ROCKS AND THEIR FORMATION

What is a rock?

-It is a solid substance that is an aggregate of minerals particle that form part of the earth crust
A rock is a naturally occurring solid material consisting of one or more minerals OR a naturally
occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.
It is consolidated material composed of grains of one or more minerals..
Minerals are solid, naturally occurring chemical elements or compounds that are homogenous,
meaning they have a definite chemical composition and a very regular arrangement of atoms.
A rock made up of particles one type of minerals is called homogenous rock. When the rock is
made of a combination of two or more mineral particles is called heterogenous rock
Rocks are everywhere, in the ground, forming mountains, and at the bottom of the oceans. The
Earth's lithosphere (crust and the outer mantle) is made mostly of rock.

4.2 Rock classification

The Earth’s crust consists of many different types of rock. Rocks are classified according to;
 mineral and chemical composition (chemical elements in the rock),
 the texture of the constituent particles (how large the individual mineral grains are)
 the processes that formed them.
Rocks may also be classified according to particle size, in the case of conglomerates and breccias
or in the case of individual stones.

Based on the mineral and chemical composition, by the texture of the constituent particles and by
the processes that formed them, rocks are classified into three main types, including igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic.
Classification of Rocks
1. Igneous Rock
Formation
They are formed when molten magma from the interior of the earth cool and solidify
Cooling and solidification is either ON the surface or WITHIN the earth crust
As magma cools crystals form
Igneous rocks are classified according to their chemical composition
Acidic – Have high percentage of silica content (more than 65%) and low basic oxides ( less than
35%) eg Obsidian, Rhyolite Granites
Basic- Have high content of Basic oxides (more than 45%) of Iron, Magnesium, Aluminium
eg. Basalt, Gabbro
Intermediate- Has silica content of 45%-65% eg Diorite, Andesite
Ultrabasic- Silica content is lower than 45% eg Peridotite

Types of Igneous Rocks

1. Intrusive Igneous rocks
-Rocks form when magma cools and solidifies below the earth’s surface e.g. granite, diorite,
gabbro, peridotite.
-Have coarse texture as a result of slow cooling giving minerals more time to form large crystals.
-Cooling is slow due to insulation of crust
-Igneous rock may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive
(plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. Igneous rocks are therefore
divided into two main categories: plutonic rock and volcanic.

-Are classified further into two:

(i) Hypabyssal rocks- intrusive igneous rocks which are near the earth’s surface.
Examples: Dolorite, Porphyry, Lamprophyre

(ii) Plutonic rocks-intrusive igneous rocks which are deep below the surface.
Examples: Granites, Gabro, Diorite, Peridotite

2. Extrusive Igneous Rocks

-Volcanoes throw out semi liquid magma
-Lava solidify on the surface
-Rocks form when lava solidifies on the earth’s surface.
-Have fine texture due to fast cooling giving minerals less time to collect together to form larger
crystals.
They are of two types namely:
(i) Volcanic Ejecta
-Materials are solid ash and semi liquid are thrown out of the ground
-They are of various sizes cool onto the earth surface to form rocks e.g. pumice, tuff.

(ii) Lava Flows

-Extrusive igneous rocks formed when basic lava flows over a considerable distance then cools
and solidifies e.g. basalt and obsidian while acidic magma lava flow over short distances e.g.
basalt, obsidian
Characteristics of Igneous rocks
 They are hard crystalline rocks
 They are made of one or more mineral components
 They are shiny in appearance

-Typical intrusive formations are batholiths, stocks, laccoliths, sills and dikes.

4.2.2 Sedimentary rocks

-Rocks formed when particles of other rocks are deposited in layers or depressions.
-The particles are deposited by water wind or moving ice in layers called strata. This process is
called sedimentation.
-These particles are derived from other rocks through the process of weathering and erosion.
-Also the particles may be deposits of dissolved minerals or remains of plant or animals.
-As the materials settle in layers the weight of deposits lead to compression of lower layers into
hard masses.
-Some spaces in these masses may be filled with finer particles of calcium carbonate to give
them cementing effect
-The layer between two layers is called bedding plane or plane of stratification.

