MINEROLOGY

 Mineralogy: Physical Properties Of Minerals

 Monoclinic System
 Quartz Group
 Felspar Group
 Pyroxenes Group
 Amiphoble Group
 Hornblende
 Mica Group
 Important Question And Answer: Civil - Engineering Geology - Mineralogy
 Notes on Crust, Mantle, Core, Stratosphere and Atmosphere
 Weathering and its significance in engineering construction
 Geological work of wind
 Hydraulic action, Cavitation, Abrasion, Attrition and Corrosion

MINERALOGY
Inorganic substances which has more or less definite atomic structure and chemical composition
It has constant physical property which are used in the identification of mineral in the field It can
be divided into 2 groups

Rock forming mineral: Which are found in abundance of earth crust Ore forming minerals:
which are economic valuable minerals
MINERAL GROPUS:
MINERAL GROUP EXAMPLES
Oxides: Quartz, magnetite, haematite, etc
Silicates: Feldspar, mica, hornblende, augite,
olivine,et
Carbonates: Calcite, dolomite, etc
Sulphides: Pyrites, galena, sphalerite, etc
Sulphates: Gypsum
Chlorite: Rock salt, etc

 Over 4000 mineral exist in earth crust

  All are composed of oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium, potassium, sodium and
magnesium

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

The following are the important physical properties:

i) Color
ii) Streak
iii) Lustre
iv) Structure
v) Hardness
vi) Specific gravity
vii) Cleavage
viii) Fracture
ix) Tenacity
x) Form

Color:

Color is not constant in most of the minerals and commonly the color is due to stain or impurities
in the minerals some minerals show peculiar phenomena connected with color.

Play of colors: It is the development of a series of prismatic colors shown by some minerals or
turning about in light.

Change of colors: It is similar to play of colors that rate of change of colors on rotation is rather
slow.

Iridescene: Some minerals show rainbow colors either in their interior on the surface. This is
termed iridescence.

Streak:

The streak, which is the color of the mineral powder, is more nearly constant than the color. The
streak is determined by marking unglazed porcelain or simply by scratching it with a knife and
observing the color of the powder.

Lustre:
It is the appearance of a fresh surface of a mineral in ordinary reflected light. The following are
the important terms used to denote the lustre of minerals.
Classy or vitreous lustre - Lustre like a broken glass
Metallic lustre - When a mineral has lustre like metal.
Pearly lustre - Lustre like pearls

Structure:

This is a term used to denote the shape and form of minerals. The following are the important
terms used to denote the structures of minerals.

Columnar Structure - The mineral has a thick or thin column like Structures
Bladed Structure - The mineral has blade like structure.
Radiated structure - For columnar of fibrous diverging from central Points
Lamellar structure - The mineral made of separable plates.
Botroidal structure - For an aggregate like bunch of grapes.
Reniform structure - For kindney shaped aggregate.
Hardness:
It is the resistance of mineral offers to abrasion or scratching and is measured relative to a
standard scale of ten minerals known as Moh'scale sof hardness.
Hardness mineral : Name of the
01 Talc
02 Gypsum
03 Calcite
04 Fluorite
05 Apatite
06 Orthoclase
07 Quartz
The scale comprises ten minerals arranged to order of ascending hardness; the softest is assigned
a value of 1 and the hardest value of 10. Hardness of any mineral will lie in between these two
limits.
Specific gravity:
It may be defined as the density of the mineral compared to the density of water and as such
represents a ratio.ie specific gravity of a mineral is the ratio of its weight of an equal volume of
water. Specific gravity of a mineral depends upon the weight and spacing of its atoms.

Cleavage:
It is defined as the tendency of a crystallized mineral to break along certain definite planes
yielding more or less smooth surfaces. Cleavage is related to the internal structure of a mineral.
The cleavage planes area always parallel to some faces of the crystal form typical of mineral. It
is also described on the basis of perfection or the degree of easiness with which minerals can
split along the cleavage planes.
Fracture:
The fractures of a mineral may be defined as the appearance of its broken surface. Common
types of fractures are:
Conchodal fracture - The broken surfaces shows concentric rings Or curved surface.
Even fracture - When the broken surface is smooth and flat.
Uneven fracture - When the mineral breaks with an irregular Surface. It is a common
fracture of many Minerals.
Splintery structure - When the mineral breaks with a rough.
Tenacity:
Important properties related to tenacity of the minerals are expressed by the terms like balances,
flexibility, elasticity, sectility and mellability etc. when a mineral can be cut with a knife it is
termed 'sectile'and if the slice cut out from it can be flattened under a hammer. It is also said
ella'mble''brittle'minerals. Term elastic is used if it regains its former shape as the pressure is
released.

MONOCLINIC SYSTEM
The monoclinic system includes all those forms that can be referred to three crystallographic
axes which are essentially unequal in length and further that can be of these is always inclined.

Axial diagram
All the three axes are unequal, they are designated by the letters a, b and c. The c axis is always
vertical. The inclined axis is a- axis. It is inclined towards the observer and is also referred as
clino axis.
Normal class symmetry
There are three symmetry classes placed in monoclinic system. The symmetry of the normal
class is as given below:
a) Axis of Symmetry
1 axis of two fold symmetry only
b) Planes of symmetry
1 plane of symmetry only. And a centre of symmetry. The plane of symmetry is that plane which
contains the crystallographic axes a and c
Forms
The common forms of this system are
1) Pinacoid
it is an open from of two faces, each face being parallel to the two axes and cutting the
third at a unit length .Three pinacoids are distinguished in the monoclinic system.
2. Domes
A dome is also form of two faces, each face meeting the vertical axis and one of the
other two axes. It is a parallel to the third axis. Two types of domes are recognized:
i) Orthodome
ii) ii) Clinodome
3. Prisms
There are three types of prisms is there;
i) Unit prism
ii) Orthoprism
iii) Clinoprism

4. Pyramid
These are closed forms and in these each face meets all the three axes.
i) Unit pyramid
ii) Orthopyrmaid
iii) Clinopyramid
Form:
The internal atomic arrangement of a mineral is manifested outwardly by development if
geometrical shapes or crystal characters. The forms may be following three types:
i crystallized - When the mineral occurs in the form of well defined crystals.
ii Amorphous - When it shows absolutely no signs or evidence of crystallization.
iiiCrystalline - when well-defined crystals are absent but a marked tendency Towards
crystallization.
Miscellaneous:
Some of the special properties are mentioned below:
Magnetism:
Some minerals are highly magnetic,e,g magnetic, whereas few others may be feebly
magnetic like spinals and tourmaline.
Electricity:
Some minerals an electric charge may be developed by heating in some others same
effect results by applying pressure.
Fluorescence:
This term express property of some minerals to emit light when exposed to radiation.
Phosphorescence:
It is similar to fluorescence in essential character but in this case light is emitted not during the
act of exposure to radiation but after the substance is transferred rapidly to dark place.

QUARTZ GROUP
It is an important rock forming mineral next to feldspar It is a non- metallic efractory mineral

It is a silicate group

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF QUARTZ:

CRYSTAL SYSTEM: Hexagonal

HABIT: Crystalline or amorphous
FRACTURE: Conchoidal
HARDNESS: 7
SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 2.65-2.66(LOW)
STREAK: No
TRANSPARENCY: Transparent/semi-transparent/opaque
POLYMORPHISM TRANSFORMATION:
Quartz,tridymite,crystotallite,melt

COLOURED VARIETIES:
Pure quartz is always colourless and transparent
Presence of impurities the mineral showing colour they
Amethyst: purple or violet
Smoky quartz: shades of grey
Milky quartz: light brown, pure white, opaque
Rose quartz: rose

FELSPAR GROUP
It is most abundant of all minerals.
It is used for making more than 50% by weight crust of earth It is non-metallic and silicate
minerals

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION:
 Potash feldspar KAlSi3 O8
 Soda-lime feldspar NaAlSi3O8 (OR) CaAl2Si2O8

VARITIES OF POTASH

FELSPAR: Orthoclase
Sanidine
Microcline

SODA LIME FELSPAR:

Albite
Oligoclase
Andecine
Amarthitie
Labrodorie

GENERAL PHYSICAL:

CRYSTAL SYSTEM: monoclinic,triclinic

HABIT: Tabular (crystalline)

CLEAVAGE: Perfect( 2- directional)

PYROXENES GROUP
It is important group of rock forming minerals.
They are commonly occur in dark colours, igneous and metamorphic rocks They are rich in
calcium, magnesium, iron, silicates
It show single chain structure of silicate
It is classified into orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. It is based on internal atomic structure

ORTHOPYROX ENE: Enstatite

(MgSiO3)
 Hyperthene [(Mg,Fe)SiO3]

CLINOPYROXENE:

Augite [(Ca, Na) (Mg, Fe, Al) (Al,

Si)2O6] Diopside [CaMgSi2O6]

Hedenbergite[CaFeSi2O6]

AUGITE:

CRYSTAL SYSTEM: Monoclinic

HABIT: Crystalline

CLEAVAGE: Good ( primastic cleavage)

FRACTURE: Conchoidal

COLOUR: shades of greyish green and black

LUSTRE: vitreous

HARDNESS: 5-6

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: medium

STREAK: white

OCCURRENCE: ferro magnesium mineral of igneous rock (dolerite)

USES: rock forming mineral

COMPOSITON: [(Ca, Na) (Mg, Fe, Al) (Al, Si)2O6]

TRANSPARENCY: Translucent/opaque

AMIPHOBLE GROUP

These are closely related to pyroxene group It shows double chain silicate structure.
Rich in calcium, magnesium, iron oxide and Mn, Na, K and H.
CLASSIFICATION:
1. Orthorhombic
2. Monoclinic
a. Hornblende
b. Tremolite
c. Actinolite

HORNBLENDE:
(COMPOUND-COMPLEX SILICATE) CRYSTAL SYSTEM: Monoc;inic

HABIT: crystalline
CLEAVAGE: good(prismatic) FRACTURE: conchoidal

COLOUR: dark green, dark brown black

LUSTRE: vitreous

HARDNESS: 5 to 6

SPECIFIC GRRAVITY: 3 to 3.5 (medium)

STREAK: colourless or white

COMPOSITION: hydrous silicates of Ca, Na,

Mg, Al TRANSPARENCY: translucent/opaque
OCCURRENCE: found in igneous rocks

USES: road material

MICA GROUP
Form sheet like structure
Can be spilt into very thin sheets along one direction Aluminium and magnesium are
rich Occupy 4% of earth crust

HORNBLENDE:
(COMPOUND-COMPLEX SILICATE) CRYSTAL SYSTEM: Monoc;inic

HABIT: crystalline
CLEAVAGE: good(prismatic) FRACTURE: conchoidal
 COLOUR: dark green, dark brown black
LUSTRE: vitreous

HARDNESS: 5 to 6

SPECIFIC GRRAVITY: 3 to 3.5 (medium)

STREAK: colourless or white

COMPOSITION: hydrous silicates of Ca, Na,

Mg, Al TRANSPARENCY: translucent/opaque
OCCURRENCE: found in igneous rocks

USES: road material

Important Question And Answer: Civil - Engineering Geology - Mineralogy

1) Define mineralogy.

It is defined as naturally occurring inorganic solid substance that is characterized with a

definite chemical composition and very often with a definite atomic structure. It is a branch of
geology, which deals with the various aspects related to minerals such as their individual
properties their mode of formation and mode of occurrence.

2) How are minerals are identified and what are the symmetry elements of crystal?

Their colour, streak, hardness, cleavage, crystal form, specific gravity and lustre
generally identify minerals. The symmetry elements are:

i) Plane of symmetry
ii) Axis of symmetry
iii) Centre of Symmetry

3) What are the physical properties of minerals?

The physical properties are:

i) Colour
ii) Lustre
iii) Streak
iv) Hardness
v) Cleavage
vi) Fracture
 vii) Tenacity
viii) Structure
ix) Specific gravity
x) Form
xi) Miscellaneous

4) Define streak.

Streak is the colour of the finely powdered mineral as obtained by scratching or rubbing
the mineral over a rough unglazed porcelain plate. The plate often named as streak plate. It is
important and diagnostic property of many coloured minerals.

5) What is mean by fracture and types of fracture?

The appearance of the broken surface of a mineral in a direction other than that of
cleavage is generally expressed by the term fracture. The types are:

i) Even
ii) Uneven
iii) Conchoidal
iv) Splintry
v) Hackly
vi) Earthy

7) Define Planes/axis/Centre of symmetry.

Plane of symmetry:

It divides a crystal into similar and similarly placed halves. This plane provides crystal so
that one half is the mirror image of the other.

Axis of symmetry:

If is a crystal one being rotated, come to occupy the same position in space more than one
in a complete turn, the axis about which rotation taken place is called an axis of symmetry.

Centre of symmetry:

A crystal has a centre of symmetry when like faces; edges are arranged in pairs in
corresponding positions on opposite sides of a central point. The cube and bricks obviously have
centre of symmetry.

9) What is mean by holohedral form?

 The maximum symmetry elements of the system. The form is having all the faces, which
have same position with regard to the crystallographic axis. The highest symmetry elements of
the system. The forms present in normal class of the system are holohedral form since it has the
maximum symmetry elements than the other classes.

10) Define hexagonal system.

All those crystals, which can be referred to four crystallographic axes of which three axes

are horizontal, equal interchangeable and intersecting each other at 120 0 between the positive
ends. The fourth axes are vertical and at right angles to the three horizontal axes, are grouped
under hexagonal system.

11) Give the physical properties and uses of mica?

The mica group only muscovite and biotite are of common occurrence as rock forming minerals.
S.no properties muscovite biotite
1 Colour Transparent, gey or light brown Brown to black
2 Streak Uncoloured Same as colour
3 Cleavage perfect perfect
4 Lustre Vitreous Vitreous
5 Hardness 2-2-5 2-2-5
6 Specific gravity 2.8-3.1 2.6-3.1
7 System Monoclinic Monoclinic
12) What are the chemical compositions in feldspar group?

