UNIT 1: Structure of the Earth

● Crust:
At the crust the temperature is cool enough to
have solid elements.
- Continental crust → Granite
- Oceanic crust → Basalt

● Mantle:
Upper Mantle:
- Lithosphere:
The upper mantle that is cool enough to be
solid.
- Asthenosphere:
At the asthenosphere the higher temperature
melts the material making it in a semifluid state.
Lower Mantle:
The lower mantle is in a similar state as the asthenosphere but less fluid due to the higher
pressure.

● Core:
Core is mainly composed of iron and nickel.
Outer core:
At the outer core the amount of heat melts the materials to a “liquid” state.
Inner Core:
At the inner core the material is solid because molecules are so compressed that
they can’t move.

1. Plate Tectonics
Lithosphere is broken into plates → These can be called lithosphere plates or tectonic
plates.

Plate’s boundaries can meet each other such as:

a) Oceanic crust with oceanic crust
b) Continental with continental
c) Continental with oceanic
Note: Oceanic crust is more dense than continental one.

● Convection currents
Beneath the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere. Asthenosphere is semi-fluid, thus it
is “floating” above it.
This semi-fluid moves on the asthenosphere due to a process called convection
currents.

1. Earth’s core heats rocks making them less dense, therefore making them rise
up.
 2. Rocks reach near the surface when it spreads in two directions.
3. Rocks here get cooler and gain density, so they start to sink.

Plate boundaries
● Transform boundaries
- The plates move past each other
(lateral sliding).
- It can provoke earthquakes.

● Convergent boundaries
a) Oceanic with continental (Subduction Zone)
- Oceanic crust is heavier than the continental one. → This makes the oceanic
crust sink beneath the continental.
- When the oceanic crust sinks, it melts due to the higher temperature. → This
can provoke volcanic eruptions
and/or earthquakes.

b) Oceanic with oceanic (Island

arc)
- They both have almost the same
density. → Usually sink the plate
with the older rock.
- When the plate sinks it melts
and then the magma rises and
forms volcanic islands.

c) Continental w continental (collision zone)

- The subduction makes that one plate goes beneath the other.
- It is the cause of high mountains.
● Divergent boundaries
The land rips apart into two.
a) Continental with continental (riff zone)
- It can provoke earthquakes and/or volcanoes.
b) Oceanic with Oceanic (Mid-ocean Ridge)
- The spreading between sides is symmetrical.
- It produces volcanoes.
- Seafloor magnetism/ spreading:
- When a mid-ocean ridge is formed, it also
creates new rocks.
- The closer to the ridge the more new the
rock will be.
- These rocks record Earth’s magnetism. So
it can prove that Earth changes its polarity.

Ocean basin formation due to divergent boundaries:

Plate tectonics map:

● Passive Margin
A passive margin is a type of continental margin that is not associated with tectonic plate
boundaries. In contrast to active margins, which are found at convergent or divergent plate
boundaries and are characterized by intense tectonic activity, passive margins are
relatively stable and have specific geological characteristics.

- Passive margins typically develop as a consequence of plate tectonics, particularly

during the rifting and breakup of supercontinents. As continents drift apart, passive
margins form on the trailing edge of the continent.

- Geological Structure: They consist of three primary regions:

1) Continental shelf: is a gently sloping underwater extension of the continent.
2) Continental slope: a transition zone with a more gradual gradient.
3) Continental rise: is marked by the gentle descent from the continental slope to
the deep ocean floor.
2. Isostasy: Thickening of Earth’s crust

1) Intrusion/extrusion of magmas
Intrusion: When molten magma intrudes into the Earth's crust, it is typically less
dense than the surrounding rocks. As a result, it displaces the overlying rocks. This
intrusion can lead to the formation of underground features like magma chambers
and intrusive igneous bodies (plutons).

Extrusion of Magma: Magma extrusion occurs when molten rock is pushed to the
Earth's surface through volcanic eruptions. This molten rock, or lava, is typically less
dense than the surrounding solid rocks. When lava flows onto the surface, it spreads
horizontally.

