INTRODUCTION TO PETROLOGY

Petrology
Petrology is the study of rocks

Petrology deals with the origin, occurrence,

mineral composition, chemical and physical properties of rocks Rocks are natural massive aggregates of minerals, forming the crust of the Earth Petrology is further sub-divided into

Petrography and Petrogeny

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Geological Classification of Rocks

Igneous rocks

Sedimentary rocks
Metamorphic rocks

The Rock Cycle

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Texture & Structure

o Texture refers to the mutual relationship of the different mineralogical constituents in a rock o Structure refers to the large scale features or

field characteristics of the rocks

Importance: contribute to the strength of the rock act as a distinguishing feature reveal the mode of origin of the rock
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(a) Igneous rocks

They are formed due to the cooling of magma/lava They are called primary rocks, as they are the first formed rocks that made up the primordial Earths crust

The basic classification of igneous rocks is into

extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks
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Classification based on the depth of formation

o Volcanic rocks formed on the surface of the Earth o Plutonic rocks formed at considerable depths o Hypabyssal rocks formed at intermediate

depths (<2km)
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Granite, Intrusive

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Basalt, extrusive

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Average mineralogical composition of Igneous rocks

Sl No i ii iii iv v vi vii Mineral Feldspars Pyroxenes and Amphiboles Quartz Biotite Titanium Apatite Accessory minerals (%) 59.5 16.8 12.0 3.8 1.5 0.6 5.8

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Factors defining textures of Igneous rocks

Degree of Crystallization 1. Holocrystalline 2. Holohyaline 3. Merocrystalline

Granularity
1. Coarse-grained

2. Medium-grained
3. Fine-grained
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Types of Textures
1. Equigranular 2. Inequigranular 1. Porphyritic 2. Poiklitic 3. Directive

4. Intergrowth
5. Intergranular
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Equigranular texture -Granite

Andrew Alden, 2007

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Porphyritic texture - Andesite

Andrew Alden, 2006

Poiklitic texture feldspar

Andrew Alden, 2008

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Intergrowth in Lunar Granite

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Structures of Igneous rocks

Structures due to mobility of magma/lava Structures due to cooling of magma Miscellaneous structures

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Structures due to mobility of magma

1. Flow structures 3. Ropy and blocky lava 2. Pillow structures 4. Spherulitic structures

5. Orbicular structures

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Structures due to cooling of magma

1. Jointing structure

2. Rift and grain

3. Vesicular structure 4. Miarolitic structure

Miscellaneous structures
1. Reaction structure 2. Xenolithic structure
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Forms of Igneous rocks

Refers to the shape in which cooled igneous

masses occur in nature:

Form is decided by: o Structural disposition of host rock o Viscosity and composition of magma or lava Types: o Concordant o Discordant
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1. Concordant bodies
Sills Phacoliths Lopoliths Laccoliths

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Sill

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Salisbury Crags, Edinburgh, Scotland, a sill exposed during the ice ages

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Phacolith

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Lopolith

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Laccolith

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Laccolith exposed by erosion of overlying strata in Montana

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2. Discordant bodies
Dykes/dikes Volcanic necks Batholiths

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Dike on the Baranof Cross-Island trail, Alaska

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Magmatic Intrusions

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(b) Sedimentary rocks

They are formed by the accumulation, compaction and consolidation of sediments

They are secondary rocks, derived from the

sediments produced by the weathering of preexisting rocks The accumulation and compaction of these sediments usually take place in the presence of

water
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Environment of Formation
Continental facies Transitional facies Marine facies

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Varying Mineralogical Composition

Factors influencing mineralogical composition: o Nature of gathering ground o Duration of transport o Mixing up of sediments

o Allogenic and authigenic minerals

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Textures of Sedimentary Rocks

Textures are determined by: 1. Origin of grains o Clastic and non-clastic textures 2. Size of grains o Coarse-grained - avg grain size >5mm o Medium-grained - avg grain size b/w 5 & 1mm

o Fine-grained

- avg grain size <1mm

(contd.)
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3. Shapes of grains o Rounded, sub-rounded, angular & sub-angular 4. Packing of grains o Open-packed (porous) and densely packed 5. Fabric of grains o Described in terms of orientation of longer axes of grains

6. Crystallization trend
o Crystalline granular & amorphous textures
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1. Mechanical structures
i. Stratification

ii. Lamination

iii. Cross bedding

iv. Graded bedding v. Mud cracks vi. Rain prints vii. Ripple marks
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Stratification in the Grand Canyon

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Lamination in Travertine

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Cross-bedding in Sandstone

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Mud cracks

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Rain prints

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Ripple marks

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2. Chemical structures
1. Concretionary structures 2. Nodular structure 3. Geode structure

3. Organic structures
1. Fossiliferous structure 2. Stromatolic structure

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Concretionary structure

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Geode structure

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Classification on the basis of mode of formation

o Clastic or Mechanically formed rocks

o Non-clastic rocks
o Chemically formed rocks o Organically formed rocks

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1. Clastic rocks
Type
Gravels

