ROCK

AND
SOIL FORMATION
 OBJECTIVES:
1) Differentiate the three basic rock types from each
other.
2) Discuss the rock cycle
3) Explain the formation of rocks and soil.
4) Describe the different forms of weathering and
their effects on the formation of rocks and soil.
 OBJECTIVE # 1:

Differentiate the three basic rock types from

each other.
 IGNEOUS ROCK: Formed by Fire
Come from the solidification of molten rock
called magma.
Magma is a molten rock generated by partial
melting of rocks in the Earths mantle, in
smaller amounts, in the lower crust.
 IGNEOUS ROCK: Formed by Fire
Silicate in composition.
Contain some Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, and K.
Also contain gases such as water vapor (H20),
carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
and sulfur dioxide (SO2).

 IGNEOUS ROCK: Formed by Fire

May be as hot as 600 0C to 1,200 0C
When heat is lost to the surroundings, the
magma solidifies and turns into an igneous
rock.
Molten rock reaches the surface, it is called
lava.
 CLASSIFICATION OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

1. Plutonic Igneous Rocks (Intrusive)

Igneous rocks that form when molten rock
solidifies and form at depth.
Granite is the most abundant plutonic rock.
 CLASSIFICATION OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

1. Plutonic Igneous Rocks (Intrusive)

It is composed of the minerals quartz,
feldspar and biotite.
Composition of the continental crust has
been described as granitic.
 CLASSIFICATION OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

2. Volcanic Igneous Rocks (Extrusive)

Igneous rocks that form when molten rock
solidifies at the surface.
Basalt is the most abundant volcanic rock.
 CLASSIFICATION OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

2. Volcanic Igneous Rocks (Extrusive)

It is made up of the minerals feldspar and
pyroxene.
Composition of the oceanic crust is basaltic.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
TEXTURE refers to the general appearance of
an igneous rock in terms of the size and
arrangement of its minerals.
*the rate of cooling of magma has a great
effect on the texture of the resulting igneous
rock.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
As magma cools, and the atoms begin to
arrange themselves into orderly patterns,
this process is called crystallization.
Crystallization is a process when crystalline
solid form and grow as magma cools.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
A. Slow Rate of Cooling
When magma solidifies within the earth, it
cools down very slowly because the rocks
surrounding the magma are also hot.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
A. Slow Rate of Cooling
While the magma is still liquid, elements
can diffuse (move) through the magma, and
form minerals.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
A. Slow Rate of Cooling
The minerals grow bigger and bigger as more
elements are added.
The resulting igneous rock is composed of
minerals that are large enough to be seen
and identified.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
A. Slow Rate of Cooling
This type of igneous rock is said to have a
phaneritic texture or a coarse-grained
texture.
Granite is a classic example.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
B. Rapid Rate of Cooling
If magma ascends to the surface of the earth,
it cools down rapidly.
Heat is lost faster because the temperature
at the surface is much lower.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
B. Rapid Rate of Cooling
Lava (magma that reached the surface) turns
solid quite fast.
Elements will then have very little time to
combine to form large minerals.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
B. Rapid Rate of Cooling
The igneous rock will then be made up of
minerals which are so tiny and difficult to
see individually.
RATES OF COOLING AND TEXTURE
B. Rapid Rate of Cooling
This type of igneous rock is aphanitic
texture or fine-grained texture.
Basalt is a good example.
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS: Compacted and
Cemented Sediments
All rocks that are exposed at the surface of
the earth, are ultimately affected by
weathering (destroying rocks).
Rocks disintegrate (break into pieces) or
decompose (decay).
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS: Compacted and
Cemented Sediments
The broken rock fragments and dissolved
rock material may then be consolidated and
precipitated to form sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are made of weathering
products, called sediments of pre-existing
rocks.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
Detrital sedimentary rocks are made of
sediments of differing sizes.
These sizes are the primary basis for
distinguishing among various detrital
sedimentary rocks.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
1. Conglomerate and Breccia
Sediments that are larger than 2 mm in
diameter are called gravel.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
1. Conglomerate and Breccia
A sedimentary rock made of rounded gravel
is called conglomerate, if angular (having
corners) the rock is called breccia.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
2. Sandstone
The word sand is a size term. It is does not
refer to the material found by the seashore
or in the desert.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
2. Sandstone
It refers to sediments whose sizes fall within
the 1/16 to 2 mm size range.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
3. Siltstone and Claystone
Tiny sediments that are 1/256 to 1/16 mm in
size are called silt.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
A. Detrital Sedimentary Rocks
3. Siltstone and Claystone
Sediments which are so tiny to recognize
even with a magnifying glass which are
smaller than 1/256 mm are called clay.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
Chemical sedimentary rocks are formed
when dissolved rock materials precipitate.
A good example is the salt left behind when
seawater evaporates.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
The components of salt, sodium (Na) and
chlorine (Cl), were dissolved from rocks by
weathering. These were carried to the sea by
streams. When conditions are right, salt comes
out from being dissolved (precipitates).
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
1. Limestone
The most abundant chemical sedimentary rock.
It is made of the mineral calcite, precipitated
calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
2. Chert
A hard, compact, fine-grained sedimentary
rock formed almost entirely of silica (SiO2)
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
3. Evaporites
Sedimentary rocks formed when bodies of
water such as seawater or saline lakes
evaporate.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEDIMENTARY
ROCKS
B. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
3. Evaporites
Examples are gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) and
rock salt (NaCl).
 PROCESS OF FORMING
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
WEATHERING
(Sediments)

