Lecture Topic: Introduction to Rock

Istiakur Rahman
Lecturer
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Islamic University of Technology (IUT).
Rock or stone is a natural substance, a solid
aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids
For example, granite, a common rock, is a
combination of the minerals quartz, feldspar and
biotite.
The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is
made of rock.
Rock has been used by humankind throughout
history.
The scientific study of rocks is called petrology,
which is an essential component of geology.
There are three major rock types:

1. Igneous—Rocks formed from cooling of

magma or lava.
2. Sedimentary—Rocks formed from
sediments worn from other rocks.
3. Metamorphic– rocks formed by changing
the chemistry, mineralogy, or texture of other
rocks.
Rock types are all connected in a cycle of
formation, change, and destruction which
we call the Rock Cycle.

Let us start the rock cycle with molten rock

(magma), which cools and forms igneous
rocks. These rocks become uplifted as
mountains are formed. There it is attacked
by the weather and starts to erode.
This weathered (eroded) material is carried
away by streams, rivers, wind, glaciers and
deposited elsewhere as sediments.
The sediments are then buried and lithified
(turned into solid rock) being subjected to
heat, pressure, and fluids the sedimentary
rocks becomes metamorphic rocks.
Metamorphic rocks maybe uplifted and
eroded or may become heated to the point
that it again becomes Magma.
The term Igneous comes form the Latin
word ignis meaning fire. These are rocks
which form from cooling magma or lava.

Magma: Molten or partially molten rock

materials and dissolved gases beneath
earth’s surface.

Lava: Is also molten or partially molten rock

material and dissolved gases which erupts
at the Earth’s surface.
Igneous rocks that we see on Earth are derived
from magmas that formed from partial melting of
existing rock, either in the upper mantle or the
crust.
Partial melting is what happens when only some
parts of a rock melt; it takes place because rocks
are not pure materials. Most rocks are made up of
several minerals, each of which has a different
melting temperature.
When rocks melt, the process takes thousands to
millions of years
The two main mechanisms through which rocks
melt are decompression melting and flux melting.
Decompression melting takes place within Earth
when a body of rock is held at approximately the
same temperature but the pressure is reduced.
This happens because the rock is being moved
toward the surface, either at a mantle plume (a.k.a.
, hot spot), or in the upwelling part of a mantle
convection cell
The mechanism of decompression melting is
shown in Figure 1a. If a rock that is hot enough to
be close to its melting point is moved toward the
surface, the pressure is reduced, and the rock can
pass to the liquid side of its melting curve. At this
point, partial melting starts to take place.
The process of flux melting is shown in Figure 1b.
If a rock is close to its melting point and some
water (a flux that promotes melting) is added to
the rock, the melting temperature is reduced (solid
line versus dotted line), and partial melting starts.
Figure 1 a) Decomposition melting b) Flux melting
fF
The minerals that make up igneous rocks crystallize at a range
of different temperatures. This explains why a cooling magma
can have some crystals within it and yet remain predominantly
liquid. The sequence in which minerals crystallize from a
magma is known as the Bowen reaction series
Of the common silicate minerals, olivine normally crystallizes
first, at between 1200° and 1300°C. As the temperature drops,
and assuming that some silica remains in the magma, the
olivine crystals react (combine) with some of the silica in the
magma to form pyroxene. As long as there is silica remaining
and the rate of cooling is slow, this process continues down
the discontinuous branch: olivine to pyroxene, pyroxene to
amphibole, and (under the right conditions) amphibole to
biotite.
At about the point where pyroxene begins to crystallize,
plagioclase feldspar also begins to crystallize. At that
temperature, the plagioclase is calcium-rich (anorthite). As the
temperature drops, and providing that there is sodium left in
the magma, the plagioclase that forms is a more sodium-rich
variety.
In the discontinuous branch, olivine is typically the first mineral
to form (at just below 1300°C). As the temperature continues to
drop, olivine becomes unstable while pyroxene becomes stable.
The early-forming olivine crystals react with silica in the
remaining liquid magma and are converted into pyroxene,
something like this:
Mg2SiO4 + SiO2  ——>     2MgSiO3
olivine                         pyroxene
This continues down the chain, as long as there is still silica
left in the liquid.
Finally, if the magma is quite silica-rich to begin with, there will
still be some left at around 750° to 800°C, and from this last
magma, potassium feldspar, quartz, and maybe muscovite
mica will form.
Two methods are used: Texture and chemisty.
Texture: a term which involves how a rock looks.
This method involves:
1. The size of the mineral grains (crystals)
involved.
2. Does the rock have holes (vesicles) in it. If it
has a lot of holes it is called a vesicular texture.
This is an indication that the rock was lava and at
the surface as it erupted or cooled.
3. Is the rock a coherent mass of mineral grains or
from smaller chunks of igneous rock which has
been cemented or welded together (pyroclastic
texture).
Using the texture characteristics Igneous rocks
can be classified as either Intrusive or Extrusive.
Intrusive: Rocks composed of large crystals.
This indicates slow cooling below the earth’s
surface.
Extrusive: Rocks composed of small,
microscopic, or no crystals (obsidian) indicates
rapid cooling at the earth’s surface.
Based on the Chemical Composition igneous
rocks can be broken into 4 general types.

Felsic: High in silica (65%+)

Usually light colored

Examples Rhyolite (extrusive) and Granite

(intrusive).
Intermediate: Lower silica content (55-65%)
Darker than felsic, lighter than mafic

Example Andesite/dacite (extrusive) and

Diorite/granodiorite (intrusive).
Mafic: low silica content (45-55%)
Ususally dark colored

Example basalt (extrusive) and gabbro

(intrusive).

Ultramafic: Extremly low silica content

(less than 45%)
Usually dark colored, but high olivine
content tend to produce green colors.
There are also other rare colors.
Example periodotite (intrusive)
An important feature to note on this diagram is the red line
separating the non-ferromagnesian silicates in the lower left (K-
feldspar, quartz, and plagioclase feldspar) from the
ferromagnesian silicates in the upper right (biotite, amphibole,
pyroxene, and olivine).
In classifying intrusive igneous rocks, the first thing to consider
is the percentage of ferromagnesian silicates. That’s relatively
easy in most igneous rocks because the ferromagnesian
minerals are clearly darker than the others. At the same time,
it’s quite difficult to estimate the proportions of minerals in a
rock.
Based on the position of the red line in Figure, it is evident that
felsic rocks can have about 1% to 20% ferromagnesian
silicates (the red line intersects the left side of the felsic zone
1% of the distance from the top of the diagram, and it
intersects the right side of the felsic zone 20% of the distance
from the top). Intermediate rocks have between 20% and 50%
ferromagnesian silicates, and mafic rocks have 50% to 100%
ferromagnesian silicates. To be more specific, felsic rocks
typically have biotite and/or amphibole; intermediate rocks
have amphibole and, in some cases, pyroxene; and mafic rocks
have pyroxene and, in some cases, olivine.
If we focus on the non-ferromagnesian silicates, it is evident
that felsic rocks can have from 0% to 35% K-feldspar, from 25%
to 35% quartz (the vertical thickness of the quartz field varies
from 25% to 35%), and from 25% to 50% plagioclase (and that
plagioclase will be sodium-rich, or albitic). Intermediate rocks
can have up to 25% quartz and 50% to 75% plagioclase. Mafic
rocks only have plagioclase (up to 50%), and that plagioclase
will be calcium-rich, or anorthitic.
The dashed black lines in the diagram represent four igneous
rocks. Complete the table by estimating the mineral
proportions of the four rocks (to the nearest 10%).