The feldspars are chiefly aluminosilicates of Na, K and Ca with following general
formula:

WZ4O8

In which = Na, K, Ca ad Ba and Z = Si and Al

Some examples of chemical composition of feldspar minerals are

i) Na Al Sio3 O8 ii) K Al Sio3 O8 iii) Ca Al2 Si2O8

13) Mention the various types of forms?

Any group of similar faces showing identical mathematical relations with

crystallographic axes makes a form. Forms are further distinguished into the following types:
 a) Holohedral form
b) Hemihedral form
c) Hemimorphic form
d) Enantiomorphic form
e) Fundamental form
f) Open and closed form

14) What are the five symmetry classes in Isometric system?

The types are:

a) Axes of symmetry: 13 in all

3 are axes of four-fold symmetry

4 are axes of three-fold symmetry
6 are axes two fold of symmetry
b) Planes of Symmetry: 9 in all

3 planes of symmetry are at right angles to each other and are termed the principal planes;

6 planes f symmetry are diagonal in position and bisect the angles between the principal
planes.

15) Define tetragonal system?

The tetragonal system includes all those crystals, which can be referred to three
crystallographic axes so that two axes are equal, interchangeable and horizontal in positions. The
third axis is either longer or shorter than the other two and is vertical in position and all three
axes are mutually at right angles to each other.

16) Give the three types of pyramid.

Three types of pyramid:

i) Pyramid of first order: eight faces; each face cuts the two horizontal axis at equal length
besides intersecting the vertical axis.

ii) Pyramid of second order: Eight faces; each face cuts only one of the two horizontal axes.

iii) Pyramid of third order: It is also called ditetragonal pyramid is a closed form of 16
faces in which each face cuts all the three crystallographic axes.

17) Draw the axial diagram for orthorhombic system?

The three crystallographic axes are arbitrarily designated as a, b and c. The b axis is always
longer of the two horizontal axes and is also designated as micro axis. The a axis being shorter is
designated as brachy axis.
18) Define dome and types of domes?
A dome is defined as a form whose faces essentially meets the vertical axis and are parallel to
one of the two horizontal axes. Two types of domes:

i) Macrodome: An open form of two faces in which each face meets the vertical axis and the a-
axis and is parallel to the macro axis.

ii) Brachycome: An open from of two faces each face is parallel to the brachy axis and meets the
other two axes.

19) What are the forms allowed in monoclinic system?

The forms are:
i) Pinacoids
a) a- pinacoid
b) b-pinacoid
c) c-pinacoid

ii) Domes
a) Orthodome
b) Clinodome

iii) Prims

a) Unit prism
b) Orthoprism
c) Clinoprism
iv) Pyramids
a) Unit pyramid
b) Orthopyramid
c) Clino pyramid

20) Write short notes on:

i) Twin plane

ii) Twin axis

Twin plane:
It is a common to both the halves of the crystal and across which one half may appear to
be the reflection of the other. Any pale parallel to a crystal face may be a twin plane.

Twin axis:
 It is a crystallographic direction along which a rotation of some degrees seems to have
produced the resultant twins. In other words if a backward rotation to the same extent is possible
to be given the two parts should take the form of a singe crystal.

21) What is the common twin law in Hexagonal system?

The laws are:

Brazillian Law: In this law the prism of IInd order is twin plane.

Dauphine law: In this law c-axis is the twinning axis. Twins are generally intergrown

Japanese law: It contact twins result on this law in which pyramid is a twinning plane.

22) Define peat.

It is a essentially a partly changed vegetable matter in the first stage of transformation to coal.
The vegetable structure is easily visible and the evidence of its being in the process of
transformation is also clearly seen. Peat is generally composed of remains of moss like plants
but

23) What is mean by cannel coal?

It is a type of bituminous coal, which is exceptionally rich in spores, and resins of plants, which
are believed to have been deposited by wind in subsequence condition. The cannel coal is
sometimes further distinguished as bog head coal, if in its constitution the algal remains are
dominating over the spores and resins.

24) What are the possibilities may suggest in Inorganic theories?

The possibilities are:

i) Reaction of alkali metals

ii) Reaction of iron carbide
iii) Concentration

iv) Decomposition

25) Give any one factor in controlling the accumulation?

Lithology: Certain types of rocks are better suited as reservoirs because of their
inherent qualities of permeability and effective porosity. Rocks with effective porosity of greater
than 15 percent and permeability greater than 1000 millidarcies are considered 'A' class
reservoirs.

SYMMETRY AND CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC AXIS

 i) Symmetry
ii) Crystallographic axis

Symmetry:
Symmetry is understood a sort of regularity in the arrangement of faces on the body of a crystal.
Symmetry is a property of fundamental importance for a crystal. It can be studied with reference
to three different characters, commonly called elements of symmetry. These are:

A plane of symmetry An axis of symmetry Centre of symmetry

A plane of symmetry

Any imaginary plane passing through the centre of a crystal in such a way that it divides
the crystal in two exactly similar halves is called plane of symmetry. In other words, a plane of
symmetry is said to exist in a crystal when for each face, edge or solid angle there is another
similar face, edge or solid angle occupying identical position on the opposite side of this plane.

An axis of symmetry:
It is defined as an imaginary line in a crystal passing through its centre in such a way that
when a crystal is given a complete rotation along this line a certain cryatl face comes to occupy
the same position at least twice. The nature of the axis of the symmetry into one of four types:

Axis of Binary or twofold symmetry

This requires that a crystal must be rotated by an angle of 180 o to bring the reference face
occupy the same position.

Axis of Trigonal or threefold symmetry

It is that axis on which a crystal must be rotated by an angle of 120 o for a reference face
to occupy the same position again in space.

Axis of tetragonal or fourfold symmetry

It is that axis on which the crystal must be rotated by an angle of 90 0 to bring a reference
face in the same position in space.

Axis of hexagonal or six fold symmetry:

In which a rotation of 600 is required to fulfil the condition of repetition of reference face.

Centre of symmetry. A crystal said to possess a centre of symmetry if on passing an imaginary

line from some definite face, edge or corner on one side of the crystal through its centre another
exactly similar face or edge or corner is found on the other side at an equal distance from the
centre.

ii) CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC AXES

These are also termed as axes of reference and are simply certain imaginary lines arbitrarily
selected in such a way that all of them pass though centre of an ideal crystal. The concept of axes
of reference is based on the fact that exact mathematical relations exist between all the faces on a
given crystal with reference to its centre.

In crystallography following general assumptions have been universally agreed upon regarding
these crystallographic lines:

a) Three Straight Lines, essentially passing though a common centre and varying in mutual
relationships with respect to their lengths and angular inclinations from: all equal,
Interchangable and it right to all unequal and inclined with each other.

b) Four straight lines, essentially passing through a common centre; one vertical, being
unequal to the other three but at right angles to them. The three horizontal axes are separated
from each other at 1200

The concept of crystallographic axis has been the basis of classifying all, the crystalline
substances into six crystal systems.

Isometric, Hexagonal and Monoclinic system

Isometric system:
Definition:

All those crystals that can be referred to three crystallographic axes, which are essentially
equal in length at right angles to each other, and mutually interchangeable, are said to belong to
the isomeric or cubic system.

Axial diagram

Since all the three axes are equal and interchangeable these are represented by the letter a. In the
study position however the axes may be designated as a1,a2 and a3 the last being vertical.
Classes
Five symmetry classes fall in the Isometric system by virtue of their country The normal
class is known as galena type. It has got the following symmetry.

a) Axes of symmetry:
13 in all
3 are axes of four-fold symmetry
4 are axes of three-fold symmetry
6 are axes two fold of symmetry
b) Planes of Symmetry: 9 in all

3 planes of symmetry are at right angles to each other and are termed the principal planes;

6 planes f symmetry are diagonal in position and bisect the angles between the principal
planes.

c) It has centre of symmetry.

Forms

Following are the forms that commonly develop in the crystals belonging to isometric
system.

1. Cube: A form bounded by six similar square faces each of which is parallel to two of three
crystallographic axes and meets the third axis.

2. Octahedron: A form bounded by eight similar faces each of the shape of an equilateral triangle
each meeting the three crystallographic axes at equal distances.

3. Dodecahdraon: It is form with twelves similar faces each of which is parallel to one of the
three crystallographic axes and meets the other two at equal distances.

4. Trisoctahedron: A form of twenty four faces; each face meeting two axes at unit length and to
the third at greater that unity.

5.Trapezohedran: A forms of 24 faces each faces meeting one axes at unit length and to the other
two at greater than unity.

6. Hexaoctahedran: 48 faces; each face meets the three axis at unequal distances.
 7. Tetra hexahedron: 24 faces each face meeting one axes and meet other to at unequal distance
which are simple multiple of each other.

Other classes:

Isometric system comprises five symmetry classes in all. Beside the normal class following three
classes are also represented among the minerals.

1.Pyritohedral Class

a) Symmetry : 7 axes of symmetry of which 3 are axial axes of two fold symmetry 4 are
diagonal axes of two fold symmetry,3 planes of symmetry. A centre of symmetry.
b) Forms : Pyritohedran and Diploid are two typical forms of this symmetry class. Diploid is a
closed form of twenty-four faces that typically occur in pairs.

2.Tetrahedral class
a) Symmetry : 7 axes of symmetry, 6 planes of symmetry diagonal, no centre of symmetry.
b) Forms : Most typical form of this class is a four-sided solid in which each face is an
equilateral triangle. It is termed tetrahedron. It has a general symbol.

Hexagonal system
All those crystals, which can be referred to four crystallographic axes of which

i.Three axes are horizontal, equal, interchangeable and intersecting each other at 120 0 between
the positive ends.

ii.The fourth axes are vertical and at right angles to the three horizontal axes are grouped under
the hexagonal system.

Axial diagram

The horizontal axes all being equal are designated by the letter a(a1,a2,a3)and the
vertical axis by the letter 'c' as usual.

Forms
Forms of hexagonal system differ in character from forms of all the other systems in that their
parameters, indices and symbols are determined with respect to four crystallographic axes. Thus
the general form expresses the relation of any hexagonal form.
1. Base: An open form of two faces in which each face meets the vertical axis only.

2. Prisms: A prism as defined earlier is an open form in which each face is essentially parallel to
the vertical axis.

Following three types of prisms are met with in the hexagonal system.

a) Prism of 1st order. An open form of six faces in which each face is parallel to one of the
three horizontal axes besides the vertical axis. It cuts the two horizontal axes at unit
length.

b) Prism of 2nd order. An open form of six faces like prism of 1 st order but in this case each
face cuts all the three horizontal axes, two axes at equal length and to the third at greater
length.

c) Prism of 3rd order: It is also called a dihexagonal prism as it has double the number of
faces compared to the six faces of prism of 1st order.

Monoclinic system

The monoclinic system includes all those forms that can be referred to three
crystallographic axes which are essentially unequal in length and further that can be of these is
always inclined.

Axial diagram

All the three axes are unequal, they are designated by the letters a, b and c. The c axis is
always vertical. The inclined axis is a- axis. It is inclined towards the observer and is also
referred as clino axis.

Normal class symmetry

There are three symmetry classes placed in monoclinic system. The symmetry of the normal
class is as given below:

a) Axis of Symmetry : 1 axis of two fold symmetry only

b) Planes of symmetry : 1 plane of symmetry only. And a centre of symmetry. The plane of
symmetry is that plane which contains the crystallographic axes a and c.

Forms
The common forms of this system are

1) Pinacoid

it is an open from of two faces, each face being parallel to the two axes and cutting the
third at a unit length .Three pinacoids are distinguished in the monoclinic system.

2. Domes

A dome is also form of two faces, each face meeting the vertical axis and one of the
other two axes. It is a parallel to the third axis. Two types of domes are recognized:

i)

Orthodome
ii) Clinodome

3. Prisms

There are three types of prisms is there;

i) Unit prism
ii) Orthoprism
iii) Clinoprism

4. Pyramid

These are closed forms and in these each face meets all the three axes.

i) Unit pyramid
ii) Orthopyrmaid

iii) Clinopyramid

Twinning and types of twin and common twin laws

A group of two crystals mutually united and intimately related are called TWINS and the
phenomenon of their formation is called twinning.

Terminology
 Terms commonly used in the explanation of twin Laws are: Twin plane, Twin axis, and
composition plane.

Twin plane:

It is such a plane in a twin crystal, which is common to both the halves of the crystal and
across which one half may appear to be the reflection of the other.

Twin axis:

It is a crystallographic direction along which a rotation of some degrees seems to have

produced the resultant twins. The twin axis is other than the axis of two fold, four fold, and
symmetry.

Types of twins:
The following types are:

Contact Twins:

In this type the component parts of a twin crystal are held together along a well defined
composition plane.

Penetration twins:

In these twins the contact plane is not well defined. In fact the two parts of twin crystal
may appear to be inter penetrating to each other.

Simple Twins:

When a twin crystals has very well defined two halves held together according to easily
understanding relationships these may be said as simple twins.

Common twin laws

Following is a brief outline of the most commonly observed twin laws in different
crystallographic system.

Isometric system

Spinal law:
 It is so named because of its presence in minerals of spinal group. In this law, octahedral
face is the twin palce, which is also in most cases.

Tetragonal system

Rutile law

The face of pyramid of IInd order is the twinning plane. This is the most common law for the
crystals of the tetragonal system.
Hexagonal system

Brazilian Law:

In this law the prism of IInd order is a twin plane. Quartz shows development of twins
according to this law.

Dauphine law:

In this law c-axis is the twinning axis. Twins are generally intergrown. Some quartz twin
also based on this law.

Japanese law:

Contact twins result on this law in which pyramid is a twinning plane.

Orthorhombic system

In this system, crystals show twinning in a variety of ways of which following are more
common.

a) When the prism angle is about 600 and the twinning is

repeated. b) When the prism angle is 700
Staurolite Twinning. This mineral shows cruciform twins of two types.

Right angled cross: These result when the face is a twinning plane
Sea horse twin in which the face is a twin plane.

In both cases the twins are of penetration type.