DEPOSITION
(Gravity and Agents of erosion)

LITHIFICATION
(Compaction and Cementation)
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS: New Rock
From Old
When a rock (parent rock) is subjected to
tremendous heat, great pressure and intense
chemical reactions, and does not melt but
instead becomes distinctly new rock, the new
rock is called metamorphic rock.
 METAMORPHIC ROCKS: New Rock
From Old
The process is called metamorphism.
Metamorphism (change form) is a process
that leads to changes in the mineralogy,
texture and chemical composition of rocks.
 CLASSIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC
ROCKS
A. Foliated Metamorphic Rocks
A metamorphic rock is said to be foliated if
it shows a layered or banded appearance due
to the parallel alignment of elongated
minerals.
FOLIATED METAMORPHIC ROCKS
FOLIATED METAMORPHIC ROCKS
 CLASSIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC
ROCKS
B. Nonfoliated Metamorphic Rocks
Nonfoliated metamorphic rocks do not
exhibit foliation because they are commonly
made of minerals which are not elongated or
platy.
NONFOLIATED METAMORPHIC ROCKS
 TYPES OF METAMORPHISM
A. Contact Metamorphism / Thermal
Metamorphism
When a rock is intruded by a magma, change
is driven by a rise in temperature within the
host rock.
Nonfoliated
 TYPES OF METAMORPHISM
B. Regional Metamorphism
During mountain building processes, great
quantities of rock are subjected to directed
pressures and high temperatures associated
with large-scale deformation.
 AGENTS OF METAMORPHISM
1. Heat
Rocks can be metamorphosed even without
coming into contact with magma.
As surface rocks are buried deeper within the
earth, they are exposed to higher
temperatures.
 AGENTS OF METAMORPHISM
2. Pressure
Pressure increases with depth.
Pressure also come from collision between
land masses.
 AGENTS OF METAMORPHISM
3. Chemically Active Fluids
Fluids are commonly aqueous (watery) in
composition.
Water comes either from pores of a rock or from
hydrated minerals.
Water helps in metamorphism by moving atoms
from place to place, reacting with the rocks
components to produce new rock.
OBJECTIVE # 2:

Discuss the rock cycle.

 OBJECTIVE # 3:
Describe the different forms of weathering
and their effects on the formation of rocks
and soil.
 EXOGENIC PROCESSES
(Earths External Processes)
Weathering the physical breakdown
(disintegration) and chemical alteration
(decomposition) of rocks at or near Earths
surface.
 EXOGENIC PROCESSES
(Earths External Processes)
Mass wasting the transfer of rock and soil
downslope under the influence of gravity.
Erosion the physical removal of material by
mobile agents such as water, wind or human
activities.
 EXOGENIC PROCESSES
(Earths External Processes)
Weathering prepares the way for erosion by
breaking solid rock into fragments.
The fragments are then eroded by agents of
erosion.
After they are eroded, the materials are then
removed by transportation.
 TYPES OF WEATHERING

1. Physical Weathering (Mechanical

Weathering) is the physical breaking of
rocks without any changes in their chemical
composition, resulting in the breaking up of
rocks into smaller pieces (disintegration).
 TYPES OF WEATHERING

2. Chemical Weathering is the alteration of

minerals by chemical reactions with water,
gases of the atmosphere, or solutions,
resulting in the dissolving or breaking down
of the minerals in rocks (decomposition).
 TYPES OF PHYSICAL
WEATHERING
1. Wedging effects / Ice wedging repeated
freezing and thawing of water in the pores
and small cracks of solid rocks.
2. Temperature change repeated heating up
and cooling down makes the rock expand
and contract day after day, eventually
weakens and shatter the rock.
 TYPES OF PHYSICAL
WEATHERING
3. Effects of reduced pressure as more
weathered materials are removed from the
surface, the downward pressure from the
weight of material on the rock below becomes
less. The rock below begins to expand
upward, fracturing into concentric sheets.
 TYPES OF PHYSICAL
WEATHERING
These curved, sheetlike plates fall away in a
process called exfoliation.
Exfoliation is the term given to the process
of spalling off of layers of rocks, analogous
to peeling layers from an onion.
 TYPES OF PHYSICAL
WEATHERING
4. Organic activity activities of organisms
such as animals, humans and even plants also
can be considered to contribute to physical
weathering of rocks.
 TYPES OF CHEMICAL
WEATHERING
1. Oxidation is a reaction between oxygen
and the minerals making up rocks.
2. Carbonation is a reaction between
carbonic acid and the minerals up rocks.
3. Hydration is a reaction between water
and the minerals of rocks.
OBJECTIVE # 4:

Discuss the formation of soils.

 SOIL FORMATION
Soil is formed when rocks continuously
weathered.
As rocks weather, they break into smaller
pieces.
These pieces still break down into even
smaller pieces to form soil.
 COMPOSITION OF SOIL
Weathering produces rock and mineral
fragments that cover most of the land
surface.
This layer of weathered debris is called
regolith.
 COMPOSITION OF SOIL
Soil is a combination of mineral and organic
matter, water and air.
A good quality surface soil is a mixture of
disintegrated and decomposed rock
(mineral matter) and decayed remains of
animals and plant life (humus).
 FACTORS IN SOIL FORMATION
1. Parent material
2. Time
3. Climate
4. Plants and Animals
5. Topography / Slope