• Types of rocks

• Rock minerals
• Classification
• Description planes of discontinuity
• Weathering of rocks and defects
• Rocks are the most common material on Earth.
They are naturally occurring aggregates of one
or more minerals.
• The term rock is used for those materials of
many kinds which form the greater part of the
relatively thin outer shell, or crust, of the Earth;
some are comparatively soft and easily
deformed and others are hard and rigid. They
are accessible for observation at the surface
and in mines and borings.
 Igneous

Rock Sedimentary

Metamorphic
Cross-section of Earth
Cross-section of Earth
• Igneous rocks are formed when hot molten
rock material called magma solidifies by
crystallizing into a mosaic of minerals.
Magmas are developed when melting occurs
either within or beneath the Earth’s crust, that
is, in the upper mantle.

• Based on their mode of occurrence, Igneous

rocks may be divided into intrusive and
extrusive Igneous rocks as shown in the
Figure below.
• These are formed when magma solidifies below the
surface of the Earth. They may later be exposed at the
surface when the cover rocks are eroded away.
• Batholiths are large blob-shaped intrusions, roughly
equidimensional and commonly 5–50 km in diameter.
Most are of granite.
• Dykes are smaller sheet intrusions formed where magma
has flowed into a fissure.

• These form where magma is extruded onto the Earth’s

surface to create a volcano.
• Lava is the name for both molten rock on the surface,
and also the solid rock formed when it cools.
 Molten lava flowing from a small
vent
Sills, like dykes, are parallel-sided igneous intrusions that can occur
over relatively extensive areas. Their thickness, however, can vary.
Unlike dykes, they are injected in an approximately horizontal
direction, although their attitude may be subsequently altered by
folding.
• Examples of intrusive igneous rocks are
Diorite, Gabbro, Granite, Pegmatite, etc.

• Examples of Extrusive igneous rocks are

Andesite, Basalt, Pumice, Rhyolite etc.

• The Pictures of these types of Igneous rock

are shown below.
Pegmatite
 Basalt

Pumice
• Igneous rocks are composed principally
of silicate minerals.
• Therefore, igneous rocks can be classified
based on the silica content into Felsic,
Intermediate, Mafic and Ultramafic as
shown in the Table below.
 Felsic Intermediate Mafic Ultra-
mafic