Monoclinic system
The following laws are the most common and in no case exclusive.

Carlsbad law:

The c-axis is the twinning axis. The minerals commonly show interpenetration or contact
type of twinning.

Baveno law:

The mineral shows twining with clino dome as the twinning plane.

Man Bach law:

Here, the basal pinacoid is a twinning plane.

Triclinic system

Albite law
In this plane parallel to b-pinacoid is the twinning plane.

Per cline law

The twinning axis is easily defined as the one parallel to b-axis. The twins may be repeated
polysynthetic type.

Classification and formation of coal

The term coal is generally applied to a sedimentary formation of highly carbonaceous

character that is derived from vegetable matter involving set of process such as burial,
compaction and biochemical transformation.

Classification

A number of classifications for coals are available of these the one most widely adopted
is based on the rank of coal that defines degree of transformation of wood into coal through the
natural processes of deposition, compaction and biochemical changes.

Peat
 It is essentially a partly changed vegetable mater in the first stage of transformation to
coal. The vegetable structure is easily visible and the evidence of its being in the processes of
transformation. to coal. Peat is generally composed of remains of moss like plants but
occasionally may contain reeds and partially altered portions of trees of higher order.

Types: Two types of peat are commonly recognized:

i) Bog Peat, which is evolved out of lower type of vegetation, like mosses.
ii) Mountain Peat that is decomposed and partially altered form of higher type's of
trees.

Uses:

Peat is a low value fuel in its application .It finds uses where available in abundance as i)
Domestic fuel ii) gas purifier iii) For steam raising.

Lignite

It is a variously coloured variety of coal of lowest rank. In lignite transformation of

vegetable matter to coal like material is almost complete. Fibrous texture is also shown by some
lignite's.

Composition: Typical lignite has following composition:

Fixed Carbon : 50 percent; oxygen 20-25 percent Hydrogen : 05 perecnt;nitrogen 02-05

percent Sulphur: 01-02 percent.

Uses: These are used as domestic fuels and also in industry for distillation and gasification. This
variety of coal has also been used in steam locomotives and for producing gas.

Bituminous

It is also known as the common coal,someties as coking coal and is ,in fact, the most
common and important variety commercial coals. These are commonly black in colour, compact
in structure breaking into almost cubical fragments when struck with hammer. They have a black
streak. Bituminous coals burn freely leaving only a small mineral residue.

Types and composition:

The common bituminous coal is sometimes distinguished into three different types on the
basis of its carbon content: sub-bituminous, bituminous and semi-bituminous coals.
Anthracite

It is a coal highest rank in which original organic source has been completely transformed
into carbonaceous substance. It is very hard, jet black in colour, compact in structure and
showing an almost metallic luster.

Uses:

Anthracite is a favourite domestic fuel where available. It is also used for steam raising
and other heating purposes. However because of its very low volatile matter content it is
not suitable for making coke.

Formationof coal

There is absolutely no doubt regarding the nature of the source material form
which coal is derived it is certainly always vegetable matter of one type or another. The
two types of sources yielded vegetable material for the formation of the coal.

i) The higher vegetation:

It including herbs, shrubs and trees, growing on the plains, plateaus, sub-
mountaineous and areas and characterized with wood tissue rich in cellulose and lignin
and protein this type of source has been named as the humic sediment.

ii)The lower vegetation:

It comprising chiefly plank tonic algae, as soften found at the bottom of lakes and seas,
submerged under water. This source has been named as sapropelic sediments.

On the basis of place of accumulation of the source material, the environment could be
distinguished as:

Geosynclinal type:

When accumulation took place in great sea basins characterized with considerable depth.

Intermediate type:
When deposition of source material took place along the sea shores at shallower depths.
Platform type:

Such as lagoons, lake basins and marshes and swamps.

In these littoral environments decomposition of cellulose from humic organic matter is an easily
accomplished process. IN other environment also the process may take the route of transport of
source material its accumulation, compaction, dehyfdration and polymerisation to bituminous
coal to anthracite are all environment dependent. These are completed in an better manner in
geosynclinal situations that is under great depths in the presence of heat and pressure and seldom
reach completion in littoral conditions.

Summarisingly the transformation of organic source material into coal takes place due to:

i) Bio chemical decomposition which is achieved by certain type of bacteria

and involves breakdown of organic matter of wood into coal constituents.

ii) Dynamo chemical transformation which involves alteration of original coal structure into
more compact, metamorphosed varieties chiefly under the influence of temperature and pressure
factors.

PETROLOGY

IGNEOUS ROCKS

� Rocks that have formed from an originally hot molten material through the process of
cooling and crystallization may be defined as igneous rocks.

Important Conditions For The Original Material

� very high temperature and

� a molten state

COMPOSITION

Magma
1 The hot molten material occurring naturally below the surface of the Earth is called
magma.
 2 It is called lava when erupted through volcanoes.
3 Igneous rocks are formed both from magma and lava.
4 It maybe mentioned here that magma is actually a hypothetical melt.

5 Lava is a thoroughly studied material that has poured out occasionally from volcanoes in
many regions of the world again and again.

6 Magma or lava from which igneous rocks are formed may not be entirely a pure melt: it
may have a crystalline or solid fraction and also a gaseous fraction thoroughly mixed with
it.

7 The solid and gaseous fractions, however, form only a small part of the magma or lava,
which are predominantly made up of liquid material igneous rock.

Igneous rocks are divided into following three sub-groups

Volcanic rocks

� These are the igneous rocks formed on the surface of the Earth by cooling and
crystallisation of lava erupted from volcanoes.

� Since the lava cools down at very fast rate (compared to magma), the grain size of the
crystals formed in these rocks is very fine, often microscopic.

Further, cooling of lava may take place on the surface or even under waters of seas and
oceans, the latter process being more common.

Plutonic Rocks

� These are igneous rocks formed at considerable depths-generally between 7-10

km below the surface of the earth.

� Because of a very slow rate of cooling at these depths, the rocks resulting from
magma are coarse grained.

� These rocks get exposed on the surface of the earth as a consequence of erosion of
the overlying strata.
� Granites, Syenites, and Gabbros are a few examples of Plutonic rocks.

Hypabyssal Rocks
 � These igneous rocks are formed at intermediate depths, generally up to 2 kms
below the surface of the earth and exhibit mixed characteristics of volcanic and plutonic rocks.

� Porphyries of various compositions are examples of hypabyssal rocks.

COMPOSITION

Mineralogical composition

� Igneous rocks like other rock groups are characterised by the abundance of only a few,
minerals.
S.No Mineral (%) S.No Mineral (%)

(i) Felspars 59.5

(ii) Pyroxenes & Amphiboles 16.8
(iii Quartz 12.0
(iv) Biotite 3.8
(v) Titanium 1.5
(vi) Apatite 0.6
(vii Accessory Minerals 5.8

1. TEXTURES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

� The term texture is defined as the mutual relationship of different

mineralogical constituents in a rock. It is determined by the size, shape and arrangement of these
constituents within the body of the rock.

Factors Explaining Texture

The following three factors will primarily define the type of texture in a given igneous

rock:
Degree of Crystallization

� In an igneous rock, all the constituent minerals may be present in distinctly crystallized
forms and easily recognized by unaided eye, or, they may be poorly crystallized or be even
glassy or non- crystallized form.

� The resulting rock textures are then described as:

 (i) Holocrystalline: When all the constituent minerals are distinctly
crystallized;

(ii) Holohyaline: When all the constituents are very fine in size and glassy or non crystalline
in nature.

� The term merocrystalline is commonly used to express the intermediate

type, i.e. when some minerals are crystallized and others are of glassy character in the same rock.
� Rocks with holocrystalline texture are also termed as phaneric and the holohyaline
rocks

are referred as aphinitic. The term microcrystalline is used for the textures in which the
minerals are perceivably crystallized but in extremely fine grain.

Granularity

� The grain size of the various components of a rock are the average
dimensions of different constituent minerals which are taken into account to describe the grain
size of the rock as a whole. Thus the rock texture is described as :

(i) Coarse-grained. When the average grain size is above 5 mm; the
constituent minerals

are then easily identified with naked eye.

(ii) Medium-grained. When the average grain size lies between 5 mm and 1
mm. Use of magnifying lens often becomes necessary for identifying ail the constituent mineral
components.

(iii) Fine-grained. When the average grain size is less than 1 mm. In such
rocks, identification of the constituent mineral grains is possible only with the help of
microscope for which very thin rock sections have to be prepared for microscopic studies
 Fabric

� This is a composite term expressing the relative grain size of different mineral
constituents in a rock as well as the degree of perfection in the form of the crystals of the
individual minerals.

� The texture is termed as equigranular when all the component minerals are of
approximately equal dimensions and as inequigranular when some minerals in the rock are
exceptionally larger or smaller than the other.

� Similarly, the shape or form of the crystals, which is best seen only in thin sections
under microscope, may be described as perfect, semi perfect or totally irregular. The textural
terms to describe these shapes are, respectively, euhedral, subhedral and anhedral.

� An igneous rock may contain crystals of anyone type in a predominating

proportion;

hence its fabric will be defined by one of the following three terms related to fabric:

(i) Panidiomrphi: when majority of the components are in fully developed

shapes;

(ii) Hypidiomorphic: the rock contains crystals of all the categories: euhedral,
subhedral or anhedral;

(iii) Allotriomorphic: when most of the crystals are of anhedral or irregular

shapes

Types of Textures

These can be broadly divided into five categories:

. Equigranular textures
. Inequigranular textures

. Directive textures
. Intergrowth textures and

. Intergranular textures.

(1) Equigranular Textures

 � All those textures in which majority of constituent crystals of a rock are broadly
equal in size are described as equigranular textures.

� In igneous rocks, these textures are shown by granites and felsites and hence are
also often named as granitic and felsitic textures
� In the granitic texture, the constituents are either all coarse grained or all

medium grained and the crystals show euhedral to subhedral outlines.

� In the felsitic texture, the rock is micro granular, the grains being mostly
microscopic crystals but these invariably show perfect outlines.
� Thus felsitic textures may be described as equigranular and panidiomrphic.

Orthophyric texture is another type of equigranular texture, which is in between

the granitic and felsitic textures. The individual grains are fine in size but not micregranular.

(2) Inequigranular Texture

� Igneous textures in which the majority of constituent minerals show marked

difference in their relative grain size are grouped as inequigranular texture.
� Porphyritic and Poiklitic textures are important examples of such textures.

� Porphyritic Texture is characterised by the presence of a few conspicuously large

sized crystals

(the phenocrysts) which are embedded in a fine-grained ground mass or matrix.

� The texture is sometimes further distinguished into mega-porphyritic and

microporphyritic depending upon the size of the phenocrysts.

Difference in. molecular concentration

� When the magma is rich in molecules of particular mineral, the latter has better chance to
grow into big crystals which may get embedded in the fine-grained mass resulting from the
deficient components.

Change in physico-chemical conditions.

 � Every magma is surrounded by a set of physico-chemical conditions
like temperature, pressure and chemical composition, which influence the trend of crystallisation
greatly.

� Abrupt and discontinuous changes in these textures may result in the

formation of the crystals of unequal dimensions.
� Thus, magma crystallizing at great depths may produce well-defined,
large sized crystals.

� When the same magma (carrying with it these large crystals) moves
upward, the pressure and temperature acting on it are greatly reduced.

� Crystallisation in the upper levels of magma becomes very rapid

resulting in a fine-grained matrix that contains the big sized crystals formed earlier.

Relative insolubility

� During the process of crystallisation, their crystal grains get enlarged whereas crystals
of other soluble constituents get mixed up again with the magma; thus, the relatively insoluble
constituents form the phenocrysts

� And the soluble constituents make up the ground mass crystallizing towards the end.

(3) Directive Textures

The textures that indicate the result of flow of magma during the formation of rocks
are known as directive textures.

� These exhibit perfect or semi perfect parallelism of crystals or crystallites in the

direction of the flow of magma.
� Trachytic and Trachytoid textures are common examples.

� The former is characteristic of certain felspathic lavas and is recognised by a parallel

arrangement of felspar crystals; the latter is found in some syenites.
(4) Intergrowth Textures

� During the formation of the igneous rocks, sometimes two or more minerals
may crystallize out simultaneously in a limited space so that the resulting crystals are mixed up
or intergrown.
� This type of mutual arrangement is expressed by the term intergrowth texture.
� Graphic and granophyric textures are examples of the intergrowth textures.
 � In graphic texture, the intergrowth is most conspicuous and regular between
quartz and felspar crystals. In granophyric textures the intergrowth is rather irregular.

(5) Intergranular Textures

� In certain igneous rocks crystals formed at earlier stages may get so arranged that
polygonal or trigonal spaces are left in between them.
� These spaces get filled subsequently during the process of rock formation by
crystalline or glassy

masses of other minerals.

� The texture so produced is called an intergranular texture. Sometimes the texture is

specifically termed intersertal if the material filling the spaces is glassy in nature.

2.FORMS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

An igneous mass will acquire on cooling depends on a number of factors such as

(a) the structural disposition of the host rock (also called the country rock)

(b) the viscosity of the magma or lava

(c) the composition of the magma or lava

(d) the environment in which injection of magma or eruption of lava takes place.

It is possible to divide the various forms of igneous intrusions into two broad classes:

All those intrusions in which the magma has been injected and cooled along or parallel to
the structural planes of the host rocks are grouped as concordant bodies.

Forms of concordant bodies Sills

� The igneous intrusions that have been injected along or between the
bedding planes or sedimentary sequence are known as sills.

� It is typical of sills that their thickness is much small than their width
and length. Moreover, this body commonly thins out or tapers along its outer margins.
 The upper and lower margins of sills commo11ly show a comparatively finer
grain size than their interior portions. This is explained by relatively faster cooling of
magmatic injection at

these positions

� In length, sills may vary from a few centimeters to hundreds of meters

Sills are commonly subdivided into following types:

(a) Simple Sills: formed of a single intrusion of magma;

(b) Multiple Sills: which consist of two or more injections, which are essentially
of the same kind of magma;

(c) Composite Sills: which result from two or more injections of different types
of magma;

(d) Differentiated Sills: these are exceptionally large, sheet-like injections of

magma in which there has been segregation of minerals formed at various stages of
crystallisation into separate layers or zones.