2) Intrusion/extrusion of magmas: In regions where tectonic forces compress the

Earth's crust, such as convergent plate boundaries, shortening occurs. It is the
horizontal reduction in crustal length, leading to the folding, faulting, and deformation
of rocks.
Isostatic responses to shortening can result in the formation of mountain ranges,
mountain belts, and other geological features.

3. Large morphotectonic units of the continental zones

Craton:
• Region that includes a shield and the platform that surrounds it
Shield:
• Continental area of great extension and smooth relief (flat)
• Not deformed by later orogenes
• Constituted by rocks formed at great depth (igneous and metamorphic rocks)

Stable platform:
• Continental area of great extension and smooth relief (flat)
• Not deformed by later orogenes
• Everything is covered by sediments
Orogene:
• Place where mountains are formed.
• Land regions that suffered an intense deformation by compressive stress,
deformation (may be accompanied by the intrusion of magmas and metamorphism).
• Recent orogens (age less than 65 million years old, Ma) show an important
topographic elevation and relief: it corresponds to a mountain range.

Geological structure levels:

This graphic shows how the surfaces on the top
are more solid and stronger than the ones at the
bottom which tend to be liquid magma or just
bland rocks, since the core of the Earth is
extremely hot.

4. Relative age dating of rocks and geological structures

• Principle of Original Horizontality and Principle of Superposition

The layers from the top are younger than the layers on the bottom.

• Principle of Original Lateral Continuity

• Principle of Cross Cuttings
Any geologic feature that crosscuts or modifies another feature must be younger
than the rocks it cuts through. The cross-cutting feature is the younger feature
because there must be something previously there to cross-cut.
• Principle of Inclusions
When there’s a union between rocks the older one is the one which is being united.
E.g: Granite is older on the 1st pic, and younger on the 2nd picture.

• Principle of paleontological succession

Fossils show up in a determinate regular order in the geological record.
Fossils can be used to identify the relative age of a rock formation.
UNIT 2: Mineralogy
Minerals and rocks in civil engineering:
→ Interaction between buildings or other infrastructure with soil.
→ Tunnels, dams, and other kinds of infrastructure that depend a lot on the
geological zone. (not doing the right assessment could mean an increase of the cost)

1. What is a mineral?
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a specific chemical composition and a
crystalline structure.
Properties:
• Natural origin
• Inorganic
• Solid
• Ordered internal structure
• Crystalline structure
• Defined chemical composition

Mineral vs Rock:
Definition of Rock:
• Less well defined
• Aggregate of minerals
• Large impure masses of
minerals
• Composed by other material
than minerals

Composition of Minerals:
Combination of chemical elements to form compounds and complex structures.
- Factors:
• Electric charge
• Atomic radius
• Bonding:
Ionic (exchange of electrons)
Covalent (sharing of electrons)
• Others:
Metallic
Van der Waals
Combined bondings
Heterodesmic crystal structures

The type of bonding influences the physical and chemical properties:

• Hardness
• Exfoliation
• Fusion point
• Electric conductivity
• Thermal conductivity
 ➔ The crystalline structure
Crystalline Structures:
• 3D internal order
• Repetition of a basic structure
• Unit cell
• Lattice system

Symmetry operations:

The internal order is reflected in the external geometry. There are defined 6 crystalline
systems:
Isomorphism: Different chemical compounds with the same crystalline structure

Polymorphism: Same chemical compounds with the different crystalline structure

 ➔ Physical properties of minerals:

Transparency: Color: Streak:

• Opaque • Usually not reliable • More reliable
• Translucent • Depends on small
• Transparent impurities
Mineral luster:
• How light is reflected from the crystal surfaces
• Depends on the refraction index
• Metallic and Not metallic

Hardness:
 Cleavage:
Tendency of crystalline materials to split along definite crystallographic structural
planes.
• Number of plans
• Angle between plans

2. Mineral Groups
- Feldspars represent almost 50% minerals found on the crust.
- The most common compound elements are: O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K & Mg.

