IGNEOUS ROCKS

• IGNEOUS ROCKS ARE FORMED FROM MAGMA—

MOLTEN ROCK. THEY ARE CLASSIFIED AS EXTRUSIVE
OR INTRUSIVE DEPENDING ON WHETHER OR NOT THE
MAGMA EMERGED AT EARTH’S SURFACE BEFORE
CRYSTALLIZING. EXTRUSIVE ROCKS FORM ON THE
SURFACE; INTRUSIVE ROCKS FORM BELOW IT.
 INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS
• INTRUSIVE ROCKS ARE
CATEGORIZED AS PLUTONIC IF
FORMED DEEP INSIDE THE CRUST
AND HYPABYSSAL IF FORMED AT
SHALLOW DEPTHS. PLUTONIC
INTRUSIVE ROCKS ARE
CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR LARGE
CRYSTALS AND GENERALLY FORM
GEOGRAPHICALLY LARGE BODIES.
•HYPABYSSAL INTRUSIVE ROCKS ARE
FORMED AT SHALLOWER DEPTHS AND
ARE CHARACTERIZED BY FINE
CRYSTALLIZATION. THEY OCCUR IN
SHEETLIKE BODIES CALLED DIKES AND
SILLS, VOLCANIC PLUGS, AND OTHER
RELATIVELY SMALL FORMATIONS.
• GRANITE THE MOST COMMON
INTRUSIVE ROCK IN EARTH’S
CONTINENTAL CRUST,
GRANITE IS FAMILIAR AS A
MOTTLED PINK, WHITE, GRAY,
AND BLACK ORNAMENTAL
STONE. IT IS COARSE- TO
MEDIUM-GRAINED. ITS THREE
MAIN MINERALS ARE
FELDSPAR, QUARTZ AND MICA
EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS
• EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS
VOLCANIC ROCKS. THE PRINCIPAL ROCK TYPES IN
THIS CATEGORY INCLUDE BASALT, OBSIDIAN,
RHYOLITE, TRACHYTE, AND ANDESITE. ALL OF THESE
USUALLY FORM FROM LAVA—A MAGMA THAT HAS
FLOWED EITHER ONTO LAND OR UNDERWATER.
• PEGMATITE IMPORTANT SOURCES
OF MANY GEMSTONES, PEGMATITES
ARE VERY COARSE-GRAINED
IGNEOUS ROCKS, MOSTLY OF A
GRANITIC COMPOSITION.
• PEGMATITES ARE LIGHT-COLORED
ROCKS AND OCCUR IN SMALL
IGNEOUS BODIES, SUCH AS VEINS
AND DYKES, OR SOMETIMES AS
PATCHES IN LARGER MASSES OF
GRANITE
• ANORTHOSITE AN
INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS
ROCK, ANORTHOSITE IS
COMPOSED OF AT LEAST
90 PERCENT CALCIUM-
RICH PLAGIOCLASE
FELDSPAR—
PRINCIPALLY
LABRADORITE AND
BYTOWNITE.
OBSIDIAN The natural
volcanic glass obsidian
forms when lava solidifies
so quickly that crystals do
not have time to form.
Specimens are typically jet
black, although the presence
of hematite can produce red
and brown variants
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS
• METAMORPHISM OCCURS WHEN AN EXISTING ROCK IS
SUBJECTED TO PRESSURES OR TEMPERATURES VERY
DIFFERENT FROM THOSE UNDER WHICH IT FORMED.
THIS CAUSES ITS ATOMS AND MOLECULES TO
REARRANGE THEMSELVES INTO NEW MINERALS IN
THE SOLID STATE, WITHOUT MELTING.
• DYNAMIC METAMORPHISM
THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT
WAYS IN WHICH METAMORPHIC
ROCKS ARE FORMED. THE FIRST
OF THESE IS DYNAMIC
METAMORPHISM. THIS OCCURS
AS A RESULT OF LARGE-SCALE
MOVEMENTS IN EARTH’S CRUST,
ESPECIALLY ALONG FAULT
PLANES AND AT CONTINENTAL
MARGINS WHERE TECTONIC
PLATES COLLIDE
• REGIONAL
METAMORPHISM THE
SECOND TYPE OF
METAMORPHISM IS THE
FORMATION OF REGIONAL
METAMORPHIC ROCKS.
THESE ARE ASSOCIATED
WITH MOUNTAIN BUILDING
THROUGH THE COLLISION
OF TECTONIC PLATES.
• CONTACT METAMORPHISM
THE THIRD TYPE OF
METAMORPHISM IS
CONTACT METAMORPHISM
OR THERMAL
METAMORPHISM. THIS TYPE
OCCURS MAINLY AS A
RESULT OF INCREASES IN
TEMPERATURE, NOT IN
PRESSURE. IT IS COMMON IN
ROCKS NEAR AN IGNEOUS
INTRUSION.
• GNEISS MAKES UP THE
CORES OF MANY
MOUNTAIN RANGES. IT
FORMS FROM
SEDIMENTARY OR
GRANITIC ROCKS AT
VERY HIGH PRESSURES
AND TEMPERATURES
(1,065°F/575°C OR
ABOVE).
MYLONITE The term
mylonite refers to fine-
grained rocks with streaks
or rodlike structures
produced by the ductile
deformation, or stretching,
of mineral grains. This
classification is based only
on the texture of the rock.
• MIGMATITE THE TERM
MIGMATITE MEANS
“MIXED ROCK” AND
REFERS TO ROCKS
THAT CONSIST OF
GNEISS OR SCHIST,
INTERLAYERED,
STREAKED, OR
VEINED WITH
GRANITE
• SCHIST THIS METAMORPHIC
ROCK HAS A FLAKY AND
FOLIATED TEXTURE.
SPECIMENS HAVE
WRINKLED, WAVY, OR
IRREGULAR SHEETS AS A
RESULT OF THE PARALLEL
ORIENTATION OF THE
COMPONENT MINERALS.
SCHIST SHOWS DISTINCT
LAYERING OF LIGHT- AND
DARK-COLORED MINERALS.
• MARBLE
-A GRANULAR METAMORPHIC ROCK,
MARBLE IS DERIVED FROM LIMESTONE
OR DOLOMITE IT CONSISTS OF A MASS
OF INTERLOCKING GRAINS OF CALCITE
OR THE MINERAL DOLOMITE

