Metamorphism

Keith Ryan Belloso and Laica Bendanillo

Metamorphism
• is the change of minerals or geologic
texture (distinct arrangement of minerals) in pre-
existing rocks (protoliths), without the protolith
melting into liquid magma (a solid-state change)
Thee change occurs primarily due to heat,
pressure, and the introduction of chemically
active fluids.
• The chemical components and crystal
structuresof the minerals making up the rock may
change even though the rock remains a solid.
Changes at or just beneath Earth’s surface due
to weathering or diagenesis are not classified as
metamorphism. Metamorphism typically occurs
between diagenesis (maximum 200°C),
and melting(~850°C).
The geologists who study metamorphism are
known as "metamorphic petrologists." To
determine the processes underlying
metamorphism, they rely heavily on statistical
mechanics and experimental petrology.
• Mineralogical and structural adjustments
of solid rocks to physical and chemical conditions
differing from those under which the rocks
originally formed. Changes produced by surface
conditions such as compaction are usually
excluded. The most important agents of
metamorphism include temperature, pressure,
and fluids.
• Equally as significant are changes in
chemical environment that result in two
metamorphic processes: (1) mechanical
dislocation where a rock is deformed, especially
as a consequence of differential stress; and (2)
chemical recrystallization where
a mineral assemblage becomes out
of equilibrium due to temperature and pressure
changes and a new mineral assemblage forms.
Three Types of Metamorphism:
Dynamic Metamorphism
• Dynamic metamorphism, or cataclasis, results
mainly from mechanical deformation with little
long-term temperature change. Textures
produced by such adjustments range from
breccias composed of angular, shattered rock
fragments to very fine-grained, granulated or
powdered rocks with obvious foliation and
lineation. Large, pre-existing mineral grains may
be deformed as a result of stress.
Contact Metamorphism
• Contact metamorphism occurs primarily as a
consequence of increases in temperature when
differential stress is minor. A common phenomenon is
the effect produced adjacent to igneous intrusions
where several metamorphic zones represented by
changing mineral assemblages reflect the temperature
gradient from the high-temperature intrusion to the low-
temperature host rocks; these zones are concentric to
the intrusion. Because the volume affected is small, the
pressure is near constant. Resulting rocks have
equidimensional grains because of a lack of stress and
are usually fine-grained due to the short duration of
metamorphism.
Regional Metamorphism
• Regional metamorphism results from the general
increase, usually correlated, of temperature and
pressure over a large area. Grades or intensities of
metamorphism are represented by different mineral
assemblages that either give relative values of
temperature or absolute values when calibrated against
laboratory experiments. Regional metamorphism can be
subdivided into different pressure-temperature
conditions based on observed sequences of mineral
assemblages. It may include an extreme condition,
where partial melting occurs, called anatexis.