Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Llenos, Camryn E.
B.S. GEO2-B
The term petrology comes from the Greek petra (rock) and logos
(explanation).It refers to the study of rocks and the processes that
produce them. Such study includes the description and classification
of rocks, as well as the interpretation of their origin. Meanwhile,
petrography is the branch of petrology that deals with microscopic
examination of thin sections, cut from rock samples and ground down to
0.03-mm thickness so they readily transmit light. Basically it is the
branch of petrology that deals with the description and classification
of rocks, but the majority use the term to connote the study of rocks
in thin section. (Winter, 2001)
3. What are the common rock forming minerals? Why are they common?
What factor drives its concentration in the earth’s crust?
The types of slabs are: oceanic and continental plate slabs (Winter,
2001). According to Tarbuck & Lutgens (2016) the driving mechanisms of
these slabs are called ridge push and slab pull. Slab pull, a major
driving force of plate motion, is the subduction of cold, dense slabs
of oceanic lithosphere. It occurs because cold slabs of oceanic
lithosphere are denser than the underlying warm asthenosphere which
leads them to sink; they are pulled down into the mantle by gravity.
Ridge push is a gravity-driven mechanism which results from the
elevated position of the oceanic ridge, this causes slabs of
lithosphere to “slide” down the flanks of the ridge. It appears to
contribute far less to plate motions than slab pull. Their respective
boundaries consist of convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries and
transform boundaries. As stated by Winter (2001) convergent plate
boundaries are areas where subduction of one plate beneath another.
Divergent plate boundaries are areas with spreading systems that are
usually oceanic in origin. Transform plate boundaries are areas where
plates slide horizontally past one another, without the production or
destruction of lithosphere (Tarbuck & Lutgens, 2016).
6. What are the types of rocks? How do they form? What processes
controls the formation of each rock type? Draw the rock cycle to
precisely illustrate your answers.
Illustration lifted from Tarbuck & Lutgens (2016).
The cycle can be started with magma or lava that cools down and
solidifies in a process called crystallization. This process is the
genesis of igneous rocks that can either be intrusive or extrusive
respectively. These igneous rocks undergo weathering that wear down
the rock. The loose parts of the rock than have been worn down by
weathering undergo transport and deposition. These materials are
transferred to another location by varying mediums such as through the
wind or by water and are deposited as sediment. As sediments, they
begin the process of lithification or the conversion into sedimentary
rocks. They undergo compaction and cementation where the sediments are
tightly squeezed together and are bonded to each other. The collective
term for the overall changes that a sedimentary rock goes through is
called, diagenesis. After that, due to changes in the environment such
as further deposition of a new layer of rocks on top of the
sedimentary rock, the sedimentary rock is buried further deeper into
the earth’s crust. Factors such as extreme pressure and stress under
metamorphism begin to alter the sedimentary rock into a metamorphic
rock. Once it becomes a metamorphic rock, it may undergo remelting to
become magma therefore restarting the cycle all over again.
7. What is an igneous rock? What are the factors that led in the
formation of igneous rocks?
The two main forms of igneous rocks are intrusive and extrusive.
According to Winter (2001) intrusive or plutonic rocks are those that
crystallized slowly beneath the surface of the earth while extrusive
or volcanic rocks are those that crystallized rapidly at the earth's
surface.
b. Ring dikes
Illustration from Winter (2001)
g. Chonolith
e. Phacolith
A phacolith is a minor, concordant, lens-shaped, and usually
granitic intrusion into folded sedimentary strata
("Phacolith", 2003).
There are stocks that are remnants of the cylindrical conduit and
magma chamber beneath volcanoes. This type of stock is called a plug.
The exposed portion of a plug, commonly remaining after the more
easily eroded volcanics of the cone have been eroded and removed, is
called a volcanic neck. (Winter,2001)
15. What are lava flows? What type of feature is lava flow? Why/How?
Lava flows are the dominant form of volcanism in the planet. Lavas
with low viscosity and low volatile content are the most prevalent
conditions for lava flows to occur of (Winter, 2001). Lava flow is a
type of extrusive feature because it has been spewed out into the
surface of the earth (Tarbuck & Lutgens, 2016).
16. Cluster the structures of igneous rocks and define each sub-
classifications.
The grain sizes of an igneous rock are indicated by these three types.
Coarse grained igneous rocks have a crystal diameter greater than five
millimeters. Medium grained igneous rocks have a crystal diameter
ranging from one to five millimeters. Lastly, fine-grained igneous
rocks have a crystal diameter less than one millimeter. As further
stated, some petrologists include a new category for those under 0.05
mm called very fine-grained (Mackenzie, Donaldson & Guilford, 1988).
b. Subhedral
c. Anhedral
a. Equidimensional
e. Assimilation
h. Filter Pressing
j. Gaseous Transfer
29. What are the 3 scenarios that may occur during magmatic
assimilation? How do they differ with each other?
As stated by Winter (2001) the three scenarios that may occur during
magmatic assimilation are stoping, zone melting, and ballooning.
Stoping refers to the dislodging of blocks of the roof over a
rising pluton when rocks become sufficiently brittle.
Zone melting or or solution tsoping is the combination of
assimilation and stoping. During this, the minerals of the of the roof
rock melt, and at equivalent amount of magma at the floor
crystallizes.
Lastly, ballooning is the radial expansion of the magma chamber
from below.
31. What reaction will take place if felsic magma has been
assimilated with basaltic country rock? Why?
b. composition
Scoria’s origin is from basaltic magmas while its silicic
counterpart is pumice (Winter, 2001).
c. Density
Because the vesicles in pumice are isolated, pumice may
have a density less than that of water and can float (Frost &
Frost, 2014).
36. You were tasked to examine your rocks samples from 201 fieldwork
under thin section examination. The point count analysis gave you
the following values:
Alkaline Feldspar = 50%
Plagioclase = 5%
Feldspathoids = 30%
Mafic minerals = 15%
37. What is a phase diagram? Types? How do they differ with each
other? Support your answer with illustration and brief
descriptions.
A phase diagram is a visual portrayal of the physical states such
as the solid and liquid states of a substance when subjected to
varying temperature and pressure. There are four categories: one
component, binary, ternary, and systems with more than three
components phase diagrams (Winter, 2001).
An example of a one
component phase diagram
from Winter (2001).
One component phase diagram often presents the relationship
between a chosen material, pressure, and temperature as the case
presented by the SiO2 pressure-temperature phase diagram by Winter
(2001).
38. What is a liquidus phase? Solidus phase? What separates these two
phases?
They are the two curves that specify a relationship between the
composition of both the liquid and the solid with respect to the
temperature. The upper curve is called the liquidus. It specifies the
composition of any liquid that coexists with a solid at a particular
temperature. The lower curve is the solidus, which specifies the
composition of any solid that coexists with a liquid phase at some
particular temperature (Winter,2001). What separates these two is the
crystal-plus-melt region (Hibbard, 1995).
40. What are the types of melting? How do they differ with each
other?
According to McSween, Richardson & Uhle (2003), there are three types
of melting: equilibrium melting or batch melting, fractional melting,
and incremental batch melting. They are different in the way they
happen as equilibrium melting is a relatively simple process in which
the liquid remains at the site of melting in chemical equilibrium
with the solid residue until mechanical conditions allow it to escape
as a single “batch” of magma. Fractional melting involves continuous
extraction of melt from the system as it forms, thereby preventing
reaction with the solid residue. Fractional melting can be visualized
as a large number of infinitely small equilibrium melting events.
Incremental batch melting lies between these two extremes, with melts
extracted from the system at discrete intervals.