(e)Interformational Sheets: the sheet of magma injected along or in between the planes of
unconformity in a sequence are specially termed as interformational sheets. These resemble the
sills in all other general details.

� These arecordant, small sized intrusive that occupy positions in the troughs and
crests of bends called folds. In outline, these bodies are doubly convex and appear crescents or
half-moon shaped in cross-section.

� As regards their origin, it is thought that when magma is injected into a folded
sequence of rocks, it passes to the crests and troughs almost passively i.e. without exerting much
pressure.

Phacoliths
 Lacocothis

� These are concordant intrusions due to which the invaded strata have
been arched up or deformed into a dome.
� The igneous mass itself has a flat or concave base and a dome shaped
top.

� Laccoliths are formed when the magma being injected is considerably

viscous so that it is unable to flow and spread for greater distances.

Instead, it gets collected in the form of a heap about the orifice of eruption. As the magma is
injected with sufficient pressure, it makes room for itself by arching up the overlying strata.

� Extreme types of laccoliths are called bysmaliths and in these the

overlying strata get ultimately fractured at the top of the dome because of continuous injections
from below.

Lopoliths

� Those igneous intrusions, which are associated with structural basins, that are
sedimentary beds inclined towards a common centre, are termed as lopoliths.
.

� It is believed that in the origin of the lopoliths, the formation of structural basin
and the injection of magma are "contemporaneous", that is, broadly simultaneous.

DISCORDANT BODIES

� All those intrusive bodies that have been injected into the strata without being influenced
by their structural disposition (dip and strike) and thus traverse across or oblique to the bedding
planes etc. are grouped as discordant bodies.
 � Important types of discordant intrusions are dykes, volcanic necks and batholiths.

� These may be defined as columnar bodies of igneous rocks that cut across the bedding
plane or unconformities or cleavage planes and similar structures.

� Dykes are formed by the intrusion of magma into pre-existing fractures.

� It depends on the nature of magma and the character of the invaded rock whether the
walls of the fracture are pushed apart, that is, it is widened or not.

� Dykes show great variations in their thickness, length, texture and composition.

� They may be only few centimeters or many hundreds of metes thick.

� In composition, dykes are generally made up of hypabyssal rocks like dolerites,

porphyries and lamprophyres, showing all textures between glassy and phaneritic types.

� Cone sheets and Ring Dykes may be considered as the special types of dykes.

� The cone sheets are defined as assemblages of dyke-like injections, which are
generally inclined towards common centres.
� Their outcrops are arcuate in outline and their inclination is generally between 30
o - 40 o .

� The outer sheets tend to dip more gently as compared to the inner ones

� Ring Dykes are characterised by typically arcuate, closed and ring shaped
outcrops.

� These may be arranged in concentric series, each separated from the other by a
screen of country rock.

They show a great variation in their diameter; their average diameter is around 7 kilometers.
Few ring dykes with diameters ranging up to 25 kms are also known.

� Origin of dykes It has been already mentioned that dykes are intrusions
of magma into pre- existing fractures present in the rocks of the crust.
� These original fractures are generally caused due to tension.
 � Their original width might have been much less than the present thickness of
the dykes.

� This indicates widening of the cracks under the hydrostatic pressure of

magmatic injection.

Volcanic Necks
� In some cases vents of quiet volcanoes have become sealed with the intrusions.

� Such congealed intrusions are termed volcanic necks or volcanic plugs.

� In outline these masses may be circular, semicircular, or irregular and show

considerable variation in their diameter. The country rock generally shows an inwardly dipping
contact.

Batholiths

� These are huge bodies of igneous masses that show both concordant and discordant
relations with the country rock.

� Their dimensions vary considerably but it is generally agreed that to qualify as a

batholith the igneous mass should be greater than 100 square kilometers in area and its depth
should not be

traceable. This is typical of batholiths: they show extensive downward enlargement

� In composition, batholiths may be made of any type of igneous rock.

� They also exhibit many types of textures and structures. But as, a matter of
observation, majority of batholiths shows predominantly granitic composition, texture and
structure.
TEXTURES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

� The term texture is defined as the mutual relationship of different

mineralogical constituents in a rock. It is determined by the size, shape and arrangement of these
constituents within the body of the rock.

Factors Explaining Texture

The following three factors will primarily define the type of texture in a given igneous
 rock:
Degree of Crystallization

� In an igneous rock, all the constituent minerals may be present in distinctly crystallized
forms and easily recognized by unaided eye, or, they may be poorly crystallized or be even
glassy or non- crystallized form.

� The resulting rock textures are then described as:

(i) Holocrystalline: When all the constituent minerals are distinctly

crystallized;

(ii) Holohyaline: When all the constituents are very fine in size and glassy or non crystalline
in nature.

� The term merocrystalline is commonly used to express the intermediate

type, i.e. when some minerals are crystallized and others are of glassy character in the same rock.
� Rocks with holocrystalline texture are also termed as phaneric and the holohyaline
rocks

are referred as aphinitic. The term microcrystalline is used for the textures in which the
minerals are perceivably crystallized but in extremely fine grain.

Granularity

� The grain size of the various components of a rock are the average
dimensions of different constituent minerals which are taken into account to describe the grain
size of the rock as a whole. Thus the rock texture is described as :

(i) Coarse-grained. When the average grain size is above 5 mm; the
constituent minerals
 are then easily identified with naked eye.

(ii) Medium-grained. When the average grain size lies between 5 mm and 1
mm. Use of magnifying lens often becomes necessary for identifying ail the constituent mineral
components.

(iii) Fine-grained. When the average grain size is less than 1 mm. In such
rocks, identification of the constituent mineral grains is possible only with the help of
microscope for which very thin rock sections have to be prepared for microscopic studies

Fabric

� This is a composite term expressing the relative grain size of different mineral
constituents in a rock as well as the degree of perfection in the form of the crystals of the
individual minerals.

� The texture is termed as equigranular when all the component minerals are of
approximately equal dimensions and as inequigranular when some minerals in the rock are
exceptionally larger or smaller than the other.

� Similarly, the shape or form of the crystals, which is best seen only in thin sections
under microscope, may be described as perfect, semi perfect or totally irregular. The textural
terms to describe these shapes are, respectively, euhedral, subhedral and anhedral.

� An igneous rock may contain crystals of anyone type in a predominating

proportion;

hence its fabric will be defined by one of the following three terms related to fabric:

(i) Panidiomrphi: when majority of the components are in fully developed

shapes;

(ii) Hypidiomorphic: the rock contains crystals of all the categories: euhedral,
subhedral or anhedral;

(iii) Allotriomorphic: when most of the crystals are of anhedral or irregular

shapes

Types of Textures

These can be broadly divided into five categories:

 . Equigranular textures
. Inequigranular textures

. Directive textures
. Intergrowth textures and

. Intergranular textures.

(1) Equigranular Textures

� All those textures in which majority of constituent crystals of a rock are broadly
equal in size are described as equigranular textures.

� In igneous rocks, these textures are shown by granites and felsites and hence are
also often named as granitic and felsitic textures
� In the granitic texture, the constituents are either all coarse grained or all

medium grained and the crystals show euhedral to subhedral outlines.

� In the felsitic texture, the rock is micro granular, the grains being mostly
microscopic crystals but these invariably show perfect outlines.
� Thus felsitic textures may be described as equigranular and panidiomrphic.

Orthophyric texture is another type of equigranular texture, which is in between

the granitic and felsitic textures. The individual grains are fine in size but not micregranular.

(2) Inequigranular Texture

� Igneous textures in which the majority of constituent minerals show marked

difference in their relative grain size are grouped as inequigranular texture.
� Porphyritic and Poiklitic textures are important examples of such textures.

� Porphyritic Texture is characterised by the presence of a few conspicuously large

sized crystals

(the phenocrysts) which are embedded in a fine-grained ground mass or matrix.

� The texture is sometimes further distinguished into mega-porphyritic and

microporphyritic depending upon the size of the phenocrysts.
 Difference in. molecular concentration

� When the magma is rich in molecules of particular mineral, the latter has better chance to
grow into big crystals which may get embedded in the fine-grained mass resulting from the
deficient components.

Change in physico-chemical conditions.

� Every magma is surrounded by a set of physico-chemical conditions

like temperature, pressure and chemical composition, which influence the trend of crystallisation
greatly.

� Abrupt and discontinuous changes in these textures may result in the

formation of the crystals of unequal dimensions.
� Thus, magma crystallizing at great depths may produce well-defined,
large sized crystals.

� When the same magma (carrying with it these large crystals) moves
upward, the pressure and temperature acting on it are greatly reduced.

� Crystallisation in the upper levels of magma becomes very rapid

resulting in a fine-grained matrix that contains the big sized crystals formed earlier.

Relative insolubility

� During the process of crystallisation, their crystal grains get enlarged whereas crystals
of other soluble constituents get mixed up again with the magma; thus, the relatively insoluble
constituents form the phenocrysts

� And the soluble constituents make up the ground mass crystallizing towards the end.

(3) Directive Textures

The textures that indicate the result of flow of magma during the formation of rocks
are known as directive textures.
 � These exhibit perfect or semi perfect parallelism of crystals or crystallites in the
direction of the flow of magma.
� Trachytic and Trachytoid textures are common examples.

� The former is characteristic of certain felspathic lavas and is recognised by a parallel

arrangement of felspar crystals; the latter is found in some syenites.
(4) Intergrowth Textures

� During the formation of the igneous rocks, sometimes two or more minerals
may crystallize out simultaneously in a limited space so that the resulting crystals are mixed up
or intergrown.
� This type of mutual arrangement is expressed by the term intergrowth texture.
� Graphic and granophyric textures are examples of the intergrowth textures.

� In graphic texture, the intergrowth is most conspicuous and regular between

quartz and felspar crystals. In granophyric textures the intergrowth is rather irregular.

(5) Intergranular Textures

� In certain igneous rocks crystals formed at earlier stages may get so arranged that
polygonal or trigonal spaces are left in between them.
� These spaces get filled subsequently during the process of rock formation by
crystalline or glassy

masses of other minerals.

� The texture so produced is called an intergranular texture. Sometimes the texture is

specifically termed intersertal if the material filling the spaces is glassy in nature.

Types of Textures

These can be broadly divided into five categories:

. Equigranular textures
. Inequigranular textures
. Directive textures
. Intergrowth textures and
. Intergranular textures.

(1) Equigranular Textures

 � All those textures in which majority of constituent crystals of a rock are broadly
equal in size are described as equigranular textures.

� In igneous rocks, these textures are shown by granites and felsites and hence are
also often named as granitic and felsitic textures
� In the granitic texture, the constituents are either all coarse grained or all

medium grained and the crystals show euhedral to subhedral outlines.

� In the felsitic texture, the rock is micro granular, the grains being mostly
microscopic crystals but these invariably show perfect outlines.
� Thus felsitic textures may be described as equigranular and panidiomrphic.

Orthophyric texture is another type of equigranular texture, which is in between

the granitic and felsitic textures. The individual grains are fine in size but not micregranular.

(2) Inequigranular Texture

� Igneous textures in which the majority of constituent minerals show marked

difference in their relative grain size are grouped as inequigranular texture.
� Porphyritic and Poiklitic textures are important examples of such textures.

� Porphyritic Texture is characterised by the presence of a few conspicuously large

sized crystals

(the phenocrysts) which are embedded in a fine-grained ground mass or matrix.

� The texture is sometimes further distinguished into mega-porphyritic and

microporphyritic depending upon the size of the phenocrysts.

Difference in. molecular concentration

� When the magma is rich in molecules of particular mineral, the latter has better chance to
grow into big crystals which may get embedded in the fine-grained mass resulting from the
deficient components.

Change in physico-chemical conditions.

 � Every magma is surrounded by a set of physico-chemical conditions
like temperature, pressure and chemical composition, which influence the trend of crystallisation
greatly.

� Abrupt and discontinuous changes in these textures may result in the

formation of the crystals of unequal dimensions.
� Thus, magma crystallizing at great depths may produce well-defined,
large sized crystals.

� When the same magma (carrying with it these large crystals) moves
upward, the pressure and temperature acting on it are greatly reduced.

� Crystallisation in the upper levels of magma becomes very rapid

resulting in a fine-grained matrix that contains the big sized crystals formed earlier.

Relative insolubility

� During the process of crystallisation, their crystal grains get enlarged whereas crystals
of other soluble constituents get mixed up again with the magma; thus, the relatively insoluble
constituents form the phenocrysts

� And the soluble constituents make up the ground mass crystallizing towards the end.

(3) Directive Textures

The textures that indicate the result of flow of magma during the formation of rocks
are known as directive textures.

� These exhibit perfect or semi perfect parallelism of crystals or crystallites in the

direction of the flow of magma.
� Trachytic and Trachytoid textures are common examples.

� The former is characteristic of certain felspathic lavas and is recognised by a parallel

arrangement of felspar crystals; the latter is found in some syenites.
(4) Intergrowth Textures

� During the formation of the igneous rocks, sometimes two or more minerals
may crystallize out simultaneously in a limited space so that the resulting crystals are mixed up
or intergrown.
� This type of mutual arrangement is expressed by the term intergrowth texture.
 � Graphic and granophyric textures are examples of the intergrowth textures.

� In graphic texture, the intergrowth is most conspicuous and regular between

quartz and felspar crystals. In granophyric textures the intergrowth is rather irregular.

(5) Intergranular Textures

� In certain igneous rocks crystals formed at earlier stages may get so arranged that
polygonal or trigonal spaces are left in between them.
� These spaces get filled subsequently during the process of rock formation by
crystalline or glassy

masses of other minerals.

� The texture so produced is called an intergranular texture. Sometimes the texture is

specifically termed intersertal if the material filling the spaces is glassy in nature.