. They are formed in three main ways which results in three major types of sedimentary rocks:
a)Clastic (Mechanically formed) sedimentary rocks
Are made up of discrete fragments broken from pre-existing rocks (clasts)
-Sediments used to form the rocks are derived from weathering of pre-existing rocks.
-These particles are derived from existing rocks of any type through the processes weathering
and erosion
-Particles are transported by wind, water or moving ice and deposited in layers called strata over
years in the depressions
-These particles are deposited in layers on land and sea.
-They are then compacted and cemented into a hard rock mass of sedimentary rocks e.g.
sandstone, loess, and shale, conglomerates (composed of sand sized grains of quartz), and

b)Chemically (inorganic) sedimentary rocks are formed by chemical precipitation. They are
rocks that form when minerals in solution become supersaturated and precipitate. The process
begins when water traveling through rock dissolves some of the minerals, carrying them away
from their source. Eventually, these minerals can be re-deposited or precipitated.
Also evaporation decreases the amount of water without decreasing the amount of dissolved
material. Therefore, the dissolved material can become oversaturated and precipitate. These are
very common in arid lands, where seasonal "playa lakes" occur in closed depressions. Thick
deposits of salt and gypsum can form due to repeated flooding and evaporation over long periods
of time. In marine environments, this is a method for the formation of limestone. Sedimentary
rocks from this process can include the evaporite minerals halite (rock salt), sylvite, barite,
dolomite, trona and gypsum.
Characteristics
 They are heterogenous
 They are softer
  They have bedding plane

c)Organic (biological) sedimentary rocks

-Sedimentary rocks formed from animal and plant or animal remains
-These particles are transported by wind, ice water and deposited in layers in depressions.
-They accumulate in these depressions in layers.
-The particles are then cemented, compressed and compacted into rocks e.g. coral, shelly, chalk,
ironstone, limestone.
-It is common for sedimentary rocks to contain all three types of sediment. Most fossils are
found in sedimentary rocks because the processes that form igneous and metamorphic rocks
prevent fossilization or would likely destroy fossils.

4.2.3 Metamorphic rocks

The metamorphic get their name from "meta" (change) and "morph" (form), which means
"change in form".
Metamorphic rocks are formed as a result of the transformation of an existing rock type, known
as the protolith, through heating and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change.
That is, they are formed by subjecting any pre-existing rock type (including sedimentary rock,
igneous rock and/or previously-formed metamorphic rock) to different temperature (heating) and
pressure (compression) conditions than those in which the original rock was formed.
Pressure and heat produce physical and chemical changes in the original rocks

Therefore, metamorphic rock forms when pre-existing rock undergoes mineralogical and
structural changes resulting from high temperatures and pressures. These changes occur in the
rock while it remains solid (without melting).

The changes can occur while the rock is still solid because each mineral is stable only over a
specific range of temperature and pressure. If a mineral is heated or compressed beyond its
stability range, it breaks down and forms another mineral. In the same way, combinations of
minerals are stable over specific ranges of temperature and pressure. At temperatures and
pressures outside the specific ranges, the minerals react to form different combinations of
minerals. Such combinations of minerals are called mineral assemblages.

In a metamorphic rock, one mineral assemblage changes to another when its atoms move about
in the solid state and recombine to form new minerals. This change from one mineral assemblage
to another is called metamorphism. As temperature and pressure increase, the rock gains energy
which fuels the chemical reactions that cause metamorphism. As temperature and pressure
decrease, the rock cools; often, it does not have enough energy to change back to a low-
temperature and low-pressure mineral assemblage. In a sense, the rock is stuck in a state that is
characteristic of its earlier high-temperature and high-pressure environment. Thus, metamorphic
rocks carry with them information about the history of temperatures and pressures to which they
were subjected.

The size, shape, and distribution of mineral grains in a rock are called the texture of the rock.
Many metamorphic rocks are named for their main texture. Textures give important clues as to
how the rock formed. As the pressure and temperature that form a metamorphic rock increase,
the size of the mineral grains usually increases. When the pressure is equal in all directions,
mineral grains form in random orientations and point in all directions. When the pressure is
stronger in one direction than another, minerals tend to align themselves in particular directions.
In particular, thin plate-shaped minerals, such as mica, align perpendicular to the direction of
maximum pressure, giving rise to a layering in the rock that is known as foliation. Compositional
layering, or bands of different minerals, can also occur and cause foliation. At low pressure,
foliation forms fine, thin layers, as in the rock slate. At medium pressure, foliation becomes
coarser, forming schist. At high pressure, foliation is very coarse, forming gneiss. Commonly,
the layering is folded in complex, wavy patterns from the pressure.

Metamorphic rocks may be formed simply by being deep beneath the Earth's surface, subjected
to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it. They can form from
tectonic processes such as continental collisions, which cause horizontal pressure, friction and
distortion. They are also formed when rock is heated up by the intrusion of hot molten rock
called magma from the Earth's interior. These temperatures and pressures are always higher than
those at the Earth's surface (eg temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C and pressures of 1500
bars) and must be sufficiently high so as to change the original minerals into other mineral types
or else into other forms of the same minerals (e.g. by recrystallisation). This usually happens
deep within the earth or where tectonic plates meet.

