gases

1) Phaneritic (coarse-grained)
o Crystals can be seen without a microscope
o Why???
2) Aphanitic (fine-grained)
o Microscopic crystals
o Why???
o May contain vesicles (holes from gas bubbles)
3) Porphyritic
o Large + small crystals
o Large crystals, called phenocrysts, are embedded in a matrix of smaller
crystals, called the groundmass
o Why??? some parts cooled faster some parts cooled more slowly

4) Glassy
o No crystals visible

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 o High in silica: obsidian
o foamy: pumice
o Why (glass, foamy)???
 Glass because cooled very quickly
 Pumice result of rapid cooling of frothy (gas-rich) magma
 Pumice so light will float on water
5) Pyroclastic
o Fragments ejected during a violent volcanic eruption
o Often appear to be layered or composed of shattered rocks
6) Pegmatitic
o Exceptionally coarse grained
o Form in late stages of crystallization of granitic magmas with high volatile
content

DIAGRAM summary of last 10-12 slides

No accessory minerals

LECTURE 5

What is a sedimentary rock?

• Sediments - rock fragments that settle & accumulate in layers after being
transported or precipitated
Latin sedimentum – to settle
• originates from mechanical / chemical breakdown
• 5% (by volume) of Earthʼs outer 15 km & 75% of exposed rocks
• contain evidence of past environments
o tectonics, climate & life (fossils)

33
Rock types are based on the source of the material
• paleo dunes (solidified dunes) – composed of sedimentary rocks
• detrital/clastic rocks: transported sediment as solid particles
• chemical rocks: sediment that precipitates from solʼn or extracted from water by
organisms (converted to shells/skeletons)

Weathering
Physical & chemical changes (weakening & break down) that occur in rocks when
they are exposed to the atmosphere & biosphere

Factors which control weathering:

1. parent rock (e.g. granite vs salt)
• Granite won’t break down as easily as salt (which dissolves in water easily)
2. climate (temperature and rain; e.g. desert vs rainforest)
• Artic, frozen all year round
3. soil
• Soil speeds up weathering, biological activity attacks rock
• Soil also associated with wet climates
4. time
• The older the rock the more weathered it will be
• Can’t find rocks older than 4 billion years old because they have been weathered

Physical breakdown:
• Water enters crack, freezes, expands crack
• Desert, thermal expansion creates fracture

Chemical breakdown:
• Gravestone from limestone, calcium carbonate reacts with rain, chemical
weathering

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 • Red rocks because of rust, iron in rock oxidized

Clastic sedimentary rocks

Chief constituents of clastic rocks:
• Clay minerals
• Quartz
• Feldspars
• Micas
..those that are stable on the Earth's surface (at bottom of Bowen’s Reaction Series)

Classification of clastic rocks

Texture (reflects process):
1) grain size
o related to properties of parent rock
o proportional to energy level of transport medium (hi-E = smaller grains)
2) grain sorting
o process by which a transport medium ʻselectsʼ particles of different sizes,
shapes, densities
o well-sorted to poor-sorted
3) grain shape
o angular to rounded
o proportional to energy level or distance traveled (more collisions = rounded)

typically lighter, smaller = deposited farthest & last = more rounded

• energy: winds (sand dunes), waves

• velocity of medium vs size of particle
• Beach = high energy (waves pounding) breaking down material, creates small grains
• Vs glacier = lower energy
• Slow stream can’t move large rocks
• Faster, larger stream can move large rock further
• Pic: Brown stream (more sediment) faster than large stream, sediment deposited
when slowed down in large slow stream

35
Classification of clastic rocks
• Transportation & deposition leads to characteristic rock textures

1) Mudstone (shale & siltstones)

• Clay to silt-sized particles in thin layers
• Deposited in calm waters (lakes, lagoon, deep ocean)
• >50%ofsedrocks
• Variable color: red (Fe & O rich), green (Fe & O poor), black (not enough O to
decompose organic matter)

2) Sandstone (graywacke, arenite, arkose)

• Composed of sand-sized particles; mostly quartz
• Forms in a variety of environments (rivers, beaches, glaciers, mountains, deserts..)

3) Conglomerate and breccia

• particles > 2 mm in diameter in a finer grained matrix
• conglomerate - rounded gravels
• breccia - angular particles

Chemical sedimentary rocks

• Consist of precipitated material that was once in solution
• Precipitation of material occurs in two ways
o Inorganic processes (precipitate from water .. sea or fresh)
o Organic processes (biogenic origin)
Common chemical sedimentary rocks

1) Limestone
• 10-15% of sed rocks
• composed chiefly of the calcite - CaCO3
• marine biochemical limestones form as coral reefs, coquina (broken shells), and
chalk (microscopic organisms)
• inorganic limestones include travertine & speleothems
• Statues from limestone pitted because acid rain attacked limestone

Factors controlling CaCO3 precipitation:

1) controlled by solubility of CaCO3 (proportional to CO2 in water)
2) cold water has more CO2, as water warms CaCO3 precipitates CO2(dis) ⇋ CO2(g)
3) also effected by agitation of water (tides), photosynthesis (uses CO2), and water depth