FORMS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

An igneous mass will acquire on cooling depends on a number of factors such as

(a) the structural disposition of the host rock (also called the country rock)

(b) the viscosity of the magma or lava

(c) the composition of the magma or lava

(d) the environment in which injection of magma or eruption of lava takes place.

It is possible to divide the various forms of igneous intrusions into two broad classes:

All those intrusions in which the magma has been injected and cooled along or parallel to
the structural planes of the host rocks are grouped as concordant bodies.

Forms of concordant bodies Sills

� The igneous intrusions that have been injected along or between the
bedding planes or sedimentary sequence are known as sills.
 � It is typical of sills that their thickness is much small than their width
and length. Moreover, this body commonly thins out or tapers along its outer margins.

The upper and lower margins of sills commo11ly show a comparatively finer
grain size than their interior portions. This is explained by relatively faster cooling of
magmatic injection at

these positions

� In length, sills may vary from a few centimeters to hundreds of meters

Sills are commonly subdivided into following types:

(a) Simple Sills: formed of a single intrusion of magma;

(b) Multiple Sills: which consist of two or more injections, which are essentially
of the same kind of magma;

(c) Composite Sills: which result from two or more injections of different types
of magma;

(d) Differentiated Sills: these are exceptionally large, sheet-like injections of

magma in which there has been segregation of minerals formed at various stages of
crystallisation into separate layers or zones.

(e)Interformational Sheets: the sheet of magma injected along or in between the planes of
unconformity in a sequence are specially termed as interformational sheets. These resemble the
sills in all other general details.

� These arecordant, small sized intrusive that occupy positions in the troughs and
crests of bends called folds. In outline, these bodies are doubly convex and appear crescents or
half-moon shaped in cross-section.

� As regards their origin, it is thought that when magma is injected into a folded
sequence of rocks, it passes to the crests and troughs almost passively i.e. without exerting much
pressure.

Phacoliths
Lacocothis
 � These are concordant intrusions due to which the invaded strata have
been arched up or deformed into a dome.
� The igneous mass itself has a flat or concave base and a dome shaped
top.

� Laccoliths are formed when the magma being injected is considerably

viscous so that it is unable to flow and spread for greater distances.

Instead, it gets collected in the form of a heap about the orifice of eruption. As the magma is
injected with sufficient pressure, it makes room for itself by arching up the overlying strata.

� Extreme types of laccoliths are called bysmaliths and in these the

overlying strata get ultimately fractured at the top of the dome because of continuous injections
from below.

Lopoliths

� Those igneous intrusions, which are associated with structural basins, that are
sedimentary beds inclined towards a common centre, are termed as lopoliths.
.

� It is believed that in the origin of the lopoliths, the formation of structural basin
and the injection of magma are "contemporaneous", that is, broadly simultaneous.

DISCORDANT BODIES

� All those intrusive bodies that have been injected into the strata without being influenced
by their structural disposition (dip and strike) and thus traverse across or oblique to the bedding
planes etc. are grouped as discordant bodies.

� Important types of discordant intrusions are dykes, volcanic necks and batholiths.

� These may be defined as columnar bodies of igneous rocks that cut across the bedding
plane or unconformities or cleavage planes and similar structures.

� Dykes are formed by the intrusion of magma into pre-existing fractures.

� It depends on the nature of magma and the character of the invaded rock whether the
walls of the fracture are pushed apart, that is, it is widened or not.
 � Dykes show great variations in their thickness, length, texture and composition.

� They may be only few centimeters or many hundreds of metes thick.

� In composition, dykes are generally made up of hypabyssal rocks like dolerites,

porphyries and lamprophyres, showing all textures between glassy and phaneritic types.

� Cone sheets and Ring Dykes may be considered as the special types of dykes.

� The cone sheets are defined as assemblages of dyke-like injections, which are
generally inclined towards common centres.
� Their outcrops are arcuate in outline and their inclination is generally between 30
o - 40 o .

� The outer sheets tend to dip more gently as compared to the inner ones

� Ring Dykes are characterised by typically arcuate, closed and ring shaped
outcrops.

� These may be arranged in concentric series, each separated from the other by a
screen of country rock.

They show a great variation in their diameter; their average diameter is around 7 kilometers.
Few ring dykes with diameters ranging up to 25 kms are also known.

� Origin of dykes It has been already mentioned that dykes are intrusions
of magma into pre- existing fractures present in the rocks of the crust.
� These original fractures are generally caused due to tension.

� Their original width might have been much less than the present thickness of
the dykes.

� This indicates widening of the cracks under the hydrostatic pressure of

magmatic injection.

Volcanic Necks
� In some cases vents of quiet volcanoes have become sealed with the intrusions.

� Such congealed intrusions are termed volcanic necks or volcanic plugs.

 � In outline these masses may be circular, semicircular, or irregular and show
considerable variation in their diameter. The country rock generally shows an inwardly dipping
contact.

Batholiths

� These are huge bodies of igneous masses that show both concordant and discordant
relations with the country rock.

� Their dimensions vary considerably but it is generally agreed that to qualify as a

batholith the igneous mass should be greater than 100 square kilometers in area and its depth
should not be

traceable. This is typical of batholiths: they show extensive downward enlargement

� In composition, batholiths may be made of any type of igneous rock.

� They also exhibit many types of textures and structures. But as, a matter of
observation, majority of batholiths shows predominantly granitic composition, texture and
structure.

IMPORTANT IGNEOUS ROCKS

Granites
� Definition Granites may be defined as plutonic light coloured igneous rocks.

� These are among the most common igneous rocks.

� Composition. Two most common and essential mineral constituents of granite

are: Quartz and Felspar.

� Quartz is always recognized by its glassy lustre, high hardness (H = 7), and
cleavage less transparent white appearance.

Felspars making granites may be of two varieties: the potash felspars, commonly orthoclase and
the soda-bearing felspars like albite and oligoclase.

� Felspar microcline may also be present in some granites.

� Among the accessory minerals in granites, micas deserve first mention. Both
varieties
 (muscovite or white mica and biotite or black mica) are present in small proportions
in most apatite, garnet and tourmaline.

Granites are generally coarse to medium grained, holocrystalline (phaneric) and

equigranular rocks. Granitic, graphic, porphyritic and intergrowth textures are the most
common types of textures met with in granites of different varieties.

� As regards structures, granites occur in large massive bodies, often as batholiths,

stocks and bosses beside in usual intrusive bodies like sills and dykes.

� Many types of granites are distinguished on the basis of relative abundance in them of
some particular accessory mineral.

� For instance, when white mica, muscovite is present as a prominent accessory

mineral, the granite may be distinguished as muscovite granite.

� Similarly, when it is the black mica or biotite, which is a prominent accessory

mineral, the granite may be called a biotite-granite. When both the biotite and
muscovite are present

Types

� Many types of granites are distinguished on the basis of relative abundance in them of
some particular accessory mineral.

� For instance, when white mica, muscovite is present as a prominent accessory mineral,
the granite may be distinguished as muscovite granite.

� Similarly, when it is the black mica or biotite, which is a prominent accessory mineral,
the granite may be called a biotite-granite. When both the biotite and muscovite are
present

Occurrence
� Granites are the most widely distributed igneous rocks in the crust of the earth.

� They occur chiefly as deep-seated intrusive bodies like sills, bosses, stocks and
batholiths.

� Their occurrence on the surface of the earth is attributed to prolonged weathering

 and erosion of the overlying strata through historical times running over millions of
years.

Megasacopic Identification. Granites may be identified in hand specimens by their:

(i) Light-coloured (leucocratic) appearance, such as grey, pink, brownish and yellowish. Some
of the shades may take brilliant polish to make it eminently

suitable as a decorative building stone.

(ii) Coarse to medium-grained texture; fine-grained granites are rare specimens. (iii) Abundance
of quartz and felspar orthoclase as essential minerals.
Use
� Granites find extensive use in architectural and massive construction where
they are found in abundance.
� These rocks have been used extensively in monuments and memorials, as columns
and steps and as flooring in buildings.
Orgin

� Many minor granitic bodies occurring as sills and similar masses are clearly of igneous
plutonic origin.

� Their formation from parent magma through the normal process of cooling and
crystallisation is easily accepted.

� But exceptionally large bodies like batholiths and stocks and bosses running over
hundreds of square kilometers close to or on the surface are not accepted by many as
simple igneous
intrusions mainly because of their extensive dimensions.

� These large granitic masses are believed by many to have been formed from pre-
existing rocks through the process of granitization.

Variations
Following variations appear in the composition of these rocks:

� the relative proportion of quartz (Si02) falls gradually so that in diorites it is

reduced to a subordinate
 � felspar orthoclase, which is a dominant mineral in granites, is reduced in
relative amount and replaced by felspar plagioclase in granodiorites.

� In diorites, it is felspar plagioclase that makes the bulk of felspar constituent. A

number of rock types get distinguished on the basis of this variation.

� For example, adamellite is a variety of granodiorites that contains felspar

orthoclase and plagioclase in equal proportion.
Diorite

Definition.

� It is an intermediate type of igneous rock of plutonic origin with silica percentage

generally lying between 52-66 per cent.

Composition.

� Diorites are typically rich in felspar plagioclase of sodic group (e.g. Albite).

� Besides plagioclase and alkali felspars, diorites also contain accessory minerals like
hornblende, biotite and some pyroxenes.
� Quartz is not common but may be present in some varieties that are then

specially named as quartz-diorites.

Texture.

� In texture, diorites show quite close resemblance to granites and other plutonic,
rocks. They are coarse to medium grained and holocrystalline.

Occurrence

� Diorites commonly occur as small intrusive bodies like dikes, sills, stocks and other
irregular intrusive masses.
� They also get formed at the margins of bigger igneous masses.

Andesite
Definition.

� These are volcanic rocks in which plagioclase felspars (sodic and sub-calcic varieties
like albite, andesine and labradorite) are the predominant constituents making the
potash felspar only a
 subordinate member.
Composition.

� Besides plagioclase and potash felspars, andesites may contain small amount of
quartz as well as biotite, hornblende, augite, olivine and hypersthene from the dark
minerals giving them an
overall grayish or darker appearance.

Occurrence

� Andesites are known to be quite abundant volcanic rocks, next only to basalts and
may occur as crystallized lava flows of extensive dimensions.

� Petrologists are sharply divided over the origin of andesites. Some believe them to
be the products of normal crystallisation from a mafic magma whereas others think
that some andesites

may be the products from mixed magmas or magmas enriched with fragments from
the wall rocks.

� The second view is supported by the presence of some foreign materials in

andesites.

Syenites
Definition

� Syenites are defined as igneous, plutonic, even-grained rocks in which

alkalifelspars (including orthoclase and albite) are the chief constituent minerals.

� They may contain, besides these essential constituents, dark minerals- like

biotite, hornblende, augite and some accessories

Composition.

� The most common felspars of syenites are orthoclase and albite; microcline,
oligoclase and anorthite are also present in them in subordinate amounts.
� In some syenites, the felspathoids (nepheline, leucite) also make appearance.

� Common accessory minerals occurring in syenites are apatite, zircon, and sphene.
 � Quartz so common in granites is altogether absent or is only a minor accessory in
syenites.

Texture

Syenites show textures broadly similar to those of granites, that is, they are coarse to medium-
grained, holocrystalline in nature and exhibiting graphic, inter- grown or porphyritic relationship
among its constituents.
Dolerites

Definition.

� These are igneous rocks of typically hypabyssal origin having formed as shallow
sills and dykes

� They may be regarded as equivalents of gabbros of plutonic origin and basalts of

volcanic origin.

Composition.

� Dolerites are predominantly made up of calcic plagioclase (e.g. anorthite and

labradorite).

� Dark minerals like augite, olivine and iron oxide etc. are also present in good
proportion in dolerites along with the plagioclase minerals.
� Dolerites are mostly medium to fine grained rocks.

� Ophitic and porphyritic textures are quite common in many dolerites.

Occurrence.

� Sills and dykes of doleritic composition have been recorded at many places associated
with magmatic activity.
� In the Singhbhum region of south Bihar, India, many doleritic dykes traverse the
Singhbhum granites.

Basalts

Definition
 � Basalts are volcanic igneous rocks formed by rapid cooling from lava flows from
volcanoes either over the surface or under water on oceanic floors. They are basic in
character. .

Composition.

� Basalts are commonly made up of calcic plagioclase felspars (anorthite and

labradorite) and a number of ferro-magnesian minerals like augite, hornblende,
hypersthene, olivine, biotite and
iron oxides etc.

� In fact many types of basalts are distinguished on the basis of the type and
proportion of ferro- magnesian minerals in them.
� Thus, for instance, Basanite is an olivine-rich basalt and Tepherite is an olivine-
free type basalt.

The olivine free basalts, that are quite abundant in occurrence, are sometimes named
collectively

as Tholeiites.
Occurrence.

� Basaltic rocks form extensive lava flows on the continents and also on the oceanic
floors in almost all the regions of the world.

In India, the Deccan Traps, which are of basaltic and related rocks, are spread over
more than four hundred thousand square kilometers in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and adjoining parts of Indian Peninsula.

Pegmatites

� These are exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rocks formed from hydrothermal

solutions emanating from magmas that get cooled and crystallized in cavities and
cracks around magmatic
intrusions.

� These rocks are searched for their containing big sized crystals of minerals. Some
of these crystals may be gems and other precious minerals.

Composition
 � Pegmatites exhibit great variation in their mineral composition.

� The granite pegmatites contain alkali felspars and quartz as the dominant minerals
Crystals of some minerals in exceptionally big sizes have been found from pegmatites at many
places.

Texture and Structure

� Pegmatites do not show any special textures and structures except that they are
invariably coarse grained and mostly inequigranular.
� In many pegmatites, the so-called complex pegmatites, a zonal structure is
commonly observed.
� In such cases, different minerals of pegmatite occur in different zones
starting from the periphery and proceeding towards the centre.
� In a five-zoned pegmatite, for instance, the outermost zone is made up
of muscovite and felspar,. the second zone is of quartz and felspar, third zone of
microcline and fourth of quartz. The central zone is ploymineralic containing albite
and spodumene besides quartz and mica.

