Chapter 8

Metamorphism and
Metamorphic Rocks
 Metamorphism
• The transition of one rock into another
by temperatures and/or pressures
unlike those in which it formed
• Metamorphic rocks are produced from
• Igneous rocks
• Sedimentary rocks
• Other metamorphic rocks
 Metamorphism
• Metamorphism progresses
incrementally from low-grade to high-
grade
• During metamorphism the rock must
remain essentially solid
• Metamorphic settings
• Contact or thermal metamorphism –
driven by a rise in temperature within
the host rock
 Metamorphism
• Metamorphic settings
• Hydrothermal metamorphism – chemical
alterations from hot, ion-rich water
• Regional metamorphism
– Occurs during mountain building
– Produces the greatest volume of
metamorphic rock
– Rocks usually display zones of contact
and/or hydrothermal metamorphism
• Block diagram illustrating pressure stress
causing load metamorphism at depth.
 Agents of metamorphism
• Heat
• Most important agent
• Recrystallization results in new, stable
minerals
• Two sources of heat
– Contact metamorphism – heat from magma
– An increase in temperature with depth due
to the geothermal gradient
• Role of the geothermal gradient in metamorphism.
Note impact on gradient by a subducting oceanic plate,
which is much cooler.
 Agents of metamorphism

• Pressure and differential stress

• Increases with depth
• Confining pressure applies forces
equally in all directions
• Rocks may also be subjected to
differential stress which is unequal in
different directions
• Regional metamorphism caused by differential
stress associated with mountain building
 Elongated
pebbles
• Differential stress
causes
mechanical
rotation and
elongation of
constituent
minerals and
clasts
• Distortion of load-bearing grains as a
consequence of differential stress and creep
 Agents of metamorphism

• Chemically active fluids

• Mainly water with other volatile
components
• Enhances migration of ions
• Aids in recrystallization of existing
minerals
 Agents of metamorphism

• Chemically active fluids

• Sources of fluids
– Pore spaces of sedimentary rocks
– Fractures in igneous rocks
– Hydrated minerals such as clays and
micas
 Agents of metamorphism
• The importance of parent rock
• Most metamorphic rocks have the same
overall chemical composition as the
parent rock from which they formed
• Mineral makeup determines, to a large
extent, the degree to which each
metamorphic agent will cause change
 Metamorphic textures
• Texture refers to the size, shape, and
arrangement of mineral grains
• Foliation – any planar arrangement of
mineral grains or structural features
within a rock
• Examples of foliation
– Parallel alignment of platy and/or elongated
minerals
 Metamorphic textures
• Foliation
• Examples of foliation
– Parallel alignment of flattened mineral
grains and pebbles
– Compositional banding
– Slaty cleavage where rocks can be easily
split into thin, tabular sheets
• Development of cleavage and foliated textures
with increasing metamorphism. Note relict
bedding planes.
 Sandstone on
Mt. Everest
• A few hundred feet
below the summit of Mt.
Everest (29,035 ft) there
is a sandstone bed
called the “yellow band”
• Pretty amazing to
contemplate how high
this sediments have
been uplifted since their
original deposition!
• JDR Life Goal #36.
Climb Mt Everest (29,035
ft) on Nepal-Tibet border,
highest peak in the
world.
 Metamorphic textures
• Foliation
• Foliation can form in various ways
including
– Rotation of platy and/or elongated minerals
– Recrystallization of minerals in the direction
of preferred orientation
– Changing the shape of equidimensional
grains into elongated shapes that are
aligned
Foliation resulting from
directed stress
 Metamorphic textures
• Foliated textures
• Rock or slaty cleavage
– Closely spaced planar surfaces along which rocks
split
– Can develop in a number of ways depending on
metamorphic conditions and parent rock
• Slaty cleavage in quarry near Alta, Norway.
Slate is used as dimension stone for roofing
and billiard (pool) tables, among many other
industrial and commercial applications.
 Metamorphic textures
• Foliated textures
• Schistosity
– Platy minerals are discernible with the
unaided eye and exhibit a planar or layered
structure
– Rocks having this texture are referred to as
schist
 Garnet-mica schist

•This sample of schist is comprised of muscovite and

biotite. Micaceous materials exhibit low shear
strength between the tiny plates, often fomenting
massive slope failures, such as landslides.
Engineering Applications
• Even though schist
is a very strong and
brittle rock,
significant failures
can occur because
of the presence of
mica, depending on
the inclination of the
foliation
 Toppling

• Slope creep and rock toppling are mechanisms

of mass wasting common in layered or foliated
rocks, when the planes of foliation, bedding,
or discontinuities dip between 50 and 70
degrees from horizontal.
Flexural Toppling

• Flexural toppling is common

in steeply-inclined foliated
rocks, like mica schist.
• This example is from the
Vishnu Schist exposed in
Clear Creek, a tributary in
the Grand Canyon
Multiple failure
modes…..