➔ Classification of minerals
- Criteria: Anion or dominant group internal structure.
- Minerals Classes:
• Silicates
• Carbonates
• Halides
• Oxides
• Sulfides
• Sulfates
• Borates
• Fosfates
• Native elements
Silicates
Represent >90% of found minerals.

Join tetrahedron sharing O2- atoms to form chains, sheets and other
structures.
Classes taken depending on the mechanism linking tetrahedra

• Nesosilicates (“Island”)
• Sorosilicates (“Bow tie”)
• Ciclosilicates (“Ring”)
• Inosilicates (single or double chain)
• Philosilicates (Mica, clays)
• Tectosilicates (Quartz, feldspars)

Nesosilicates:
Single silica tetrahedron SiO4
Connected by ionic bonds through interstitial cations.
High packaging: high density and hardness
Bad or not cleavage
Main groups:
• Olivine group → Igneous rocks formed at high temperature
• Garnet group → Almandine, pyrope, Grossulaire
• Aluminosilicate group → Polimorphism of Al2SiO5 , Andalusite, Sillimanite, Kyanite

Sorosilicates
2 tetrahedron sharing 1 vertex
Not very common
• Epidote → Green color, fiber habit, alteration mineral

Ciclosilicates
Rings of tetrahedron bonded between them.
Structure in “circles”.
Allows the entrance of a big number of cations.
Accessorial minerals in igneous and metamorphic.

Inosilicates
1 chain: Pyroxene
2 chains: Amphibole

Phyllosilicates
Flat morphology
1 perfect cleavage
Main groups: Mica and clays
Clay’s expansion can affect infrastructures.
Tectosilicates
- Quartz (Very clear chemical structure, high
abrasivity, high hardness and no cleavage)
- Feldspars (Most common group of minerals, they
have a great composition variety).
2 complete series
• Plagioclase: Serie Na-Ca Anorthite
• Alcaline feldspars: Albite Na-Orthoclase K

No silicates
Between 8% of the minerals found on the crust.

Carbonates
- Calcite, dolomite.
- High solubility in acidic environments (can create caves, collapses…)

Sulfates
- Gypsum→ Soft, perfect cleavage, high solubility.
- Anhydrite → Medium hardness, good cleavage, doesn’t have water so when it is
added to its structure it has a swelling behaviour.

Halides
- Very high solubility: karstification

Sulfides
- Metallic luster, very high density
- Can generate problems:
• Corrosion of steel in concrete
• Acidic drainage
• Contamination
• Formation of sulphates
• Degradation of concrete
UNIT 3: Igneous Rocks
Introduction to petrology:
Petrology: is the branch of geology that studies the origin, composition, distribution and
structure of rocks (Lithology)
• Igneous petrology
• Sedimentary petrology
• Metamorphic petrology
• Genetic conditions: deposit, texture and mineralogy

1. Origin of igneous rocks

Igneous rocks are formed from the solidification of molten material (magma or lava).
They make up a significant portion of the Earth's crust and can be classified into two main
types (Common examples include granite (intrusive) and basalt (extrusive)):
- Intrusive/ Igneous (formed beneath the Earth's surface):
- Crystallize at low levels of earth’s crust
- Small size: Lacolits, concordance /
Facolits,
folded
- Big size: Batolits or stocks

- Extrusive/ Volcanic (formed on the

surface):
- Formed in earth’s surface o close to
it
- Lava: partially degasified magma
- Volcano: emission of lava
- Type of lava flows:
Basic flows:
• Pahoehoe (cordades)
• Aa (malpais)
• Pillow • Blocky
• Columnar
Acid lava flows:
• Domes
• Pitons
- Pyroclasts: Produced by exsolution of gas from the magma / Fall deposits and Flow
deposits
 2. Characteristics and type of magmas
Mixture of molten or semi-molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface
of the Earth
Chemical composition: SiO2 (37-75%).
Major elements (>0,1 %) Al, Ca, Na, K, Fe, Mg
Gas: H2O, CO2 (>90%) / CO, SO2 , SO, N2 , H2 , HF,
HCl.
Parameters: Temperature: 700 – 1200oC / Viscosity: acid and basic / Density

