Engineering Geology

Assignment

TOPIC: “ROCK CYCLE“

Group members:
Muhammad Waji Ul Hassan 334947

Arslan Ahmed 337902

Muhammad Imran Maqsood 353109

Haroon Rasheed 331282

Muhammad Tahir 356478

Contents:
1. Introduction to Rock Cycle
2.Forces Driving Rock Cycle
3.Igneous Rocks
4.Sedimentary Rocks
5.Metamorphic Rocks
Introduction:
Rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that describes transitions
through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary,
metamorphic, and igneous. The rock cycle explains how the three rock
types are related to each other, and how processes change from one
type to another over time.
Earth cooled down into layers as crust, mantle and core. Crust is
divided into continental and oceanic crust while mantle is separated as
lower mantle and upper mantle and core into outer and inner core.
Each layer has specific chemical and physical properties. Like crust and
upper mantle are strong with mineral named silicates. Lower mantle
and upper core are fluid and rich with components having radioactive
nature. Internal center is completely comprised of metal like iron and
nickel metal. To comprehend idea of plates we need to realize that our
Earth surface is moving. External shell it isn't just one piece however
comprised of plates. Plates are gradually moving which are known as
Techtonic plates.

Forces Driving Rock Cycle:

Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the
water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and change as they
encounter new environments.
Plate Techtonics:
Lithosphere(outer crust) is broken into pieces called plates.These plates
float at asthenosphere beneath.Convection currents occur in
asthenosphere which drive plate motion as hot material becomes less
dense and rises and then become cool down ,less dense and then sink
causing convection currents in mantle. Now here a boundary is formed
which ripped apart the plates.So these plates are constantly moving
and all actions like earthquake,volcanoes or mountain building occur at
where they interact.
Now we need to know these interactions look like. There are 3 types of
boundaries:
Transform boundaries: When the plates slides past eachother , a lot of
pressure is build up on boundary. A lot of grinding over the plates
which is often released in form of Earthquakes. One example Is San
andreas Faults in California.
Convergent boundaries: where plates collide with eachother.
It has further types:
i) Subduction zone: when continental crust collide with oceanic crust
and as oceanic crust is more dense it sinks under the continental crust
and melts down in asthenosphere due to hot down there.Cracks are
formed there causing eruption of Volcanoes. So volcanoes
,eartquakes,mountains, and deep ocean trench occur here.
ii)Island Arc: where oceanic meets oceanic plates.Usually older rock
sink under younger rock. In this case Volcanic Islands are formed along
with trench and earthquakes.
iii)Collision zone: where Continental to Continental plates collides.

Divergent boundaries : where plates drift apart from eachother.

When the rocks rips apart , it allows magma to escape and so get Active
volcanoes . The mid –ocean ridges form at divergent plates boundary.

Water Cycle:
The continuous movement of water above ,below the surface of earth,
The presence of water on Earth is of great importance for the rock
cycle. Most obvious are the water driven processes of weathering and
erosion. Water in the form of precipitation and acidic soil water and
groundwater is quite effective at dissolving minerals and rocks,
especially those igneous and metamorphic rocks and marine
sedimentary rocks that are unstable under near surface. The water
carries away the ions dissolved in solution and the broken-down
fragments that are the products of weathering. Running water carries
vast amounts of sediment in rivers back to the ocean and inland basins.
The accumulated and buried sediments are converted back into rock.
 IGNEOUS ROCKS:

Formation
Igneous rocks form from the cooling of magma or lava. At
diverging plate boundaries, convection currents bring hot
magma to the surface. This hot magma flows out onto the
ocean floor, forming extrusive, finely grained igneous rocks. At
convergent plate boundaries, sedimentary rock from the ocean
floor gets pushed down into the mantle. The crust increases in
temperature as it dives deeper into the mantle. Eventually, the
crust melts and rises to the surface causing a volcanic eruption,
creating igneous rocks. Sometimes, magma that gets pushed up
at plate boundaries cools before it gets there. It fills in cracks
and voids in the bedrock. When it cools, it creates igneous rock
formations, such as dikes and batholiths.