• Example of toppling on one side of a canyon

and buckling failures on the other; in steeply
inclined Vishnu Schist in Grand Canyon,
Arizona
 St. Francis Dam on Pelona Schist

• During construction in 1924-26 reservoir storage was

increased twice by raising the dam 10 feet twice, but
without increasing the dam’s base width
• This resulted in a dam 205 feet high with storage of
38,160 acre-feet, creating the largest reservoir in
southern California.
 CANTILEVER FORCES

• St. Francis Dam was a gravity structure, deriving

its stability from its dead weight.
• The ratio between the dead load acting vertically
and the hydrostatic force acting horizontally
determines the overturning factor of safety
 UNSTABLE IN OVERTURNING

• Modern analyses reveal that when the reservoir rose within

5 feet of spillway crest, the dam became unstable
• A crack could then developed in the upstream heel
• A heel crack would shift the resultant thrust far downstream
CONTRIBUTION OF ARCHED SHAPE

• St Francis Dam was arched upstream on a 500-

ft radius, but was not designed for arch action.
• The arch loads on St. Francis become
significant when the reservoir rose to within 11
feet of spillway crest, exceeding 10,000 psf.
 LEFT ABUTMENT LANDSLIDE

• Around midnight March 12-13, 1928 a massive

landslide occurred along the dam’s left abutment
• The landslide involved 1.52 million tons of mica
schist moving against the dam’s 271 thousand
tons of concrete
 Inquiries and a demands for justice

• A flood wave 140 ft deep swept down the canyon, killing

at least 430; of which 179 bodies were never recovered
• 13 different panels investigated the St Francis failure
• Most blamed the failure on hydraulic piping along a
ancient fault running beneath the dam’s right abutment
• The City of Los Angeles paid out $14 million in damages
• The St. Francis Dam failure triggered significant dam
safety legislation, led to professional registration of
engineers in California, and requirements for
engineering geology input in the planning and design
of critical structures, like dams.
 Metamorphic textures
• Foliated textures
• Gneissic
– During higher grades of metamorphism, ion
migration results in the segregation of
minerals
– Gneissic rocks exhibit a distinctive banded
appearance
• Gneissic texture created by banding of dark
biotite flakes and lighter colored silicate
minerals, giving the rock a banded, or layered
appearance.
• Deformed and folded gneiss in outcrop.
Gneiss can be a very resistant rock, with
highly undulatory structure.
 Metamorphic textures
• Other metamorphic textures
• Those metamorphic rocks that lack
foliation are referred to as nonfoliated
– Develop in environments where deformation
is minimal
– Typically composed of minerals that exhibit
equidimensional crystals
• Porphyroblastic textures
– Large grains, called porphyroblasts,
surrounded by a fine-grained matrix of other
minerals
Common metamorphic rocks
• Foliated rocks
• Slate
– Very fine-grained
– Excellent rock cleavage
– Most often generated from low-grade
metamorphism of shale, mudstone, or
siltstone
Common metamorphic rocks
• Foliated rocks
• Phyllite
– Gradation in the degree of metamorphism
between slate and schist
– Platy minerals not large enough to be
identified with the unaided eye
– Glossy sheen and wavy surfaces
– Exhibits rock cleavage
– Composed mainly of fine crystals of
muscovite and/or chlorite
Slate (left) and phyllite (right), which
is more wavy and shiny)
 Common metamorphic rocks
• Foliated rocks
• Schist
– Medium- to coarse-grained
– Platy minerals (mainly micas) predominate
– The term schist describes the texture
– To indicate composition, mineral names are
used (such as mica schist)
• Garnet mica schist is a high grade metamorphic rock
where individual plates of shiny mica are easily visible.
The dark red garnet crystals are called almandine.
 Common metamorphic rocks
• Foliated rocks
• Gneiss
– Medium- to coarse-grained
– Banded appearance
– High-grade metamorphism
– Often composed of white or light-colored
feldspar-rich layers with bands of dark
ferromagnesian minerals
Classifying metamorphic rocks
 Common metamorphic rocks
• Nonfoliated rocks
• Marble
– Coarse, crystalline
– Parent rock was limestone or dolostone
– Composed essentially of calcite or dolomite
crystals
– Used as a decorative and monument stone
– Exhibits a variety of colors
Marble is a crystalline rock formed by the
metamorphosis of limestone
 Common metamorphic rocks
• Nonfoliated rocks
• Quartzite
– Formed from a parent rock of quartz-rich
sandstone
– Quartz grains are fused together
Quartzite is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock formed
from quartz sandstone. It is very hard and resistant,
and can be taxing on construction equipment.
 Metamorphic environments
• Contact or thermal metamorphism
• Result from a rise in temperature when
magma invades a host rock
• A zone of alteration called an aureole
forms in the rock surrounding the
magma
• Most easily recognized when it occurs at
the surface, or in a near-surface
environment
 Contact metamorphism