Magma is a complex, molten rock mixture concealed beneath the Earth's surface. This
intricate concoction is typically composed of four essential components: a scorching, liquid
core known as the melt; minerals that have crystallized from this molten base; solid rocks
that have been assimilated into the melt from the surrounding environment; and dissolved
gases.
When magma reaches the Earth's surface, often through volcanic eruptions or other outlets,
it undergoes a transformation and is referred to as lava. Once magma gradually cools and
solidifies, it metamorphoses into what we recognize as igneous rock.
Magma is extremely hot—between 700° and 1,300° C. This heat makes magma a very fluid
and dynamic substance, able to create new landforms and engage physical and chemical
transformations in a variety of different environments.
Mechanisms of generation of magma:
- Increase of temperature:
• Friction in subduction zones
• Melting in depth
• Magma ascension form lower levels of mantle
- Decrease of pressure:
• Fusion by decompression
- Increase of volatiles (gas) :
• Freed water from subduction zones
Evolution of magmas
As soon as cooling starts, crystals begin to grow depending on their point of
fusion.
Magmatic evolution process, is an impoverishment / enrichment of mineral
forming elements.
Impoverishment in Fe, Mg, Ca, enrichment in Na, K, SiO2
Crystals constantly react with the magma, evolving towards new minerals.
• Bowen’s Reaction Series:
• Enrichment in SiO2
• Minerals in contact with magma react and tend to evolve
• Oversaturated and undersaturated rocks
• Granites are formed by minerals with lowest point of fusion

Bowen’s Reaction Series principles:

As a melt cools, minerals crystallize that are in thermodynamic equilibrium with the melt. As
the melt keeps cooling and minerals keep crystallizing, the melt will change its composition.
The earlier formed crystals will not be in equilibrium with this melt any more and will be
dissolved again to form new minerals. In other words: these crystals react with the melt to
form new crystals, therefore the name reaction series.
The common minerals of igneous rocks can be arranged into two series, a continuous
reaction series of the feldspars, and a discontinuous reaction series of the
ferromagnesian minerals (olivine, pyroxene, hornblende, biotite). This reaction series
implies that from a single "parental magma" all the various kinds of igneous rocks can be
derived by Magmatic Differentiation.
 3. Types of magma

From magma to rock

- Low cooling:
Ions can migrate
Big crystals
- Fast cooling:
High number of small intergrown crystals
Some big crystals
- Very fast cooling:
Volcanic glass (hyaline texture)

4. Texture of igneous rocks

Texture: refers to the sizes and shapes of grains, the relationships between
neighboring grains, and the orientation of grains within a rock. It provides information
of the origin.
Factors that affect the size of the crystals:
• Speed of cooling magma
• Amount of silica
• Amount of dissolved gases
Textural criteria of igneous rocks:
- Absolut crystal size:
Phaneritic (coarse-grained)
Aphanitic: Microcrystalline/ Cryptocrystalline (fine-grained)
- Degree of crystallinity:
Holocrystalline (Completely crystalline, with all minerals fully formed. Common
in slow-cooling intrusive rocks like granite)
Hypocristalline (A mix of crystals and glassy material, indicating incomplete
crystallization. Often seen in fast-cooling extrusive rocks like basalt)
Hyaline (Nearly or entirely glassy, formed by very rapid cooling. Obsidian is an
example of a hyaline rock)
- Shape of crystals:
Idiomorphic (Minerals have well-defined, unobstructed crystal faces, each with
its own shape)
Subidiomorphic (Minerals have well-defined, unobstructed crystal faces, each
with its own shape)
Allotromorphic (Minerals have well-defined, unobstructed crystal faces, each
with its own shape)

Type of texture of igneous rocks

Phaneritic texture (coarse grained):
• Equigranular grains
• Identifiable by nude eye or magnifying glass
• Low cooling at low crust levels (plutonic
rocks)
• Granite, gabber…

Aphanitic texture (fine grained):