� Petrologically, pegmatites of complex composition are known to occur.

� First. Pegmatites have been formed from magmatic melts towards the end of the
process of crystallisation, The hydrothermal factions left behind at this stage are capable of
taking

in solution all metallic and non-metallic components by virtue of their temperature, pressure and
chemical reactivity.

� Most of the granite- and syenite -pegmatites are believed to have been formed through
this mode.

� Second. Pegmatites have formed due to replacement reactions between the

hydrothermal solutions and the country rock through which these liquids happen to pass.

� Hydrothermal liquids at elevated temperatures are considered quite effective in replacing

original minerals by new minerals.
Occurrence.

� Pegmatites occur in a variety of forms as dykes, veins, lenses and patches of irregular
masses.
 Use

� Pegmatites are the source of many precious stones, gems, ores of rare-earths and heavy
metals besides the industry grade muscovite mica.

Aplites

� These are igneous rocks of plutonic origin but characterized with a fine-grained,
essentially equigranular, allotriomorphic texture.
� Essential minerals of the aplites are the same as that of granites, that is, felspars and
quartz.

� They commonly occur as dykes and are formed from magmas that have different
gaseous content compared to magmas from which granites are formed.

Lamprophyre

Texture.

� Panidiomrphic (in which most of crystals show perfect outline), fine grained and
holocrystalline.
Composition

� Lamprophyres show a great variation in their mineralogical composition.

� Mostly they are rich in ferro-magnesian silicates. Important minerals forming

lamprophyres are:

biotite, augite and other pyroxenes, hornblende and other amphiboles, felspars and
olivine.

Types.

� Many types of lamprophyres are distinguished on the basis of the type of felspar

and the dark minerals occurring in them.

� Thus, Minette is, a lamprophyre containing felspar orthoclase and the black mica,
biotite; Vogesite is another variety having felspar orthoclase and augite or
hornblende.
Peridotites Definition
� The term peridotite is commonly used to express the ultra-mafic igneous rocks that
are highly rich in a ferro-magnesian mineral OLIVINE, which has a composition of
(Mg,Fe)Si04.

The chief characteristics of peridotites are:

(i) Low silica index; such rocks invariably contain less than 45% silica.

High colour index; rich as they are in dark minerals, the colour index of peridotites is always
above 70, generally in the range of 90-100.

Texture. Peridotites are generally massive and coarse grained in texture.

Varieties. A number of types of peridotites are distinguished on the basis of the

accessory minerals, e.g. hornblende-peridotite, pyroxene-peridotite etc. Kimberlite is a
peridotite in which olivine is altered to serpentine.

Occurrence. Peridotites generally form sills and dykes of moderate size.

Orgin

� A number of modes of origin have been suggested for peridotites.

� Hess believes them to be the products of primary peridotitic magma, a view that is
very strongly objected by many others.

� Another view holds them having been formed from a primary basic (basaltic)
magma from which olivine and other mafic minerals were separated by some
process.

� A third possibility suggested regards the development of peridotite bodies simply

as a result of hydrothermal (pneumatolytic) transport of their material and its

subsequent reaction with rocks

of appropriate composition.

ENGINEERING IMPORTANCE
 � Many of igneous rocks, where available in abundance, are extensively used as

materials for construction.

� Granites, syenites and dolerites are characterized by very high crushing strengths and
hence can be easily trusted in most of construction works.

� Basalts and other dark coloured igneous rocks, though equally strong, may not be used
in residential building but find much use as foundation and road stones.
� The igneous rocks are typically impervious, hard and strong and form very strong
foundations for most of civil engineering projects such as dams and reservoirs.

� They can be trusted as wall and roof rocks in tunnels of all types unless traversed by
joints. At the same time, because of their low porosity, they cannot be expected to hold
oil or groundwater reserves.

Some igneous rocks like peridotites and pegmatites are valuable as they may contain many
valuable minerals of much economic worth.

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN ABOUT SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

� Sedimentary rocks are also called secondary rocks.

� This group includes a wide variety of rocks formed by accumulation, compaction

and consolidation of sediments.

� The sediments may be defined as particles produced from the decay and

weathering of pre- existing rocks or may be derived from remains of dead sea or land animals in
suitable environments.

� The accumulation and compaction of these sediments commonly takes place under
water or at least in the presence of water.
. FORMATION

� The process of formation of sedimentary rocks is ever prevailing.

 � The sediments so produced are transported to the settling basins such as sea floors
where they are deposited, get compacted and consolidated and finally transformed
into a cohesive solid mass.

That is a sedimentary rock.

� Some chemical processes especially evaporation and precipitation regularly

operate on surface of water bodies containing dissolved salts and produce solids that
settle down in those bodies.

� Sedimentary rocks are broadly grouped into three classes on the basis of their
mode of formation: Mechanically formed or Clastic Rocks; Organically formed
Rocks and Chemically formed Rocks

� The last two groups are considered as a single class and named as Non-Clastic
Rocks.

Clastic ( Mechanically Formed) Rocks

� A series of well-defined steps are involved in the formation of clastic rocks.

Decay and Disintegration

� Rocks existing on the surface of the earth are exposed to decay and disintegration
by the action of natural agencies like atmosphere, water and ice on them

� The original hard and coherent rock bodies are gradually broken down into
smaller and still smaller fragments, grains and particles.
� The disintegrated, loosened material so formed and accumulated near the source
is called detritus.

Hence, clastic rocks are often also called as detrital rocks

Transport of Sediments

� The detritus produced from the decay and disintegration of the pre-existing rocks
forms the source of the sedimentary rocks but it has to be transported to a suitable
place for transformation again into a rock mass.
 � The wind, running water and ice in the form of glaciers are the very strong and

common agents of transport for carrying millions of tonnes of sediments and

particles from one place to another including seas and oceans.

� The winds transport the sediments from ploughed fields, the deserts and dry lands
in series of jumps (saltation) and in suspension modes.
� These loads of sediments are dropped down wherever intercepted by rains.
� The mightiest agents of transport of sediments are, of course, streams and rivers, all
terminating into lakes or seas.

� The running water bodies transport the sediment load as bed-load, suspended-load and.
dissolved load, all dumped at the settling basins.

� Ice in the form of huge moving bodies called glaciers also breaks the rocks along their
bases and sides (in valley glaciers) and dumps the same at snow lines thereby making
large volumes of the

clastic load available for further transport by other agencies. It is easy to imagine that
millions of tonnes of land mass as scratched by these surface agencies is transported to
seas and oceans every year and deposited there.

Dradual deposition

� The sediments as produced through weathering and erosion are transported to settling
basins.

These basins may be located in different environments such as on the continents, along
the seashores or in deep-sea environments.

� As such sedimentary rocks formed in different environments will show different

inherent characters.
� In the continental environments may be included the glacial deposits, the fluvial

deposits, the glacio-fluvial deposits and the eolian deposits, each type giving rise to a
definite type of

sediment accumulation.

� In the marine deposits, some sediments may be dropped just along the sea-shore, or at
some shallow depth within the sea or miles away in the deep-sea environment.
Diagenesis

� The process of transformation of loose sediments deposited in the settlement basins to

solid cohesive rock masses either under pressure or because of cementation is
collectively known as
diagenesis.

� It may be achieved by either of the two methods: welding or cementation.

� Welding is the process of compaction of the sediments accumulated in lower layers of

a basin due to the pressure exerted by the load of the overlying sediments.

� This results in squeezing out all or most of the water .from in between the sediments,
thus bringing them closer and closer and consolidating them virtually in a solid rock
mass.

� In fact the degree of packing of sediments in a sedimentary rock is broadly directly

proportional to the load of the overlying sediments.

� Cementation is the process by which loose grains or sediments in a settlement basin

get held together by a binding material.
The binding material may be derived from within the accumulated particles or the
fluids that percolate through them and also evaporate or precipitate around those
particles thus binding

them in a rock like mass.

. Chemically Formed (Non-clastic) Rocks

� Water from rains, springs, streams, rivers, lakes and underground water bodies
dissolves many compounds from the rocks with which it comes into contact.

� In most cases all these dissolved salts are carried by the running water to its
ultimate destination the sea.
� Hence the brackish or saltish taste of the sea water.

� In many other cases also, the local water-bodies may get saturated with one or
other dissolved salt.
 � In all cases, a stage maybe reached when the dissolved salts get crystallized out
either through evaporation or through precipitation.
� Thus, limestone may be formed by precipitation from carbonated water due to
loss of carbon dioxide.
� Rock salt may be formed from sodium-chloride rich seawater merely by
the process of continued evaporation in bays and lagoons.
� Chemically formed rocks may be thus of two types: precipitates and evaporites.
Examples are lime stones, rock salt, gypsum, and anhydite.
Organically Formed (Non-clastic} Rocks

� These extensive water bodies sustain a great variety of animal and plant life.

� The hard parts of many sea organisms are constituted chiefly of calcium
and/or magnesium, carbonates.
� Death and decay of these organisms within the water bodies gradually
results into huge accumulations of carbonate materials, which get
compacted and consolidated in the same manner as the normal sediments.
� Lime stones are the best examples of organically formed sedimentary rocks
TEXTURES

(i) Origin of Grains

� A sedimentary rock may be partially or wholly composed of clastic (or allogenic)

grains, or of chemically formed or organically contributed parts.
� Thus the rock may show a clastic texture or a non-clastic texture.

(ii) Size of Grains

� The grain size in the sedimentary rocks varies within wide limits.

� Individual grains of less than 0.002 mm and more than 250 mm may

form a part or whole of these rocks.

Three textures recognized on the basis of grain size are:
Coarse -grained rocks; average grain size> 5 mm
Medium grained rocks; average grain size between 5 and 1 mm.

Fine-grained rocks; average grain size < 1 mm

(iii)Shape of Grains
 � The sediments making the rocks may be of various shapes: rounded, sub rounded,
angular and sub angular.
� They may show spherecity to various degrees.

� Roundness and spherecity are the indications of varying degree of transport and
abrasion suffered during that process.

� Thus, Breccias are made up mostly of rough and angular fragments indicating least
transport and abrasion.

� Conglomerates are full of rounded and smooth-surfaced pebbles and gravels

indicating lot of transport and rubbing action during their transport before getting
deposited and consolidated into a
rock mass.

(iv) Packing of Grains.

� Sedimentary rocks may be open-packed or porous in textures or densely packed

depending upon their environment of formation.

� The degree of packing is generally related to the load of the overlying sediments
during the process of deposition.
(v) Fabric of Grains
� A given sedimentary rock may contain many elongate particles.

� Their orientation is studied and described in terms of orientation of their longer axes.

� If all or most of the elongated particles are arranged in such a way that their longer

axes lie in the same general direction, the rock is said to show a high degree of
preferred orientation. This

direction is generally indicative of the direction of flow of the current during the
period of deposition.

(vi) Crystallisation Trend

� In sedimentary rocks of chemical origin, the texture is generally defined by the

degree and nature of crystallized grains.
 Rocks may show perfectly interlocking grains giving rise to crystalline granular texture
or they may be made up of non-crystalline, colloidal particles when they are termed as
amorphous.
IMPORTANT SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

1. Breccia
� It is a mechanically formed sedimentary rock classed as Rudite.

� It consists of angular fragments of heterogeneous composition embedded in a fine

matrix of clayey material.

� The fragments making breccia are greater than 2mm average diameter but some
times these may be quite big in dimensions.

The angularity of the fragments indicates that these have suffered very little or even
no transport after their disintegration from the parent rocks. On the basis of their
source, following types of breccia are commonly recognized:

v Basal Breccia

This rock is formed by the sea waters advancing over a coastal region
covered

with fragments of chert and other similar rocks

The advancing waters supply the fine mud, which is spread
over the rock fragments and acts as a binding material.

Once the seawater retreats, the loose chert fragments get cemented
together as breccia rocks.

v Fault Breccia

This rock is also called crush-breccia. Such rocks are so named because they are
made up of

angular fragments that have been produced during the process of faulting.

The fragments so produced due to crushing effect of the block movements

subsequently get embedded in clay and other fine material (often also derived
during the faulting process and called gouge) and ultimately form a cemented
rock the crush-breccia
 v Agglomeratic Breccia

It is a specific type of breccia containing angular and sub angular fragments derived
from volcanic eruptions.

It may also contain some fused material that has been cemented together with the
solid material broken and thrown out of the craters.

2. Conglomerates

Definition

� These are sedimentary rocks of clastic nature and also belong to rudaceous group.

� They consist mostly of rounded fragments of various sizes but generally above
2mm. cemented together in clayey or ferruginous or mixed matrix.

� The roundness of gravels making the rock is a useful characteristic to differentiate

it from breccia in which the fragments are essentially angular.
� The roundness indicates that the constituent gravels have been transported to

considerable distances before their deposition and transformation into conglomerate

rock.

Types
On the basis of the dominant grade of the constituent gravels in following three types:
Boulder-ConglomeratesCobble-Conglomerate Pebble-Conglomerate (gravels> 256mm)
(gravels: 64-256 mm) (gravels: 2-64 mm)
On the basis of source of the gravels, as

(i) Basal-conglomerates Having gravels derived from advancing sea-waves over subsiding
land masses;
(ii) Glacial-conglomerates In which gravel making the conglomerates are distinctly of glacial
origin;

(iii) Volcanic-conglomerates In which gravels are of distinct volcanic origin but

have subsequently been subjected to lot of transport resulting in their smoothening and polishing
by river transport before their deposition and compaction or cementation.

On litho logical basis

 (a) Oligomictic Simple in composition, these gravels are made up of quartz, chert and
calcite;

(b) Polymictic. In these conglomerates the constituent gravels are derived from rocks of all
sorts: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic, all cemented together. The so-called
Fanglomerates are conglomerates formed and found at the base of alluvial fans and
cones.

3. Sandstones

� Sandstones are mechanically formed sedimentary rocks of Arenaceous Group.

� These are mostly composed of sand grade particles that have been compacted and
consolidated

together in the form of beds in basins of sedimentation.