Two principal types of contact metamorphism

 Metamorphic environments
• Hydrothermal metamorphism
• Chemical alteration caused when hot,
ion-rich fluids, called hydrothermal
solutions, circulate through fissures and
cracks that develop in rock
• Most widespread along the axis of the
mid-ocean ridge system
Hydrothermal metamorphism
 Metamorphic environments
• Regional metamorphism
• Produces the greatest quantity of
metamorphic rock
• Usually associated with mountain
building
• Regional metamorphism occurs when rocks are
squeezed between converging plates during mountain
building
• Progressive regional metamorphism: from low
grade (slate); to high grade (gneiss)
 Metamorphic environments
• Other metamorphic environments
• Burial metamorphism
– Associated with very thick sedimentary
strata
– Required depth varies depending on the
prevailing geothermal gradient
• Metamorphism along fault zones
– Occurs at depth and high temperatures
– Pre-existing minerals deform by ductile flow
• Metamorphism along a fault zone
• Fault breccia exposed in Titus Canyon, a
tributary leading down into Death Valley, CA
• Breccia is comprised of very angular fragments
• Typical mineralogy transitions that
result from progressive metamorphism
of shale
 Metamorphic environments
JDR Life Goal #41.
Explore Meteor Crater
near Winslow, Arizona.
Completed with family in
November 1996. Again in
2003 and 2005.

• Other metamorphic environments

• Impact metamorphism
– Occurs when high speed projectiles called meteorites
strike Earth’s surface
– Products are called impactites
• Dynamic model of the 150 km diameter bolide impact that
occurred off the northwestern tip of what is now the Yucatan
Peninsula at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, about 66.4 Ma.
• This catastrophic event brought about the sudden end of the
Mesozoic Era, dominated by dinosaurs and covered the Earth
with a layer of radioactive iridium (image from Physics Today).
 Metamorphic zones
• Systematic variations in the mineralogy
and textures of metamorphic rocks are
related to the variations in the degree
of metamorphism
• Index minerals and metamorphic grade
• Changes in mineralogy occur from
regions of low-grade metamorphism to
regions of high-grade metamorphism
 Metamorphic zones
• Index minerals and metamorphic grade
• Certain minerals, called index minerals,
are good indicators of the metamorphic
conditions in which they form
• Migmatites
– Highest grades of metamorphism that is
transitional to igneous rocks
– Contain light bands of igneous components
along with areas of unmelted metamorphic
rock
 Example of
Metamorphic
zones
recognized in
New England
 Metamorphism and
plate tectonics
• Most metamorphism occurs along
convergent plate boundaries
• Compressional stresses deform the
edges of the plate
• Formation of Earth’s major mountain
belts including the Alps, Himalayas, and
Appalachians
• Metamorphic environments created by ongoing
plate tectonics; spreading of crust at oceanic
ridges and at trenches where the thin oceanic
crust is subducted beneath thicker continental
crust.
 Metamorphism and
plate tectonics
• Large-scale metamorphism also occurs
along subduction zones at convergent
boundaries
• Several metamorphic environments
exist here
• Important site of magma generation
 Metamorphism and
plate tectonics
• Metamorphism at subduction zones
• Mountainous terrains along subduction
zones exhibit distinct linear belts of
metamorphic rocks
– High-pressure, low-temperature zones
nearest the trench
– High-temperature, low-pressure zones
further inland in the region of igneous
activity
 Tectonic
terrain
• The position
on the Earth’s
crust with
respect to the
various plates
tends to
dictate the
tectonic
regime