Either a sedimentary or an igneous rock, which has been altered by the combined activities of heat, pressure and chemical action, becomes a metamorphic rock. The process is essentially one, during which the layers of rock come under the influence of such temperatures as are associated with the formation of granite or lavas. Such material as is actually melted becomes igneous rock, but adjacent to the masses actually melted are other rocks which do not melt but, according to the temperature, are more or less changed, and these are the metamorphic rocks. At a distance from the molten masses the changes are minor, but close to the molten magmas extensive changes take place. Though not actually melted the rock near the heat center may be softened, usually is, in which case pebbles and grains or even crystals become soft and plastic, and, as a result of the great pressure, are flattened, giving the rock, when it cools again, a striated appearance. At these high temperatures the water in the rock and also some other substances vaporize, and the hot steam and vapor are active agents in making a great many chemical changes. In some cases material like clay is changed into micas, or chlorite, etc.; in other cases the elements of a mineral will be segregated and large crystals will appear scattered through the metamorphic rock, such as garnets, staurolites, etc.
If one studies a layer of rock both near and far from the molten mass, all grades of change will appear. For example, at a distance a conglomerate maybe unaltered; somewhat nearer the molten mass, the heat and steam may have softened (but not melted) the pebbles and then the pressure has flattened them as though they were dough; and nearest the molten mass, the outlines of the pebbles are lost, only a layered effect remaining, and many of the materials have changed into new minerals, like mica, garnets, etc., but still the layered effect is preserved.
One of the effects of heat and pressure is to flatten the component particles of the rock, so that it tends to split in a direction at right angles to the direction of the pressure, just as particles of flour are softened and flattened under the pressure of the roller; and then when the crust is baked it splits or cleaves at right angles to the direction in which the pressure was exerted by the roller. This tendency to split is not to be confused with either the layering, characteristic of sedimentary rocks, nor the cleavage characteristic of minerals. It has nothing to do with the way the particles were originally deposited, nor with their cleavage; but is due to the pressure, and resembles the pie crust splitting, being irregular and flaky. This is designated schistosity if irregular and slaty cleavage if regular. Schistosity refers to the flaky manner of splitting into thin scales as in mica schists. Slaty cleavage is more regular, this being due to the fact that the material of which slate is made is small particles of clay of uniform size.
The metamorphic rocks are generally more or less folded, as they are always associated with mountain making. These major folds are of large size, from a hundred feet across to several miles from one side to the other. Such folds may also occur in sedimentary rocks or even in igneous rocks and simply express the great lines of yielding, or movement of the crust of the earth. In addition to this there is minor folding or contorting which is characteristic of metamorphic rocks only. When the rocks were heated by their nearness to the molten igneous magmas, they must expand, but being overburdened by thick layers of other rocks, there is no opportunity for yielding vertically, so the layers crumple, making minor folds from a fraction of an inch to a few feet across. Such crumpling, which is so very conspicuous especially where there are bands of quartzite in the rock, is entirely characteristic of metamorphic rocks. It is seen on hosts of the rocks about New York City, all over New England, and in any other metamorphic region. [Plate 63] is a photograph of such a crumpled rock which has been smoothed by the glacial ice.
The metamorphic rocks are the most difficult of all the rocks to determine and understand, because the amount of change through which they have gone is greatest, but for this same reason they offer the most interest, for the agents which caused the changes are of the most dramatic type of any that occur in Nature. From one place to another a single layer of metamorphic rock changes according to the greater or less heat to which it was subjected, making a series of related rocks of the same composition but with varied amount of alteration. For this reason in naming metamorphic rocks, a type is named, and from that there will be gradations in one or more directions, both according to composition, and according to amount of heat involved. If it is possible to follow a given layer of metamorphic rock from one place to another this is of great interest; for by this means, many variations in the type will be found, both those resulting from a different amount of heat, and those due to the local changes in the composition of the original rock.
One further consideration has to be kept in mind. When a rock is metamorphosed the high temperatures either drive off all water, or the water may be used up in the making of some of the complex minerals. When such a metamorphic rock later comes near the surface and is exposed to the presence of ground water, and that leaching down from the surface into the rocks, several of the minerals formed at high temperatures will take up this water and make new minerals such as serpentine, chlorite, etc. They are always associated with metamorphic rocks, and have been metamorphic rocks, but since then have become hydrated, forming minerals not at all characteristic of high temperature.
The following shows the relation of the sedimentary and igneous rocks to their metamorphic equivalents.
| Loose sediment | Consolidated sediment | Metamorphic equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| [gravel] | [conglomerate] | [gneiss] |
| [sand] ([quartz]) | [sandstone] | [quartzite] |
| mud ([sand] and [clay]) | [shale] | [schist] |
| [clay] | [shale] | [slate] or [phyllite] |
| [marl] | [limestone] | [marble] |
| [peat] | [bituminous coal] | [anthracite] to [graphite] |
| coarse igneous rocks such as [granite], [syenite], etc. | [gneiss] | |
| fine igneous rocks such as [trachite], [rhyolite], etc. | [schist] |
In working out the past history of any given region, much of it is done on the basis of this series of equivalents. The finding of limestone, for instance, indicates that the given area was at one time under the sea to a considerable depth, that is from 100 to 1000 feet, but not ocean-bottom depths which run in tens of thousands of feet. Marble indicates the same thing, and so one can go on through all these types of rock.