Sands Silts Clay

Sub-division Boulders Cobbles Pebbles Coarse sands Medium sands Fine sands

Size > 256 mm 16-256 mm 2-16 mm 0.5-2 mm 0.25-0.5 mm 0.0625-0.25 mm 1/256 1/16 mm < 1/256 mm

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2. Non-clastic rocks
i. Chemically formed rocks
1. Siliceous deposits 2. Carbonate deposits 3. Ferruginous deposits 4. Phosphatic deposits 5. Evaporites

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ii. Organic deposits 1. Carbonate rocks 2. Carbonaceous rocks 3. Phosphatic deposits 4. Ferruginous deposits

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(c) Metamorphic rocks

Metamorphism means change of form
Metamorphism relates to the processes responsible for the changes in a rock under the influence of temperature, pressure and chemically active fluids

Metamorphic rocks are formed from preexisting rocks, under the influence of the above

factors
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Quartzite, Prospect Mountain, Wheeler Peak, Nevada, The U.S.A

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Terminology
Ortho-metamorphic rocks - formed from
igneous rocks Para-metamorphic rocks formed from sedimentary rocks

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Metamorphic Agents
Temperature
Pressure Chemically active fluids

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1. Temperature
Minerals are normally stable at temperatures below 200 C

Sources of heat for metamorphism:

The internal heat

The magmatic heat

Metamorphic changes take place between

300C - 850C

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2. Pressure
Pressure causing metamorphism is of two types: Uniform pressure (due to over-burden), acts vertically downwards Directed pressure (from orogenic activity),

can act in any direction

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3. Chemically active fluids

E.g.: water/steam, CO2, hydrofluoric acid etc. These fluids act as carriers of chemical

components that drive the chemical reactions

with the minerals The pore fluids undergo expansion, with rise in temperature Fluids present around rocks may react with the minerals within them, at elevated temperatures
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Types of Metamorphism
1. Thermal metamorphism 2. Dynamic metamorphism 3. Dynamo-thermal/Regional metamorphism 4. Metasomatism

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(a) Thermal metamorphism

Refers to all metamorphic processes in which heat plays a predominant role.

o Contact metamorphism
o Pyro metamorphism

o Plutonic metamorphism

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(b) Dynamic metamorphism

o Pressure/stress plays the predominant role

o Also known as cataclastic, mechanical or

dislocation metamorphism o Stress is more effective at higher levels of the crust, where rocks are rigid and brittle o Pressure causes movement of and interaction between rocks, resulting in their mechanical breakdown cataclasis
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(c) Dynamo-thermal metamorphism

Also known as Regional Metamorphism It refers to metamorphism under the combined action of all the three agents Most prevalent of all metamorphic processes Such conditions were available during the mountain building activity, in the history of the

earth
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(d) Metasomatism
Refers to the formation of new minerals by
the chemical replacement of the existing ones, under the influence of chemically active fluids The chemically active fluid may be provided: o from within the rock (mineral metasomatism) o from outside the rock (rock metasomatism)

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Types of Metasomatism
Hydrothermal Pneumatolytic Additive Expulsive

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Effects of Metamorphism
Recrystallization Rock flowage Granulation Metasomatic replacement

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Examples of Metamorphic changes

Igneous rocks
Granites undergo dynamic metamorphism, to form crush breccia

Sedimentary rocks Pure limestone, re-crystallizes under conditions of contact metamorphism, to

marble
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Metamorphic Grades
Represents the extent to which an original rock has been changed by metamorphism. The grades are indicated by the presence of a

set of index minerals

Low grade Medium grade High grade

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Metamorphic zones
Indicate the depth wise extension of particular grades of metamorphism: 1. The Epizone (temperature < 300 C) 2. The Mesozone (temperature b/w 300 - 500 C) 3. The Ketazone

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Mineralogical composition of Metamorphic rocks

Depends upon:
o The composition of the parent rock

o Type and degree of metamorphism

Types of minerals formed: o Stress minerals o Anti-stress minerals

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Textures of Metamorphic rocks

Crystalloblastic texture Palimpsest texture

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Structures of Metamorphic rocks

1. Cataclastic structure 2. Schistose structure 3. Gneissose structure 4. Maculose structure 5. Granulose structure

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Structures of Metamorphic rocks

A. Schistose structure B. Granulose structure C. Gneissose structure

A. Cataclastic structure B. Maculose structure C. Palimpsest structure

George Walter Tyrrell

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Large scale structural features

Rock cleavage Flow cleavage Fracture cleavage Schistosity Foliation

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Gneiss, a foliated metamorphic rock

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Classification of Metamorphic rocks

Foliated rocks rocks that show parallelism in their mineralogical and structural constitution e.g. slates, phyllites

Non-foliated rocks characterized by the

absence of foliation

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Reference
Parbin Singh, Engineering and General Geology, S K Kataria & Sons

Chenna Kesavulu, N, Textbook of Engineering Geology,

MacMillan India Reddy, D V, Engineering Geology, Vikas Publishing House Garg, S K, Physical and Engineering Geology, Khanna

Publishers
Thompson, G R and J Turk, Introduction to Physical

Geology, Thomson Brooks/Cole

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