� The component grains of sandstones generally range in size between 2mm and 1/16

mm. Silica in the form of very resistant mineral QUARTZ is the dominant mineral
constituent of most sandstones.

Composition.

� Quartz (Si02) is the most common mineral making the sandstones. In fact some
varieties of sandstone are made up entirely of quartz.
� Besides quartz, minerals like felspars, micas, garnet and magnetite may also
be

found in small proportions in many sand stones composition.

Texture.
� Sandstones are, in general, medium to fine-grained in texture.

� The component grains show a great variation in their size, shape and

arrangement in different varieties.

Thus, when the texture is determined on the basis of the grade of the component grains three
types are recognized:
Type: Coarse-grain Medium-grain Fine -grain
Size-range: 2 mm-l/2 mm 1/2 mm-1/4 mm 1/4 mm-l/16 mm
Colour

� Sandstones naturally occur in a variety of colours: red, brown, grey and white
being the most common colours.
� The colour of sandstone depends on its composition, especially nature of the
cementing material.

For example, presence of iron oxide is responsible for the red, brown and yellow
shades;

presence of glauconite gives a greenish shade to the sandstones.

Types

On the basis of their composition and the nature of the cementing material.

Siliceous Sandstones
� Silica (Si02) is the cementing material in these sandstones.

� Sometimes the quality of the siliceous cement is so dense and uniform that a
massive compact and homogeneous rock is formed.

� This is named QUARTZITE. This type of sedimentary quartzite, when

subjected to loading fractures across the grains showing clearly very dense
nature and homogeneity of the
cementing silica with the main constituent silica of the rock.

Calcareous Sandstones. are those varieties of sandstones in which carbonates of

calcium and magnesium are the. cementing materials.
Argillaceous Sandstones These are among the soft varieties of sandstone because
the cementing material is clay that has not much inherent strength.
Ferruginous Sandstones As the name indicates, the cementing material is an iron oxide
compound. On the basis of mineralogical composition
Arkose.
� This is a variety of sandstone that is exceptionally rich in felspar minerals
besides the main constituent quartz.
It is believed that these rocks are formed due to relatively quick deposition of detritus
derived from weathering and disintegration of crystalline igneous and metamorphic
rocks like granites and gneisses

respe ctivel y.

� Arkose rock generally occurs in horizons that can be genetically related to some
crystalline massif occurring in close neighbourhood.
Greywacke.

� These are broadly defined as grey coloured sandstones having a complex

mineralogical composition.

They contain a fine-grained matrix. In this matrix, grains of quartz and some felspars are found
embedded side by side with fragments of rocks like felsites, granites, shales etc.

� The exact composition of the matrix is so complex that it may not be easily determined
in most cases.

Flagstone

� It is a variety of sandstone that is exceptionally rich in mica dispersed in parallel or

sub parallel layers.

� The abundance as well as arrangement of mica, typically muscovite, renders the stone
weak and easily splitting. Hence its use in load bearing situations is not recommended.

Freestone.

� It is a massive variety of sandstone that is rich in quartz and does not contain bedding
planes or any mica. It is compact, dense, massive and a strong rock suitable for
construction demanding high crushing strength.

� Ganister. It is another type of sandstone consisting of angular and sub

 angular quartz grains and cement of secondary quartz with some kaolin.

Uses

� Sandstones of hard, massive and compact character are very useful natural
resources.

� They are most commonly used as materials of construction: building stones,

pavement stones, road stones and also as a source material for concrete.
� The Red Fort of India is made up of red sandstones.

Distribution.

� Next to shales, sandstones are the most abundant sedimentary rocks found in the
upper 15 km of the crust and make an estimated 15 percent of total sedimentary
rocks of the earth.

4. Shale

� Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock of argillaceous (clayey)

composition.

� Shales are generally characterized with a distinct fissility (parting) parallel to the
bedding planes and are made up of very fine particles of silt grade and to some
extent of clay.

� Besides fissility, some shales show the laminated structure.

Compsition

� The exact mineralogical composition of shales is often difficult to ascertain

because of the very fine size of the constituents.
� shales are very intimate mixtures of quartz, clay minerals and accessory minerals

like oxides of iron, carbonates, and organic matter.

� Silica and clay minerals together make more than seventy percent of shales in
most cases.

Chemically speaking, shales exhibit still greater variation.

Average Chemical Composition of Shales
S.N Oxide % age S.No Oxide %age
1 - 58% 5 Ca 3%
2 Si02 15% 6 O 3%
K2
3 Al20 6% 7 1%
0
4 3 2% 8 5%

Types
Shales have been classified variously. Three Classes On The Basis Of Their Origin:
on the basis of their mineralogical composition:

Quartz shales: rich in free quartz content.

Felspathic shales: in which felspars and clay minerals predominate; silica becomes a secondary
constituent. Chloritic shales: in these shales, minerals of chlorite group and clay-group make the
bulk of the shales. Micaceous shales: these are rich in muscovite mica and other flaky and play
minerals.
Residual Shales:
These are formed from decay and decomposition of pr-existing rocks followed by compaction
and consolidation of the particles in adjoining basins without much mixing;.
Transported Shales:
These are deposits of clastic materials of finer dimensions transportedover wide distances before
final settlement in basins of deposition.
Hybird Shales
In such shales, materials derived both from clastic sources and non clasticespecially those from
organic sources make up the rock.
on the basis of their mineralogical composition:
Quartz shales: rich in free quartz content.
Felspathic shales: in which felspars and clay minerals predominate; silica becomes a secondary
constituent. Chloritic shales: in these shales, minerals of chlorite group and clay-group make the
bulk of the shales. Micaceous shales: these are rich in muscovite mica and other flaky and play
minerals.
LIMESTONES

Definition

� These are the most common sedimentary rocks from the non-clastic-group and are
composed chiefly of carbonate of calcium with subordinate proportions of carbonate of
magnesium.

� They are formed both bio-chemically and mechanically.

Composition
� In terms of chemical composition, limestone' s are chiefly made up of CaO
and CO2, Magnesium Oxide is a common impurity in most limestone' s; in some its
percentage may exceed 2 percent, the rock is then called magnesian limestone.
� Other oxides that may be present in limestone are: silicon dioxide, ferrous and
ferric oxides (or carbonates); and aluminium oxide. Strontium oxide is also
present in some. limestone' s as a trace element.
Texture.

� The most important textural feature of limestone' s is their fossiliferous nature.

� Fossils in all stages of preservation may be found occurring in limestone' s.

� Other varieties of limestone' s show dense and compact texture; some may be

loosely packed and highly porous; others may be compact and homogeneous. �
Concretionary texture is also common in limestone' s. .

Types.

� Many varieties of limestone' s are known.

� Broadly speaking these can be divided into two groups: autochthonous and
allochthonous.

� Autochthonous includes those varieties which have been formed by biogenic

precipitation from seawaters.
 � Allochthonous types are formed from the precipitated calcareous sediments that
have been transported from one place to another where they were finally
deposited.

Following are common types of limestones.

Chalk.

� It is the purest form of limestone characterised by fine-grained earthy textureCommon

colour of chalk is white. Some chalks may be exceptionally rich in the remains of very
small sea organisms called
foraminifera.

Shelly Limestone.

� Alsocalled fossiliferous limestone, it has a rich assemblage of fossils that are

fully or partly preserved. When the limestone is made up entirely of fossils, it is
termed coquina.

Argillaceous Limestone

� These limestones contain clay as a significant constituent and are clearly of allochthonous
origin.

When the clay and carbonate factions are present in almost equal proportions, the rock is
termed marl.

Lithographic Limestones

� These are compact massive homogeneous varieties of pure limestones that find extensive
use in litho- printing.
Kankar

� It is a common nodular or concretionary form of carbonate material formed by

evaporation of subsoil water rich in calcium carbonate just near the soil surface.
� It is non-marine in origin.

Calc-Sinter.
� It is a carbonate deposit formed by precipitation from carbonate rich spring waters.
 � These deposits are also known as travertine or calc-tuffa and commonly occur around
margins of Hot

Springs.

DOLOMITE
Definition.

� It is a carbonate rock of sedimentary origin and is made up chiefly more than 50

percent - of the mineral dolomite which is a double carbonate of calcium and magnesium
with a formula of CaMg(C03h.
� Ferrous iron is present in small proportions in some varieties.
� Gypsum also makes appearance in some dolomites.
� But the chief associated carbonate is that of calcium, in the form of calcite.

Texture

� Dolomite shows textures mostly similar to limestones to which it is very

often genetically related.

� In other varieties, dolomites may be coarsely crystalline, finely crystalline or showing

interlocking crystals.
Formation.

� Dolomites are formed in most cases from limestones by a simple process of

replacement of Ca++

ions by Mg++ ions through the action of Mg++ ion rich waters.
� This ionic replacement process is often termed dolomitization

� The replacement may have started shortly after the deposition of limestone or quite
subsequent to their compaction.
� Direct precipitation of dolomites from magnesium rich waters is also possible.

� Such directly precipitated deposits of magnesium carbonate occur in association with

gypsum, anhydrite and calcite.

� It is believed that in such cases, it is the calcite, which is precipitated first, depleting the
seawater of CaC03 and enriching it with MgC03.
� The CaMg(C03h precipitates at a later stage.
 � Dolomitization by replacement method, however, is believed to be the most

common method of formation of dolomites.

Occurrence
� Dolomite is a widespread sedimentary rock and is found commonly associated with
.limestones.
� It forms intervening layers between limestone formations spread over wide areas.
� Also, it may occur at the extended boundaries of many limestone deposits.

� These indicate locations where' magnesium rich ground waters could have an easy

access for the replacement process to take place in an original limestone" rock.

� Dolomite is so closely related to limestone in composition, texture, structure and physical

properties that it may not always be easily possible to differentiate between the two rocks
in hand specimens.

7. Coals
Definition.

� These may broadly be defined as metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of

carbonaceous character in which the raw material has mostly been supplied by plants
of various groups.

� The original raw material passes through many biomechanical and biochemical

processes before it becomes a coal in technical terms;

Formation.

� In most cases coals represent carbonized wood.

� The process of coal formation involves a series of stages similar to formation of

sedimentary rocks such as wastage of forests and transport of the wood material
through different natural
agencies to places of deposition, accumulation of the material in huge formations.

� Its burial under clays and other matter and its compaction and consolidation under
superimposed load.
 � Biochemical transformation of the organic matter so accumulated starts and is
completed under the influence of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria available at the place
of deposition.

� The degree of carbonification depends to a great extent on the time and type of
environment in which the above processes have operated on the source material
giving rise to different varieties
of coal.

Types
Peat.

� It is the lowest grade coal that consists of only slightly altered vegetable matter. It may
not be even considered as a coal. It has very low calorific value, high percentage of
moisture and is rich in volatile matter.

Lignite.

� It is also known as brown coal and forms the poorest grade of coal with calorific value
ranging between 6300-8300 B.th.V.
� It is compact and massive in structure with an upper specific gravity of 1.5 and
hardness of 2.5 on

Mohs' Scale of Hardness.

� Some varieties of lignite may still show to a good extent the traces of original
vegetable structure.

Bituminous Coals

� These form a broad group of common coals having essential properties varying within
wide limits.

� The fixed carbon ranges between 69-78 per cent and the calorific value between
9,500 B.th.V to

14,000 B.th.V.

� Their common character is that they contain enough volatile matter, which makes
them quite soft on heating, and they start agglomerating.
 Some of bituminous coals may contain volatile matter to such a high extent as 30 per
cent of their bulk.

Anthracite

� It is considered the highest-grade coal with fixed carbon ranging between 92-98 per
cent.

� It has highest calorific value in coals and burns almost without any smoke, as the

volatile matter is negligible.

Occurrence

� Coals of different varieties are found to occur almost in all countries of the world,
though in varying proportions.
� Coals form all-purpose fuels, some varieties being more suitable for specific
industrial uses.

8. Iron Ores of Sedimentary Origin

� The iron ores form beds or layers of variable thickness that occur interstratified
with other sedimentary rocks.

� Sedimentary iron deposits are regarded having formed chiefly as chemical

precipitates in the form of oxides, carbonates and silicates from marine waters rich in
corresponding salts.

� Metasomatic replacement has also been suggested as another important process for
formation of many iron ore deposits.
� It is also suggested that certain type of bacteria play considerable role in the
precipitation of iron.

� Gypsum

It is a sedimentary rock composed of the mineral of the same name-gypsum,

which has a composition of CaS04.2H2O.

Its common colour is white but it may also occur in other shades such as yellow,
red or dark grey due to impurities present in the rock.
 Gypsum is formed in nature as a result of evaporation from sea-waters rich in
sulphate salts.

ANHYDRITE is a granular aggregate of mineral anhydrite, CaS04' and is genetically related

to the mineral gypsum: hydration of anhydrite results in gypsum.

These rocks are commonly associated in occurrence

Uses: Gypsum finds extensive uses in many industries, e.g.

(i) as a raw material in the manufacture of fertilizers;

(ii) as an essential ingredient in the manufacture of Cement;
(iii) in the manufacture of Plaster of Paris.

(iv) as fire proofing component of gypsum boards.

10. Rock Salt

� It is also a sedimentary rock composed of mineral halite (NaCl).

� The texture of rock salt varies from coarse-grained crystalline to fine-grained massive.

The purest rock salt is white in colour but it may occur in various other shades as grayish
and reddish due to presence of impurities

� Rock salt occurs in many parts of the world interbedded with other sedimentary
formations.

� It is commonly associated with other evaporites.

� Subsidence of the basin of deposition during the process of evaporation has been
suggested by some as a possible explanation.
11. Flint and Chert

� Flint is a dark coloured sedimentary rock of siliceous composition consisting

chiefly of halcedony and extremely fine-grained quartz.
� It occurs commonly as concretions or nodules in chalk (limestone) deposits.

� Chert is also a sedimentary rock composed of cryptocrystalline silica showing great

variety of colours.
� It is more common in occurrence compared to flint and occurs in the form of
 beds or layers within limestones and other deposits.