When the igneous rocks are formed beneath Earth, they are
called as Plutonic rocks, if they are formed outside Earth or on
the top of Earth’s crust then the igneous rocks formed are
called extrusive or Volcanic rocks.
EXAMPLES:
• Granite and Diorite are examples of intrusive igneous
rocks.(Large grains,coarse texture)
 Granite
• Basalt and Obsidian are extrusive or volcanic rocks(Small
grain,fine texture)

Basalt

Sedimentary rock

Formation:
Sedimentary arocks aare formed on aor anear athe aEarth’s asurface,
ain acontrastato ametamorphic aand aigneous arocks, awhich aare
 aformed adeep awithin atheaEarth. aThe amost aimportant
ageological aprocesses athat alead ato athe acreation of asedimentary
arocks aare aerosion, aweathering, adissolution, aprecipitation,
aandalithification.
Processes:
Erosion aand aweathering ainclude athe aeffects aof awind aand arain,
awhich aslowlyabreak adown alarge arocks ainto asmaller aones.
aErosion aand aweatheringatransform aboulders aand aeven
amountains ainto asand aand amud. aDissolution ais aa aform aof
aweathering—chemical aweathering. aWith athis sediments, asuch
aas aprocess, awater athat ais aslightly aacidic aslowly awears aaway
stone. aThese three aprocesses acreate athe araw amaterials afor
anew, asedimentary arocks.
Precipitation aand alithification aare aprocesses athat abuild anew
arocks aor minerals. aPrecipitation ais athe aformation aof arocks aand
aminerals afrom chemicals athat aprecipitate afrom awater. aFor
aexample, aas aa alake adries aup over amany athousands aof ayears,
ait aleaves abehind amineral adeposits; athis ais what ahappened ain
aCalifornia’s aDeath aValley. aFinally, alithification ais athe process aby
awhich aclay, asand, aand aother asediments aon athe abottom aof
athe ocean aor aother abodies aof awater aare aslowly acompacted
ainto arocks afrom the aweight aof aoverlying asediments.

Types:

Sedimentary arocks can abe organized ainto atwo categories. aThe

afirst ais detrital rock, which acomes afrom athe aerosion aand
aaccumulation aof arock fragments, sediment, or aother
amaterials—categorized ain atotal as detritus, debris.
The other is chemical rock, produced from the dissolution and
precipitation of minerals.Detritus can be either organic or
inorganic. Organic detrital rocks form when parts of plants and
animals decay in athe ground, aleaving behindabiological material
that is compressed and becomes rock. Coal is a sedimentary rock
formed over millions aof years from compressed plants.aInorganic
detrital rocks, aon athe other hand, are formed from broken
aupapieces aof aother arocks, anot from living things. aThese rocks
are often called aclastic asedimentary arocks. aOne of athe abest-
known aclasticasedimentary rocks ais asandstone. Sandstone ais
aformed afrom alayers aofasandy sediment athat ais compacted
aand alithified.

Identification:

Chemical asedimentary arocks acan abe afound ain amany aplaces,

afrom atheaocean ato adeserts ato acaves. aFor ainstance, amost
alimestone aforms aat atheabottom aof athe aocean afrom athe
aprecipitation aof acalcium acarbonate aand atheremains aof amarine
aanimals awith ashells. aIf alimestone ais afound aon aland, ait can
abe aassumed athat athe aarea aused ato abe aunder awater. aCave
aformations are aalso asedimentary arocks, abut athey aare
aproduced avery adifferently.
aStalagmites aand astalactites aform awhen awater apasses athrough
abedrock aand picks aup acalcium aand acarbonate aions. aWhen athe
achemical-rich awater makes aits away ainto aa acave, athe awater
aevaporates aand aleaves abehind calcium acarbonate aon athe
aceiling, aforming aa astalactite, aor aon athe afloor aof the acave,
acreating aa astalagmite.

Metamorphic rocks

Metamorphic rocksarise from the transformation of existing rock to new

types of rock,in a process called metamorphismMetamorphic rocks form
when rocks are subjected to high heat, high pressure,hot minerals rich fluids
or, more commonly, some combination of these factors. Conditions like
these are found deep within the earth or where tectonic plates meet

Metamorphism
Metamorphism is the change of minerals or geological texture (distinct
arrangement of minerals) in pre-existing rocks(protoliths),without the
protolith melting into the liquid magma (a solid state change).

Types of metamorphism
Different types of metamorphism are given below :

Contact metamorphism
Contact metamorphism is a type of metamorphism that occurs adjacent to
intrusive igneous rocks due to temperature increases resulting from hot
magma intrusion into the rock. The metamorphosed zone is known as the
metamorphic aureole around an igneous rock.

Dynamic metamorphism
Dynamic metamorphism, or cataclasis, results mainly from mechanical
deformation with little long term temperature change .textures
produced by such adjustmentsrange from breccias composed of
angular , shattered rocks with obvious foliation and lineation.

Regional metamorphism
Regional metamorphism is the morphism that occurs over broad
areas of the crust .most regionally metamorphosed rocks occur in
areas that have undergone deformation during an orogenic event
resulting in mountain belt that have since been eroded toexpose the
metamorphic rocks.

Examples
End