Marbles form when limestone

buried deep in the older layers of
Earth’s crust is subjected to heat
and pressure from thick layers of
overlying sediments.
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ARE FORMED AT OR NEAR
EARTH’S SURFACE EITHER BY ACCUMULATION OF
GRAINS OR BY PRECIPITATION OF DISSOLVED MATERIAL.
THESE ROCKS MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THE ROCK
EXPOSED AT EARTH’S SURFACE, BUT ARE ONLY ABOUT 8
PERCENT OF THE VOLUME OF THE ENTIRE CRUST.
• LITHIFICATION THE Sedimentary rock formation
The formation of
TRANSFORMATION OF sedimentary rocks begins
LOOSE GRAINS OF with weathering and
SEDIMENT INTO erosion. This creates
sediments that are
CLASTIC transported to basins on
SEDIMENTARY ROCK land or to seas and lakes,
IS KNOWN AS where deposition, burial,
and lithification take place.
LITHIFICATION.
• CONGLOMERATE ROCKS FORMED
BY THE LITHIFICATION OF
ROUNDED ROCK FRAGMENTS THAT
ARE OVER 1⁄16 IN (2 MM) IN
DIAMETER ARE KNOWN AS
CONGLOMERATES. THEY CAN BE
FURTHER CLASSIFIED BY THE
AVERAGE SIZE OF THEIR
CONSTITUENT MATERIALS—
PEBBLE CONGLOMERATE (FINE),
COBBLE-CONGLOMERATE
(MEDIUM), AND BOULDER-
CONGLOMERATE (COARSE).
• BRECCIA LITHIFIED
SEDIMENTS WITH ROCK
FRAGMENTS THAT ARE
MORE THAN 1⁄16 IN (2 MM) IN
DIAMETER BUT ANGULAR OR
ONLY SLIGHTLY ROUNDED
ARE CALLED BRECCIAS. THE
LACK OF ROUNDING
INDICATES THAT LITTLE OR
NO TRANSPORTATION TOOK
PLACE BEFORE THE
FRAGMENTS BECAME
INCORPORATED IN THE ROCK
• SANDSTONE THE SECOND
MOST ABUNDANT
SEDIMENTARY ROCK
AFTER SHALE
SANDSTONE MAKES UP
ABOUT 10 TO 20 PERCENT
OF THE SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS IN EARTH’S CRUST
• ROCK SALT FAMILIAR AS
COMMON TABLE SALT, ROCK
SALT IS THE MASSIVE ROCK
FORM OF THE MINERAL
HALITE . IT OCCURS IN BEDS
THAT RANGE IN THICKNESS
FROM 3 FT (1 M) OR SO TO
MORE THAN 990 FT (300 M).
ROCK SALT FORMS AS A
RESULT OF THE EVAPORATION
OF SALINE WATER IN
PARTIALLY ENCLOSED BASINS