• Not identifiable by nude eye (microscope)
• Vesicles (gas bubbles).
• Fast cooling (lava flows)
• Basalt, trachites…
Porphiric textures:
• Big crystals (phenocrystals)
surrounded by a fine-grained mattrix
• Fast cooling
• Hypabyssal rocks (dykes, sills)
• Granit porphyry gabber porphyry

Glassy or Hyaline Texture:

• Ions remain disordered. Get “frozen” before
they can form crystals.
• Very fast cooling
• Only appear in some specific type of volcanism
• Obsidiana

Pyroclastic texture:
• Pyroclastic texture (fragmental) projected
lava cooled in the
air.
• From ash and sand size (lapilli) to big blocks
(bombs)
• Sedimentary type. Volcanic scoria

Pegmatitic texture:
• Huge crystals
• Last crystallization stages
 5. Classification of Igneous Rocks
Degree of saturation. Depends on essential minerals:
• Oversaturated → Quartz.
• Saturated → No quartz, no feldspathoids (or low content)
• Subsaturated →. Contain feldspathoids
Degree of acidity. Content in SiO2
• Acid rocks (>66%) →granite
• Intermediate rocks (52-66%) →andesite
• Basic rocks (45-52%) → gabber
• Ultrabasic rocks (<45%) → peridotite

Color index. Depend on the color of the minerals and their relative proportion:
• Felsic or white (Q, Pl, FdK, Foids)
• Mafic or dark (Ol, Opx, Clpx, Hbl)
• Felsic rocks (leucocratic) (M<30%)
• Mesotype rocks (M 30-60%)
• Mafic rocks (M 60-90%)
• Ultramafic rocks (M>90%)
Strekeisen’s Classification
Faneritic rocks:
• Felsic rocks (Mafic<90%)
• Quartz & Feldspathoids incompatibles
Aphanitic rocks:
• Felsic rocks (mafic<90%) Equivalent to plutonic
rocks

Volcanic pyroclastic rocks:

• Schmidt’s classification (1981)
• Size of grain (bomb, lapilli, ash...)
• Degree of consolidation
Distribution of Igneous Rocks in the Iberian Peninsula:

6. Geodynamic setting of the Igneous Rocks

Mid-ocean ridge Subduction zone Intraplate magmatism

magmatism magmatism

Associated with divergent Collision of plates: Mantle-Plumes:

margins and submarine - oceanic - continental. - Contact between outer
volcanic chains. - oceanic - oceanic. core and mantle.
- 60% of total magma. - continental - continental. - Long and thin plumes that
Underwater: Pillow lava move through convection.
- Get flat and extend when
in contact with lithosphere
• Huge quantities of magma
• Basic magmatism
UNIT 4: Sedimentary Rocks
1. Origin of sedimentary rocks
Sedimentary rocks form from compacted and cemented sediments like sand, mud, and
organic material. They often have a layered appearance and may contain fossils. Common
types include sandstone, limestone, and shale.

They are important because they cover almost everything in the continental crust (66%).
Although they only constitute 5% of the total volume.

2. Sedimentary processes
● External geologic cycle
Surface cycle:
• Formation of sediment
• Transportation
• Sedimentation
Sub-surface cycle:
• Diagenesis
- Modification of textures, porosity…
- Dissolution and formation of new minerals

● Weathering processes
Weathering is the natural process of formation of soils and sediments. This happens when
minerals and rocks become unstable in atmospheric conditions.
There are 3 main types of weathering processes:
a) Mechanical weathering (breaking of the rock):
• Frost wedging or freeze-thaw
• Crystal formation
• Decompression (rocks originally formed under high pressure deep in the Earth's
crust are brought closer to the surface. The decrease in pressure causes these rocks
to expand and fracture, contributing to their disintegration into smaller pieces)
• Thermal expansion
• Rock abrasion
• Gravitational impact
 b) Chemical weathering
Chemical weathering reactions follow Bowen’s reaction series in an opposite direction.
Rate of alteration of a mineral depends on:
- Chemical composition (type of bonding)
- structural integrity (fractures, cleavage, twinning…)
- degree of crystallinity (ideal stoichiometry)
- environmental conditions (acidic environments, basic, warm…)
Main processes:

Hydrolysis is a chemical process in which water interacts with minerals in rocks, leading to
several effects:
- Alteration of Minerals: Hydrolysis can alter the mineral composition of rocks. For
example, it can convert primary minerals like feldspar into secondary minerals like
clays.
- Weakening and Disintegration: The breakdown of minerals due to hydrolysis can
weaken the structure of rocks, making them more susceptible to physical
weathering processes like frost action.
- Soil Formation: Hydrolysis contributes to soil formation as minerals are broken down
into smaller particles and chemical components are released, enriching the soil with
essential nutrients.
- Note that hydrolysis affects the feldspars, not quartz, due to its very nice structure.

c) Biologic activity:
Activity of living organisms such as roots, digging or the generation of natural acids.

● Maturity of a Sediment
Describes the texture and composition of the clastic rocks (rocks formed by preexisting
ones)
It refers to the degree of transformation of the rock and the sediment:
- Mechanical maturity: A sediment is mature when the grains are well-sorted and
well-rounded due to weathering or abrasion during transport.
- Chemical maturity: The higher the maturity, the higher the mineralogical and
chemical difference from the original rock.
- ZTR index (zircon, tourmaline, rutile)

● From sediment to the rock

DIAGENESIS: It refers to the process from sediment to rock.
- Physical changes (P, T, geological time).
- Chemical changes (pH, eH).
- Biological changes after deposition and during the lithification process.
Lithification (process of rock creation): by compaction, by cementation, by crystallization.

3. Sedimentary Rocks classification

a) Terrigenous rocks / Detrital
They consist of rock and mineral grains among other materials. These clasts are
transported by gravity, mudflows, running water, glaciers, and wind and eventually
are deposited in various settings. With time, pressure, heat and the help of minerals
they’ll form rocks.
They are classified depending on the grain size:
- Rudites (>2mm) → Breccia, conglomerate
- Sandstones (64μm-2mm)
- Mudstones (no visible grain) → Clay, silt

b) Carbonated rocks
Carbonate rocks are composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types
are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite , and dolomite rock
(dolostone).
Limestone: most common chemical sedimentary rock (10%)
E.g.
- Limestone (crystalline texture)
- Calcarenite (bioclastic texture)
- Bioclastic limestone (bioclastic texture)
- Micritic limestone (crystalline texture)
 Components of carbonate rocks
• Skeletal components:
• Bioclasts: Fossil fragments
• Ooids: radial internal structure around a
nucleus
• Peloids and pellets
• Intraclasts
• Micrite or carbonated mud-size matrix
• Mainly biological origin

c) Evaporite rocks
Evaporites are layered crystalline sedimentary rocks that form from brines generated
in areas where the amount of water lost by evaporation exceeds the total amount of
water from rainfall and influx via rivers and streams.
Chemical sedimentation (crystallization) from an oversaturated solution by
evaporation.
Minerals in evaporite rocks include carbonates, sulfates, and chlorides.
Minerals:
• Sulfates: Gypsum, Anhydrite
• Halides: Halite, Silvite, Carnallite
• Borates
 4. Geological setting
• Continentals:
• Glaciers
• Alluvial fans
• Alluvial terraces
• Aeolian deposits
• Transition:
• Deltas, tidal flats, planes mareals, swamps…
• Marines
• Shallow waters <200 m. Till continental platform (huge quantities of sediment)
• Deep waters >200 m
UNIT 5: Metamorphic Rocks
1. Origin of metamorphic rocks
Metamorphic rocks form when existing rocks change due to heat, pressure, and
chemically active fluids, without melting. There are two main types: foliated (“layered”) and
non-foliated (uniform).
- Low levels of the crust
- Increase of heat (200ºC) and pressure
Agents of metamorphism
● Thermal Gradient: ΔT = δT/δx

= 5-10 K/km in cold subduction zones.