• Most carbonate (white) beaches in equatorial regions

• calcite from shells of molluscs, sea animals
• amount of calcite that precipitates relative to amount of co2
• white beaches not found at higher latitudes because colder water (more CO2) holds
onto calcite better than warmer water

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 • hot water less co2, losing its capacity to hold onto calcite and other elements, leaves
residue in tea kettle

What does this difference in shell size tell us about energy level fluctuations?
• graph of energy vs grain size not applicable to chemical sedimentary rocks

2) Chert
• microcrystalline quartz
• silica? ..skeletons of small animals
• varieties include flint and jasper (banded form is called agate)

3) Evaporites
• evaporation triggers deposition of inorganic chemical precipitates
• requires restricted basin + warm temps (high evaporation) (Great Lakes salt,
Mediterranean Sea)
• examples include rock salt & rock gypsum

4) Coal
• From the decay and compression of land plants rich in resins, waxes, and lignins
• Organic matter accumulated in swamps (anoxic environment)
o warm, moist, calm, little O2, rapid sedimentation
• Burial results in peat-lignite-bituminous and anthracite coal
• Widespread distribution, e.g. Carboniferous-age (c. 300 Ma) units in N.S. & B.C.
• Plentiful supply but pollution??

Principle energy source in the world!

Formation of coal:
1. Peat to lignite: rapid sedimentation (layer goes from 50 m to 10 m thick)
2. lignite to bituminous coal: more burial (10 m to 5 m thick)
3. bituminous coal to anthracite: becomes denser, slightly heated

anthracite = what we should be burning: high energy, low sulfur, but many sources
depleated

What is a sedimentary rock?

Economic considerations:
• Coal
• petroleum & natural gas
• sources of iron, aluminum, & manganese
• evaporites – salt, gypsum
• phosphates – fertilizers

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Science considerations:
• fossils (ancient life)
• geologic histories / reconstructions

Metamorphism
Greek meta (to change) & morphe (form)
• Process by which T, P, & chemical reactions alter mineral content & structure of
pre-existing rock (w/o melting .. solid-state only)
• Occurs when T & P break some atomic bonds
• Metamorphic rocks produced from:
o igneous rocks
o sedimentary rocks
o other metamorphic rocks

All metamorphic rocks start as some other rock, so 3 questions:

1)  What is rock now (mineralogy, texture)?
2)  What was it before (protolith)?
3)  What caused the change (tectonics)?

Controls of metamorphism

1) Temperature
• Not absolute T, but change in T
• Rocks under new environmental conditions come into equilibrium with
surrounding conditions
• Recrystallization results in new, stable minerals (at those new conditions)

38
 • Geothermal gradient varies from 10°C/km in stable parts of continents to
>100°C/km in tectonically active areas

2) Pressure (stress)
lithostatic/confining
• pushes on rock equally from all directions
• rock becomes more dense; no shape change
• increases at a rate of 0.3 kbar/km depth
directed
• pressure is greatest in one direction
• change in shape
• new mineral growth aligns perpendicular to P = foliation

Development of foliation due to confining pressure:

Pressure in metamorphism

3) Fluid activity
• H2O&CO2
• enhances migration of ions
• increases potential for reaction

All of these control the process (degree) of metamorphism, but the composition is
controlled by the protolith

Example of metamorphism: sandy limestone metamorphosed to marble

• At 200°C, sandy limestone is made of:quartz & calcite
• At 600°C, minerals no longer stable together - each can exist alone, but together they
form a new mineral: wollastonite
SiO2 + CaCO3 = CaSiO3 + CO2 (volatile)

• relative amounts of elements do not change, only restructuring and regrowth

• CO2 is released & can leave rock (usually involves decarbonation; or H2O released
in dehydration)
• if CO2 leaves, reaction cannot go back when rock cools (cannot revert to quartz+
calcite unless CO2 is added)

Metamorphic environments at plate boundaries

1) Regional metamorphism

a) Burial - T & lithostatic P within sedimentary basins (Mississippi Delta, Bay of Bengal)
• progressive increase in P exerted by the growing pile of overlying sediments &
sedimentary rocks and the increase in T with increased depth of burial

39
lithification
• Diagenesis grades into burial metamorphism at depth
• Burial metamorphism: depths of 2-3 kmT of 100 to 200°C
• Burial metamorphism defines the economic basement of oil & gas resources
(organic matter is converted to methane & CO2 at >130°C - not crude oil or natural
gas)

b) Dynamothermal (orogenic)
• occurs in response to P&T changes induced by large-scale tectonics; directed P
(foliated rocks) (convergence: Himalaya, Appalachians)
• Orogenic = relating to mountains
• Rocks from orogenic belts can help us understand temperature conditions when
rock was forming

2) Contact metamorphism
• response to T change produced by intrusion of magma into cooler rock
• local in scale
• an aureole, zone of alteration, forms in the rock surrounding the magma

3) Hydrothermal metamorphism (a.k.a. metasomatism)

• Chemical alteration caused when hot, ion-rich fluids circulate through fissures &
cracks that develop in rock
• Most widespread along the axis of the mid-ocean ridge system
most of ocean crust is metamorphosed

