ECG 417 – ENGINEERING GEOLOGY

IDENTIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS

PREPARED BY:

CEEC2221B2A GROUP 1

NAME UiTM ID
MUHAMMAD ANIQ BIN AZMI 2022961441
WAN MUHAMMAD ISMAT MUSLIM BIN WAN ADNAN 2022977783
MOHD ASLANSHAH BIN SAWIHI 2022947077
SHADZA AFFINA BINTI MOHAMAD ASMALI 2022971005

PREPARED FOR:

DR. NORLIANA BINTI SULAIMAN

DATE:

25 APRIL 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENT

NO. CONTENT PAGES

1.0 Introduction of Metamorphic Rocks 1
2.0 Definition of Metamorphic Rocks 1
3.0 Objectives 2
4.0 Result 3
5.0 Materials 4
6.0 Discussion 5
7.0 Conclusion 5
8.0 Reference 6
1.0 Introduction of Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rocks are generated when pre-existing rocks undergo metamorphism.

Heat and pressure are applied to the original rock, or protolith, causing physical, chemical,
and mineralogical changes. Igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rocks can all be protoliths.
Within the Earth's crust, metamorphic rocks develop. The mineral assemblage of the protolith
may alter as temperature and pressure conditions change. Uplift and erosion of the overlying
rock ultimately expose metamorphic rocks at the surface.

Regional metamorphism and contact, or thermal, metamorphism are the two basic
forms of metamorphism. Texture and mineralogy are used to classify metamorphic rocks.
Different metamorphic facies are defined by certain temperature and pressure zones. The
temperature and pressure that characterize each facies can be connected to rocks bearing
minerals indicative of that facies.

2.0 Definition of Metamorphic Rocks

Solid rock can change into new rock according to the impact of increased heat and
pressure on the rocks. The factors that metamorphism are temperature, pressure, and
chemical changes. Metamorphic rocks form from heat and pressure changing the original or
parent rock into a completely new rock. The process of rocks does not melt but transforms
into denser, compact, or new minerals created by reactions with fluid that enter the rocks. The
pressure or high temperature given to the rocks can change previously metamorphosed rocks
into new types of rocks.

Temperature increases in depth of the earth along the Geothermal Gradient. Higher
temperatures can occur through the burial of rock and igneous intrusion. Pressure is defined
as a force acting equally from all directions. It is a type of stress, called hydrostatic stress, or
uniform stress.

1
 Three factors cause pressure, which also causes the formation of rocks. First, is the
huge weight of overlying layers of sediment. Second, stresses that are caused by plates
colliding in the process of mountain building. Third, stresses that are caused by plates sliding
past each other, like the shearing stresses at the San Andreas fault zone in California.

Factors that produce chemical changes in rocks play a role in the creation of
metamorphic rocks as well. Extreme pressures can cause very hot fluids and vapours to fill
the pores of existing rocks. These fluids and vapours can produce chemical reactions that,
over time, can modify the mineral composition of the parent rock. Metamorphism can be
immediate, as in plate boundary shearing, or it can take millions of years, as in the slow
cooling of magma buried far beneath the Earth's surface.

3.0 Objectives

i. To understand the properties of metamorphic rocks by pointing out the: -

• Classification – if the rocks are foliated or not.
• Texture of the rocks

ii. To identify the origin or the parent rock of the metamorphic rocks.

2
 4.0 Result

Classification

Foliated Non-
foliated
Metamorphic Texture Parent rocks
rocks Banding Mineral
alignment

Granite gneiss √ Gneissic Intrusive

banding igneous rock

Andalusite √ Schistosity Sedimentary

rock

Marble pink √ Coarse-grained Sedimentary

rock

Actinolite √ Schistosity Sedimentary

rock

Marble √ Granular Sedimentary

rock

Gray slate √ Slaty cleavage Sedimentary

rock

3
5.0 Materials

Granite gneiss Andalusite

Marble pink Actinolite

Marble Gray slate

4
6.0 Discussion

We can see that although they are formed originally from igneous rocks, sedimentary
rocks or their earlier metamorphic form, metamorphic rocks have their characteristics, which
made them different from their original form, due to the presence of heat, pressure and new
minerals contained in the Earth’s crust.

We can differentiate metamorphic rocks from any other rocks in this experiment by
identifying their classification, texture, and parent rock.

By knowing the classification and the texture of these metamorphic rocks, we can
determine the structure of the rock, either if it is foliated or not. These can be seen if the rock
has a pattern that is aligned perpendicular to the direction of force. If the rock is not foliated,
then it would not have any oriented pattern.

7.0 Conclusion

Metamorphic rocks are used to be the other types of rocks. What set metamorphic
rocks apart from other types of rocks is the arrangement of crystals that can be seen at the
surface of the rock, either foliated or not.

All types of rocks are useful, depending on the parts where the rocks will be used.
These details to identify these metamorphic rocks among other types of rocks are important
to ensure the safety of the rocks when using them in constructions, cement and concrete
productions, brick and tile manufacturing, tunnelling, and many others, as we look at the
strength, the material composition of the rocks, the durability and so on.

5
8.0 References

• What are metamorphic rocks? | U.S. Geological Survey

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-metamorphic-rocks

• Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks (September 2017)

Physical Geology, Prof. Stephen A. Nelson, Tulane University.
https://www2.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/metamorphic.htm#:~:text=Metamorphis
m%20therefore%20occurs%20at%20temperatures,buried%20deeper%20in%20the%2
0Earth.

• Metamorphic Rocks Lesson #14, (Oregon State University)

https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/metamorphic-rocks-lesson-14

• What are metamorphic rocks? (USGS)

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-metamorphic-
rocks#:~:text=Metamorphic%20rocks%20started%20out%20as,some%20combinatio
n%20of%20these%20factors.