= 20 K/km in stable cratons.

= 50 K/km in rifts and magmatic arcs.

● Pressure

Different graphs that classificate the metamorphic rocks:

2. Geological setting of metamorphism
● Regional Metamorphism
- Regional metamorphism is a type of metamorphism that occurs over extensive areas
of the Earth's crust due to high pressure and temperature conditions.
- Main type of metamorphism
- Associated with tectonic processes, such as the collision of tectonic plates.
- This type of metamorphism often leads to the formation of foliated metamorphic
rocks like schist and gneiss.
- Common in mountain-building regions and provides insights into the geological
history of large geological areas.
- Each geological setting has its own gradient
- Different types of regional metamorphism:
• Orogenic metamorphism
• Continental spreading metamorphism
• Oceanic floor metamorphism
• Burial metamorphism
- Subduction zones, metamorphic facies
• High P zones: subduction zone and
accretionary prism
• High T related to magmatism

- Continent collision: Regional metamorphism of high complexity:

1st stage: high P metamorphism associate to thrust belts
2nd stage: increase of T, crystallization and partial melting.

- Rocks: Slate (low P), Phyllite (medium P), Gneiss and Schist (high P)
● Contact metamorphism
- Origin in shallow crustal areas (high T, normal P). Generated by the cooling of an
igneous.
- Black color.
- Contact aureole of several km of radius.
- Recrystallization, formation of new minerals and massive structures.
- Rocks: Hornfel, spotted phyllite
● Other cases of metamorphism
- Dynamic metamorphism (related to the tectonic stress)
- Hydrothermal metamorphism ( related to contact metamorphism, when hot fluids get
on cracks)
3. Textural characteristics and mineral composition
Texture and microstructure of the metamorphic
rocks:
- Microstructure = texture + fabric
• Relict: heritage from the original rock
• Typomorphic: acquired during the metamorphic process
• Superimposed: after the metamorphism
- Blastesis: process of crystal growing during metamorphism
- Factors:
• Mineralogy of the protolith
• Microstructure of the protolith
• Pressure (lithostatic, tectonic)
• Temperature
• Composition of the fluids
• Rate of deformation
- Fabric: spatial and geometrical relation between the elements of the rock.
• Isotropous:
• Granoblastic (equidimensional minerals)
• Decussated (no-equidimensional mineral size)
• Cataclastic (broken and deformed minerals)
 • Anisotropous fabric:
• Banded (cm) / laminated (mm)
• Foliated/Slaty: clivatge (fine-grained) / schistosity (coarse grain)

4. Classification of metamorphic rocks

Classified according to different criteria, but always taking into account the Protolith rock:
- By the forming of minerals
● Paraderivated metamorphic rocks:
- Metapsammites or metasandstones:

- Carbonatic metamorphic rocks:

- Acidic igneous rocks

- Metabasites: mineralogy very sensible to changes in P-T. Mostly basic rocks

- Ultramaphic metamorphic rocks:

UNIT 6: Intact Rock and Rock Mass
1. Intact Rock
Unfractured blocks between discontinuities in a typical rock mass.
Geologists and engineers often study the properties and strength of intact rock when
assessing the stability of geological formations or when designing structures that interact
with rock formations. The characteristics of intact rock, including its composition, density, and
mechanical properties, can have a significant impact on various engineering and geological
applications.
Intact rock classification

Type of properties:
● Physical properties
- Density:

- Porosity:
• In crystalline (igneous or metamorphic) rocks, the most
important pores are microfissures and cracks.
• In sedimentary rocks, it’s the space between particles.
• Porosity usually decreases with depth
• It also affects the strength (high porosity, low strength)
Karstification: is the process of dissolving rocks like limestone with water, forming
unique landforms such as caves, sinkholes, and underground rivers. It's ecologically
important and vulnerable to human activities.

- Permeability:
Expresses the capacity of fluids to flow through pores and cracks.

Because of the existence of discontinuities, it can be distinguish:

1. Primary permeability (intact rock)
2. Secondary permeability (rock mass)

Important factors:
1. Porosity (primary permeability)
2. Discontinuity type (secondary permeability) → Degree of fractures, weathering,
karstification.