Acidic Basic
Si > 66% 52-66% 45-52% Si < 45%
Fine-grained Rhyolite Andesite Basalt kimberlite
(extrusive)
Coarse- Granite Diorite Gabbro Peridotite
grained
(intrusive)
• Alkaline Igneous Rocks: They are also another class
of igneous rock that contains an excess of alkali
metals (Na2O + K2O) over silica. Alkaline rocks are
found in a wide range of tectonic environments but
are particularly common in ocean islands and
continental rifts. The occurrence of alkaline rocks can
be extrusive or intrusive. Extrusive alkaline rocks
comprise both lavas and pyroclastic rocks formed by
accumulation of ejecta from explosive eruptions.
Alkaline parental magmas generally originate by
melting of mantle rocks at smaller degrees of partial
melting or greater depth.
• They are considered to be abnormal types. Example
of this type of rock are syenite, and phonolite.
• Sediment is largely material derived from
weathering of rocks that are exposed on the Earth’s
surface (the remainder is mostly organic material).
The sedimentary rocks form an outer skin on the
Earth’s crust, covering three-quarters of the
continental areas and most of the sea floor.
• Most sedimentary rocks are of secondary origin, in
that they consist of detrital material derived by the
breakdown of pre-existing rocks. Examples of
sedimentary rocks are shales, sandstones and
limestone.
• Sedimentary Rocks can be classified into two:
1. Detrital (Clastic) Sedimentary Rocks: Formed from
erosional processes.
2. Non-clastic (Chemical) Sedimentary Rocks: Formed from
precipitation or evaporation of iron in solution.
These classes of sedimentary rocks are summarised below:
• Metamorphic rocks are created by changes induced at high
temperature (up to about 600°C) and/or high pressures
(around 500 MPa at about 20 km depth). These changes
(metamorphism) take place in the solid state. The type of
metamorphic rock produced depends on the original rock
material that was metamorphosed, and also on the
temperature and pressure conditions that were then
imposed on it.
• When metamorphism occurs, there is usually little
alteration in the bulk chemical composition of the rocks
involved, that is, with the exception of water and volatile
constituents such as carbon dioxide, little material is lost
or gained.
• Regional metamorphism: involves high
temperature and pressure. Occurs in mountain chains
due to continental collision on plate boundaries.
Extends over large areas.
• Thermal or contact metamorphism:
involves high temperature only. Occurs around
igneous intrusions where rock has been baked.
• Dynamic metamorphism: at high pressure
only, is rare.
• The rock cycle is an illustration that is used to
explain how the three rock types are related to
each other and how Earth processes change a
rock from one type to another through
geologic time.
• Plate tectonic movement is responsible for the
recycling of rock materials and is the driving
force of the rock cycle. The rock cycle is
illustrated in the Figure below.
Rock Cycle
• Discontinuity in rocks are features that
are produced when strata are deformed by
earth movements.
• Earth movements involve plastic folding
and brittle fracture of rocks, as well as
uplift and subsidence. Examples of rock
discontinuities include fold, fault, bedding
plane, joint etc.
• Fold is a discontinuity which is produced when a
more or less planar surface is deformed to give a
wave-like surface in shape and vary enormously in
size.
• Simple folds are divided into two types, that is,
anticlines and synclines as shown below. In the
former, the beds are convex upwards, whereas in
the latter, they are concave upwards. The crestal
line of an anticline is the line that joins the highest
parts of the fold, whereas the trough line runs
through the lowest parts of a syncline.
Fold
• Anticlines and synclines are symmetrical if both limbs
are arranged equally about the axial plane so that the
dips on opposing flanks are the same, otherwise they
are asymmetrical.
• In symmetrical folds, the axis is vertical, whereas it is
inclined in asymmetrical folds. As folding movements
become intensified, overfolds are formed in which both
limbs are inclined, together with the axis, in the same
direction but at different angles.
• In a recumbent fold, the beds have been completely
overturned so that one limb is inverted, and the limbs,
together with the axial plane, dip at a low angle.
• A fault represents a surface of discontinuity along
which the strata on either side have been
displaced relative to each other.
• They are usually the dominant fractures within
sedimentary rocks. Many bedding planes are very thin
bands or partings of shale or clay between units of
stronger rocks.
• Joints are fractures along which little or no
displacement has occurred. They are formed by
tectonic stressing and are developed in nearly all
rocks.
• Weathering is the physical and chemical breakdown
of rocks at or near the surface. As such, weathering of
rocks is brought about by physical disintegration,
chemical decomposition and biological activity. It
weakens the rock fabric and exaggerates any
structural weaknesses, all of which further aid the
breakdown processes.
• Subsequent removal causes surface lowering, i.e.
Weathering + Transport = Erosion
• Therefore weathering can be classified into Physical
or Chemical weathering.
• Weathering is controlled by the presence
of discontinuities in that they provide
access into a rock mass for the agents of
weathering. Some of the earliest effects of
weathering are seen along discontinuity
surfaces. Weathering then proceeds
inwards so that the rock mass may
develop a marked heterogeneity with
corestones of relatively unweathered
material within a highly weathered matrix
• Physical or Mechanical weathering is
particularly effective in climatic regions
that experience significant diurnal changes
of temperature.
• Chemical weathering leads to mineral alteration and the
solution of rocks. Alteration is brought about principally
by oxidation, hydration, hydrolysis and carbonation,
whereas solution is brought about by acidified or
alkalized waters. Chemical weathering also aids rock
disintegration by weakening the rock fabric and by
emphasizing any structural weaknesses, however slight,
that it possesses.