Metamorphic Rocks

Humboldt State University Department of Geology

Because of copyright restrictions, these slide and overhead transparency files are password protected and limited to use by students enrolled in Geology classes at Humboldt State University

Lecture Slides: Metamorphic Rock Types and Textures

Recrystallization of grains under pressure -- diagram
Formation of foliation -- diagram
Foliation in slate
Foliation and original bedding -- exposure in slate quarry
Slate -- hand specimen
Slate -- photomicrograph showing parallel orientation of grains
Schist -- hand specimen
Foliated texture -- mica schist: photomicrograph (in polarized light) of metamorphic rock, showing parallel alignment of interlocking mica and pyroxene grains doe to recrystallization under pressure. Foliated texture is typical of many metamorphic rocks.
Gneiss -- hand specimen
Folded gneiss
Quartz sandstone -- hand specimen. Parent material of quartzite.
Quartzite -- hand specimen.
Stretched pebble conglomerate -- metamorphosed by shearing and pressure
Sheared peridotite and matrix -- Hurdygurdy Creek
Detail of sheared peridotite -- note tectonic lensing. Hurdygurdy Creek
Undeformed granite -- contains xenoliths
Gneiss -- formed by shearing of granite. Note deformed xenolith.
Metamorphism by ion rich water -- new minerals (garnets) formed in granite and gneiss along veins
Metamorphic changes with increasing pressure and temperature -- table
Metamorphic facies -- pressure and temperature stability fields for various metamorphic rocks
Contact metamorphic aureole -- diagram
Contact metamorphic changes in rock types -- cross section
Contact metamorphism around dike -- aerial photograph
Regional metamorphism and subduction -- diagram
Regional metamorphic environments in plate tectonics -- diagram
Metamorphic facies related to plate tectonic environments -- diagram

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Andre Lehre
Last updated: 27 January 2003

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