- Durability:
Is the resistance of the intact rock against different factors that could affect its
properties.
Rock properties can change as a result of the separation along foliation planes
because of hydration, decompression, oxidation, and other processes. These
phenomena make the intact rock shred in little pieces.
 Slake Durability Test → Is the most used method to measure durability.
Method: Rock fragments are placed inside a semi-submerged drum that
rotates at 20 rpm for 10 minutes. After the drum is removed and dried in a
heater (105º) for 12h. The process is repeated a second time (or more).

- Hardness and abrasivity

Hardness is a property directly related to strength. It depends on the mineralogy and
weathering grade. It is determined with the Mohs Scale.

Abrasivity coefficient depends completely on the amount of quartz.

● Geomechanical properties
- Stress: There are different kinds of stresses and they act differently depending on the
depth where it’s applied

Origin of stress in Earth’s crust:

• Tectonic stress (movement of lithospheric plates)
• Thermal stress (swelling or contraction caused by cooling or
heating of big regions in earth’s crust)
• Residual stress (Lithostatic decompression, glacier retreat ‐ decompression
…)
• Gravity stress (lithostatic pressure, overburden stress)
 Scale on how stress affects rocks:

Testing the strength and deformation of rocks:

We apply an unconfined compressive strength to a rock sample. We can also do it
with the Schmidt hammer which measures the hammer rebound and relates it with
the unconfined compressive strength (UCS)

2. Rock mass – Discontinuities

- Primary structures: Formed at the same time with the rock (like horizontal layers).
- Secondary structures: Formed after the rocks (ductile behavior→folds, fractures)
● Orientation of geological structures

3. Primary structures
Sedimentary
These are the ones formed when the rock is formed. It could be the primary porosity
of a rock, or the contact that divides two layers.
- There are horizontal layers (except when there are faults).
- Paleochannel→ The remnant of an inactive river or stream
channel that has been filled or buried by younger sediment
that can be younger or older depending on when the river had
been filled

- Stratification→ The layering that occurs in most sedimentary rocks and in those
igneous rocks formed at the Earth’s surface. The layers range from several
millimeters to many meters in thickness and vary greatly in shape
- Unconformity → is created by a sequence of different processes: sedimentation and
erosion (many times also tectonic processes)
a) Default horizontal layering.
b) Due to some tectonic processes the direction changes.
c) Horizontal erosion (due to a river, for example.
d) Layering process.
 Metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic foliation and layering are formed during
metamorphism but caused by the deformation and/or new
crystallization under differential stress.
- Metamorphic foliation and metamorphic layering:
Formed during metamorphism (synchronic) but
caused by the deformation and/or new
crystallization under differential stress

Igneous Rocks
Magmatic contacts: Formed by the intrusion of magma when the rock is created.

4. Secondary Structures
Brittle: Discontinuous deformation (shallow zones) → Fracture (fault, joint…)
Ductile: Continuous formation (deeper zones) → Fold
5. Folds
Parts of a fold:
- Limb: sides or flanks of folds.
- Hinge line: where the limbs of the fold meet. It is also the line of maximum
curvature.
We can classificate folds according to their convexity: Anticlines and Synclines.
Type of folds (I): according to convexity (main types: anticline – syncline)

Types of folds (II): according to their symmetry

Type of folds (III): according to orientation of axial plane and axis

 Type of folds (IV): according to the thickness of the layer.

Folds can also develop some kind of fractures and foliation (depending on the rock
that forms them):

6. Joints and Faults

Joints are fractures or cracks in rocks caused by internal stress.
 A fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has
been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements.

Vertical displacement faults have different parts: - Horst is the part that rises and graben is
the one that gets low.

Thrust faults→ Reverse fault with a large compression, with a dip of 45 degrees or less and
a large displacement

Related problems:
• High stresses (reverse faults)
• Increase of fractures
• crushed zones: low strength
• Increase of groundwater flow