Metamorphism: closed system, no components introduced

Metasomatism: introduction of other elements (usually volatiles) into system

Classification
• Degree of metamorphism reflected in texture -metamorphism increases grain size
(in the absence of deformation - directed P; deformation decreases grain size)
• Composition of rock reflected in mineralogy

40
 • rock classification based on texture and composition
• igneous rocks: 70% of Earth’s surface
• metamorphic and sedimentary rocks: 15% each
• 15% of rocks at surface of Earth have economic consideration
• Metamorphic rock can come from any of three rock types

• New metamorphic minerals may grow into large crystals surrounded by fine matrix
o these crystals are called porphyroblasts (garnet & staurolite)
• Generally, metamorphic rocks are classified based on the occurrence of foliated &
granoblastic textures

Granoblastic Metamorphic Rocks:

• Some metamorphic rocks do not show foliation, due to the lack of platy minerals
• crystals grow in interlocking equant (equidimensional) shapes
• typical of monomineralic (composed of one mineral) rocks:
o calcite = marble
o quartz = quartzite
o simple igneous rocks (metabasalt)

1) Hornfels
• high-T contact metamorphic rock of uniform grain size that has undergone little
deformation
o Typified by a granular texture, but commonly contains some pyroxene &
mica

2) Quartzite

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 • very hard, nonfoliated white rock derived from quartz-rich sandstone
o Massive, may contain preserved bedding
o Commonly contains thin bands of slate or schist (relicts of clay or shale
layers)

3) Marble
• metamorphic products of T & P acting on limestone or dolostone
o White & pure marbles (e.g. Carrara marbles, Italy) are prized by sculptors
o White & smooth, even textures, banded, or mottled

Metamorphism imprints new textures on the

rock that it alters (sizes, shapes, & arrangement
of minerals)

Most common textural feature is foliation

• set of flat or wavy parallel planes
produced by directed pressure /
deformation
• minerals are rotated or recrystallized

Foliated Metamorphic Rocks:

Higher temp = bigger crystals

1) Slate
• foliated rock that forms at low T & P
• 200-300°C
o Very fine-grained – individual minerals cannot be seen w/o a microscope
o Typically forms from shales or volcanic ash
o Used for roofing tiles

2) Phyllite
• forms at slightly higher T & P than slate
o 300-400°C
o Characterized by a glossy sheen resultingfrom mica crystals that are
larger than those in slates (because of higher temp)
o In contrast to shales, phyllite cannot be split into sheets

3) Schist
• more intensely metamorphosed rock with platy crystals that are large enough to be
visible to the naked eye
o 400-600°C
o Minerals are typically segregated in lighter & darker bands
o Characterized by a pervasive coarse, wavy foliation referred to as schistosity

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4) Gneiss
• coarse grained rock that forms under high T & P
o >650°C
o Consists of light & dark layers resulting from segregation of minerals
o Granular: platy minerals is higher than in schists
o Poor schistosity & little tendency to split

5) Migmatite
• forms at very high T where parts of the precursor rock begin to melt
o >750°C
o Partial melting of metamorphic rocks forms migmatites
o Typically, highly deformed & contorted
o contain many veins, small pods & lenses that represent solidified partial
melts

Midterm 1:
similar to questions posted online
30 multiple choice
10 short answer
No names, dates, chemical formulas of minerals

LECTURE 6

Most active volcanoes are located at the boundaries of tectonic plates

Hotspot (not at edge of boundary) in Yellowstone

Toba: loudest natural disaster ever

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Most “tall” volcanoes are sloped (not steep incline)
Mauna Loa – 9 km high – most below seawater

Volcanoes at collision (subduction zone): Adding water to hot rock decreases melting
temperature
Volcanoes at separation (spreading centers)

Basalt has similar viscosity to ketchup at 1200°C (temp at surface)

Rhyolite (silica rich magma) -----has similar viscosity to peanut butter

How does magma become silica rich if it come from mantle? Mafic melt rises to continental
crust (felsic) and melts the continental crust
Felsic rock generally not produced at spreading centers

Pahoehoe is generally mafic (because of viscous flow)

Pillow lava formed underwater, at spreading centers – rounded on top, pointed at bottom,
can tell which way is up by looking at “tails”

Pumice - rock crystallized around gas bubble

Bombs – teardrop shape – after ejection, molten material wants to become aerodynamic,
crystallizes as teardrop shape, then falls to ground

Eruption columns put all dust, ash into atmosphere (create volcanic winter, can block
airline traffic)

Lateral blast –
Mt. St-Helen’s: Earthquake shifted rock, releasing pressure on side on volcano (flank
collapse)
As magma enters volcano, builds up pressure, sides of volcano flex (change in structure of
volcano)

1. pyroclastic material first

2. lava after

Pyroclastic flow (charged particles want to be neutral) can create lightening

Surround infrastructure with other volcanic rock to insulate from lava

Stop lava flow with water

Any kind of water that mixes with system can cause phreatic eruptions
DON’T need to memorize eruption types

Volcanic pipes: crystallized vents/magma chambers, everything else eroded away

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