Metamorphic rocks have the same chemical composition as the rocks from which they were
made. After great burial and due to the confining pressures of the overlying rocks (overburden),
as well as to the great heat that occurs with depth in the crust, a rock is forced to recrystallize and
transform into a new rock to conform to its new surroundings. In metamorphic rocks, some or all
of the minerals in the original rock are replaced, atom by atom, to form new minerals. There are
two types of metamorphic rocks. by their texture: the ones that are layered, are known as foliated
metamorphic rocks, and those that are not layered, are known as non-foliated metamorphic
rocks.
(i) Foliated metamorphic rock: formed when pressure squeezes the flat or elongate
minerals within a rock so that they become aligned. Foliation is a geologic term that
is used to describe the banded or layered appearance of metamorphic rocks. The
foliation or layering that occurs in many types of metamorphic rocks is because of the
immense directional pressure they undergo deep within the earth, usually along the
boundary of a converging plate tectonic. In this environment, over an enormous time
period, flat crystals of minerals as well as fragments, like stream pebbles and volcanic
pyroclasts, progressively become perpendicular to the direction of the pressure. They
develop a flat or sheet-like structure that reflects the direction that pressure was
applied in. Examples include shale is compressed into slate. We also have schist, slate
and gneiss (pronounced as “nice’).
(ii) Non-foliated metamorphic rock: They do not have a flat or sheet-like structure.
They are not pressurized to elongate or flattened. Non-foliated metamorphic rocks are
most often derived from single mineral sedimentary rocks like limestone and quartz
sandstone. For example extreme heat limestone is changed into marble; and sandstone
is metamorphosed to form a chert (quartzite), etc.
Types of Metamorphism
1. Contact or thermal Metamorphism
Take place due to high temperature from magma that is in contact with rock.
Rock is changed by heat, chemicals or gases released by magma.
2. Dynamic Metamorphism
It is caused by pressure which result in crushing and shearing
3. Thermodynamic Metamorphism
It is due to both heat and pressure

Ways in which Heat and Pressure influence formation of Metamorphic Rocks;

 Heat reduce ability of rocks to resist deformation
 Heat alters mineral composition of rocks
 Pressure cause compactness of original rock hardening it
 Pressure re-crystallizes minerals by orienting mineral grains
 Pressure bend rock layers
Characteristics of Metamorphic Rocks
 They form from other rocks
 They are harder than original rocks
 Contain minerals of economic value
 They are formed under high pressure and heat
Examples:
ORIGINAL ROCK METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Limestone Marble
Sand stone Quartzite
Granite Gneiss
Clay Slate
Shale Schist
Coal Graphite

Note: The three classes of rocks - the igneous, the sedimentary and the metamorphic - are
subdivided into many groups. There are, however, no hard and fast boundaries between allied
rocks. By increase or decrease in the proportions of their constituent minerals they pass by every
gradation into one another, the distinctive structures also of one kind of rock may often be traced
gradually merging into those of another. Hence the definitions adopted in establishing rock
nomenclature merely correspond to selected points (more or less arbitrary) in a continuously
graduated series.

4.3 Rock Cycle

The rock cycle refers to the diverse set of natural processes that lead to the formation and
transformation of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
Such processes include erosion and weathering, sediment burial, seafloor spreading, volcanism,
tectonism, sediment transportation and cementation. Few or no rules apply to the rock cycle.
For example, sedimentary rocks can be formed from fragments of pre-existing igneous,
metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks, or any combination thereof, or can be formed by organic or
inorganic precipitation of common ions dissolved in salt or fresh water. Igneous rocks can be
formed via melting and extrusion or intrusion of pre-existing sedimentary, metamorphic, and/or
igneous rocks. Metamorphic rocks can be formed by alteration of pre-existing rock types
through hydrothermalism, fault slip, or exposure to high temperatures and pressures due to deep
burial. The rock cycle operates in all geologic settings, ranging from the deepest part of the
oceans (where oceanic seafloor reacts with seawater to form new "hydrated" minerals) to the
highest peaks, where glaciation erodes and transports pre-existing rocks to lower elevations.

Convection of the earth's mantle and its surface expression, plate tectonics, give rise to a
dynamic planetary surface, characterized by large scale horizontal transport and vertical uplift
and subsidence of rocks. Exposure of rocks to the atmosphere and hence to weathering and
erosion result directly from plate tectonic processes. These are the driving forces of the rock
cycle.