METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have undergone a solid-state recrystallization in response to
changes in temperature and/or pressure, usually aided by chemically reactive water. During
metamorphosis, the original mineral grains in a rock may grow larger, do nothing, or break down
and form new minerals. The conditions depend on the starting minerals and the pressure,
temperature, and fluid conditions associated with the metamorphism.
FOLIATED TEXTURE
Foliated rocks have platy or elongate minerals aligned in roughly parallel planes or in wavy
bands, layer or planes. It shows a distinct planar character. Examples of foliated rocks are slate,
schist, gneiss and migmatite.
The largest and most important groupings of metamorphic rocks are those displaying a foliated
texture. They are formed under conditions of directed stress and foliated metamorphic rocks
exhibit four distinct types of aligned textures. At the lowest metamorphic grade is the foliated
metamorphic rock slate. Slate generally forms by the realignment of clay minerals in the
precursor rock shale at low temperature and pressure. Slate is denser and more resistant to
erosion tat shale. Moreover, the alignment if the clay crystals causes the rock to break along
extremely flat and smooth surface (rock cleavage).
In order of increasing metamorphic rock, the second type is phyllite. These chlorite-rich foliated
rocks are commonly dark green in colour with a slight sheen or luster due to the cleavages of the
sheet silicate mineral cholorite. One of the most abundant and important a foliated metamorphic
rock is schist. Schist consists mainly of micas but also commonly contains several important
accessory minerals useful as barometer for metamorphic conditions.
Finally, at highest metamorphic grade is gneiss. This rock consists of alternating bands of quartz,
feldspar and micas. It is the easiest of the foliations to recognize as it composed of alternating
bands of dark and light minerals. There are two important trends within these foliated
metamorphic rocks. Metamorphic grade increases with the increase in the intensity of foliation.
Similarly, at higher grade, the rocks are typically coarser grained.
NON-FOLIATED TEXTURE
A non-foliated rock is a metamorphic rock that does not display a lamellar texture or distinct
light and dark banding common to foliated metamorphic rocks. It may show colored bands that
reflect minute impurities in the rock, but the dominant minerals show no visible alignment. The
minerals of non-foliated are essentially randomly oriented. Non-foliated rocks include quartzite,
marble, anthracite, hornfel. They also commonly contain equidimensional grains of a single
mineral such as quartz, calcite, or dolomite. Examples of such rocks are quartzite, formed from a
quartz sandstone, and marble, formed from a limestone or dolomite.
Non-foliated metamorphic rocks are most often derived from single mineral sedimentary rocks
like limestone and quartz sandstone. Further identification of non-foliated rocks is dependent on
the composition of the minerals or components in the rock. Anthracite coal is similar to
bituminous coal. Both are black in colour, and are composed of carbon. Anthracite coal is
generally shiny in appearance and breaks with a conchoidal fracture (broken glass also shows
this type of fracture). Metaconglomerate is composed of conglomerate that has been
metamorphosed and retains the original textural characteristics of the parent rock, including the
outlines and colors of the larger grain sizes such as granules and pebbles. However, because
metamorphism has caused recrystallization of the matrix, the metamorphosed conglomerate is
called metaconglomerate. Quartzite and metamorphosed conglomerate can be distinguished from
their sedimentary equivalents by the fact that they break across the quartz grains, not around
them. Marble has a crystalline appearance and generally has larger mineral grains than its
sedimentary equivalent.
Fine-grained (dense-textured), nonfoliated rocks originally from contact metamorphic
are hornfels. Hornfels has a nondescript appearance because it is usually some medium to dark
shade of gray and lacking in any structural characteristics.