Their origin may be due to any of following two causes: (a) Primary Precipitation.

� It is believed that under special environments chert gets precipitated inorganically

from seawater rich in amorphous silica.

� The theory is yet considered inadequate because modem seawaters are

generally quite under saturated with amorphous silica.

(b) Replacement.

� Waters containing amorphous silica from siliceous skeletal sources are thought to
have replaced lime stones forming concretions and nodules of flint by the process of
replacement.

12. Tillite
� It is a sedimentary rock of glacial origin.

� It is characterised by a structure less matrix that has fragments of various sizes, shapes
and composition embedded in it.

� Most of these embedded fragments bear striations and other evidence of their
transport by glaciers before their deposition and compaction.

� The name is derived from the fact the rock is merely a compacted and consolidated
form of the glacial debris called till.

� The matrix or ground mass of the till is generally of grey to greenish appearance
whereas the embedded fragments are of extremely heterogeneous character.

ENGINEERING IMPORTANCE

� Sedimentary rocks cover a great part of the crust of the earth; they make up more
that 75 percent of the surface area of the land mass.
� It is with these types of rocks that an engineer has to deal with in majority of cases.

� It is, therefore, essential for a civil engineer to know as much as is possible about
the salient features of these rocks.
 He has to see, for instance, if such rocks would withstand loads under heavy
construction and also, if they could be trusted in cuts and tunnels in highway
construction and also as reservoirs.

� They are the most important rocks to act as natural reservoirs of oil and ground water
supplies.
DOLOMITE
Definition.

� It is a carbonate rock of sedimentary origin and is made up chiefly more than 50

percent - of the mineral dolomite which is a double carbonate of calcium and magnesium
with a formula of CaMg(C03h.
� Ferrous iron is present in small proportions in some varieties.
� Gypsum also makes appearance in some dolomites.
� But the chief associated carbonate is that of calcium, in the form of calcite.

Texture

� Dolomite shows textures mostly similar to limestones to which it is very

often genetically related.

� In other varieties, dolomites may be coarsely crystalline, finely crystalline or showing

interlocking crystals.
Formation.

� Dolomites are formed in most cases from limestones by a simple process of

replacement of Ca++

ions by Mg++ ions through the action of Mg++ ion rich waters.
� This ionic replacement process is often termed dolomitization

� The replacement may have started shortly after the deposition of limestone or quite
subsequent to their compaction.
� Direct precipitation of dolomites from magnesium rich waters is also possible.

� Such directly precipitated deposits of magnesium carbonate occur in association with

gypsum, anhydrite and calcite.

� It is believed that in such cases, it is the calcite, which is precipitated first, depleting the
seawater of CaC03 and enriching it with MgC03.
 � The CaMg(C03h precipitates at a later stage.

� Dolomitization by replacement method, however, is believed to be the most

common method of formation of dolomites.

Occurrence
� Dolomite is a widespread sedimentary rock and is found commonly associated with
.limestones.
� It forms intervening layers between limestone formations spread over wide areas.
� Also, it may occur at the extended boundaries of many limestone deposits.

� These indicate locations where' magnesium rich ground waters could have an easy

access for the replacement process to take place in an original limestone" rock.

� Dolomite is so closely related to limestone in composition, texture, structure and physical

properties that it may not always be easily possible to differentiate between the two rocks
in hand specimens.
Coals
Definition.

� These may broadly be defined as metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of

carbonaceous character in which the raw material has mostly been supplied by plants
of various groups.

� The original raw material passes through many biomechanical and biochemical

processes before it becomes a coal in technical terms;

Formation.

� In most cases coals represent carbonized wood.

� The process of coal formation involves a series of stages similar to formation of

sedimentary rocks such as wastage of forests and transport of the wood material
through different natural
agencies to places of deposition, accumulation of the material in huge formations.

� Its burial under clays and other matter and its compaction and consolidation under
superimposed load.
 � Biochemical transformation of the organic matter so accumulated starts and is
completed under the influence of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria available at the place
of deposition.

� The degree of carbonification depends to a great extent on the time and type of
environment in which the above processes have operated on the source material
giving rise to different varieties
of coal.

Types
Peat.

� It is the lowest grade coal that consists of only slightly altered vegetable matter. It may
not be even considered as a coal. It has very low calorific value, high percentage of
moisture and is rich in volatile matter.

Lignite.

� It is also known as brown coal and forms the poorest grade of coal with calorific value
ranging between 6300-8300 B.th.V.
� It is compact and massive in structure with an upper specific gravity of 1.5 and
hardness of 2.5 on

Mohs' Scale of Hardness.

� Some varieties of lignite may still show to a good extent the traces of original
vegetable structure.

Bituminous Coals

� These form a broad group of common coals having essential properties varying within
wide limits.

� The fixed carbon ranges between 69-78 per cent and the calorific value between
9,500 B.th.V to

14,000 B.th.V.

� Their common character is that they contain enough volatile matter, which makes
them quite soft on heating, and they start agglomerating.
 Some of bituminous coals may contain volatile matter to such a high extent as 30 per
cent of their bulk.

Anthracite

� It is considered the highest-grade coal with fixed carbon ranging between 92-98 per
cent.

� It has highest calorific value in coals and burns almost without any smoke, as the

volatile matter is negligible.

Occurrence

� Coals of different varieties are found to occur almost in all countries of the world,
though in varying proportions.
� Coals form all-purpose fuels, some varieties being more suitable for specific
industrial uses.
Iron Ores of Sedimentary Origin

� The iron ores form beds or layers of variable thickness that occur interstratified
with other sedimentary rocks.

� Sedimentary iron deposits are regarded having formed chiefly as chemical

precipitates in the form of oxides, carbonates and silicates from marine waters rich in
corresponding salts.

� Metasomatic replacement has also been suggested as another important process for
formation of many iron ore deposits.
� It is also suggested that certain type of bacteria play considerable role in the
precipitation of iron.

� Gypsum
 It is a sedimentary rock composed of the mineral of the same name-gypsum,
which has a composition of CaS04.2H2O.

Its common colour is white but it may also occur in other shades such as yellow,
red or dark grey due to impurities present in the rock.
Gypsum is formed in nature as a result of evaporation from sea-waters rich in
sulphate salts.

ANHYDRITE is a granular aggregate of mineral anhydrite, CaS04' and is geneticallyrelated

to the mineral gypsum: hydration of anhydrite results in gypsum.

These rocks are commonly associated in occurrence

Uses: Gypsum finds extensive uses in many industries, e.g.

(i) as a raw material in the manufacture of fertilizers;

(ii) as an essential ingredient in the manufacture of Cement;
(iii) in the manufacture of Plaster of Paris.

(iv) as fire proofing component of gypsum boards.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS

METAMORHISM

METAMORHISM is the term used to express the process responsible for all the changes
that take place in an original rock under the influence of changes in the surrounding conditions
of temperature, pressure and chemically active fluids.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Definition
 � Metamorphic rocks are defined as those rocks which have formed through the
operation of

Stress Minerals

various types of metamorphic processes on the pre-existing igneous and sedimentary

rocks involving changes in textures, structures and mineralogical compositions.

� The direction of change depends upon the type of the original rock and the type of
metamorphic process that operates on the rock.

� Heat, pressure and chemically active fluids are the main agents involved in

metamorphic processes.

� Plastic deformation, recrystallisation of mineral constituents and development of

parallel orientation are typical characters of metamorphic rocks.

MINERALOGICAL COMPOSITION

Metamorphic rocks exhibit a great variation in their mineralogical composition that depends
in most cases on

(i) the composition of the parent rock;

(ii) the type and degree of metamorphism undergone by the rock.

Two broad groups of minerals formed during metamorphism are:
v Stress minerals and
v Anti-stress minerals

Stress minerals

� The minerals, which are produced in the metamorphic rocks chiefly under the stress
factor, are known as stress minerals.

� They are characterised by flaky, platy, lamellar, flattened and elongated forms.

kyanite, staurolite, muscovite, chlorite and some amphiboles.

Anti-Stress Minerals

� These are metamorphic minerals produced primarily under the influence of temperature
factor.

� Such minerals are generally of a regular equidimensional

outline. Examples: sillimanite, olivine, cordierite and many pyroxenes

Textures of Metamorphic Rocks

These can be broadly grouped under two headings:

(a) Crystalloblastic

� Textures which include all those textures that have been newly imposed upon the

rock during the process of metamorphism and are, therefore, essentially the product
of metamorphism.

(b) Palimpsest (Relict)

� Textures that include textures which were present in the parent rock and have been
retained by the rock despite metamorphic changes in other aspects.

� Among the crystalloblastic textures, Porphyroblastic and Granoblastic types are

most common. outlines) of stronger minerals.
� In the granoblastic texture, the rock is made of equidimensional recrystallised

minerals without there being any fine grained ground mass.

� Palimpsest textures are similar in essential details as in the parent rock with

little or no modifications taking place during metamorphism.

� These are described by using the term blasto as a prefix to the name of the

original texture retained by the rock.

1. CLASSIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS

� Metamorphic rocks have been variously classified on the basis of texture and
structure, degree of metamorphism, mineralogical composition and mode of origin etc.
 � A very general two-fold classification based on the presence or absence of layered
structure or

FOLIATION as defined above is as follows:

(a) Foliated Rocks

� All metamorphic rocks showing development of conspicuous parallelism in their

mineralogical and structural constitution falling under the general term foliation are
grouped together as foliated rocks.

� The parallelism indicating features include slaty cleavage, schistosity and

gneissose structures

� Typical rocks included in this group are slates, phyllites, schists and gneisses of
great variety.

(b)Non-Foliated Rocks

� Included in this group are all those metamorphic rocks characterised with total or nearly total
absence of foliation or parallelism of mineralogicaJ constituents.

� Typical examples of non-foliated rocks are quartzites, hornfels, marbles, amphibolites

and soapstone etc.

2.IMPORTANT METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Definition

� Slate is an extremely fine-grained metamorphic rock characterized by a slate

cleavage by virtue of which it can be readily split into thin sheets having parallel
smooth surfaces.

� The slaty cleavage is due to parallel arrangement of platy and flaky minerals of

the slate under the dominant stresses operating during the process of metamorphism.

Composition
 � Mineralogically, slate is made up of very fine flakes of mica, chlorite and
microscopic grains of quartz, felspar, oxides of iron and many other minerals, all of
which cannot be easily identified even under microscope because of their fine grain
size.

Origin.

� Slate is a product of low-grad regional metamorphism of argillaceous rock: like

clays and shales.

� When state is subjected to further action of dynamothermal metamorphism,

recrystallisation leads to the development in number and size of some minerals,
especially micas.

� Such metamorphic rocks with conspicuous micaceous constituents and general

slaty appearance are termed PHYLLITES. Uses.

� Slate is used locally (where available) for construction purpose as a roofing and
paving material only.

Schists:

Schists are megascopically crystalline foliated metamorphic rocks characterised by a

typical schistose structure.

The constituent flaky and platy minerals are mostly arranged in parallel or sub parallel
layers or bands.

Texture and Structure

� Most varieties are coarsely crystalline in texture and exhibit a typical schistose
structure.

� Quite a few types show lineation and porphyroblastic fabric.

Composition
� Platy and rod-like acicular minerals form the bulk of most of the schists.

� Micas (both muscovite and biotite), chlorite, hornblende, tremolite, actinolite 'and
kyanite are quite common constituents of most of the schists
 � Quartz and felspars are comparatively rare but not altogether absent.

� Porphyroblasts of granular minerals like staurolite, garnet and andalucite make their
appearance in many schists.
Varieties

� Specific names are given to different types of schists on the basis of predominance
of anyone or more minerals.

� Thus some commonly found schists are: muscovite schists, biotite schists, sericite-
schist, tourmaline- schist etc.

� Sometimes schists are grouped into two categories on the basis of degree of
metamorphism as indicated by the presence of index minerals:
a) Low-grade schists
� Formed under conditions of regional metamorphism at low temperature.

� These are rich in minerals like albite, muscovite and chlorite that are unstable at
high temperature.

� Examples Mica-schist, chlorite-schist and talc-schist are a few from this group.

b) High-grade schists

� These are formed under conditions of regional metamorphism and are rich in
minerals that are stable at high temperatures such as andalusite, cordierite, gamet,
staurolite and sillimanite etc.
� Gamet-schists, cordierite-schists and sta1'rolite-schists are common examples.

Origin

� Slates and Schists are generally the product of dynamothennal metamorphism of

argillaceous sedimentary rocks like clays and shales.

These indicate the final and stable stage in the metamorphism of shales through the intervening
stages of slates and phyllites.
GNEISS
Definition
� A gneiss is a megascopically crystalline foliated metamophorphic rock
characterised by segregation of constituent minerals into layers or bands of
contrasting colour, texture and composition.
� A typical gneiss will show bands of micaceous minerals
alternating with bands of equidimensional minerals like felspars, quartz and garnet etc.
Composition

� Gneisses are generally rich in the minerals of parent rocks that are simply
recrystallised during the process of metamorphism.
� Felspar and quartz are more common in gneisses than in schists.

� Dark minerals of pyroxene and amphibole groups are also common, as are the typical
metamorphic minerals like staurolite, sillimanite, gamet, kyanite and epidote etc.

Texture and Structure

� Gneisses show a variety of textures and structures, the most common being
coarsely crystalline texture and the gneissose structure.

� Augen-gneisses show a typical cataclastic structure in which the hard minerals are

flattened and elongated.

Varieties
Important types are:

� Orthogneiss formed as a result of metamorphism of granites and other igneous rocks.

� Paragneiss these are formed from the metamorphism of sedimentary rocks
like sandstones;
� Banded gneiss typical gneiss in which the tabular and flaky minerals are segregated in
very conspicuous pands of alternating dark and light colours.

� Gneisses of all varieties are generally the result of advanced stages of

metamorphism of a variety of parent rocks such as sandstones, conglomerates,
granites and rhyolites etc.

� There is difference of opinion on the original of the granitic gneisses; their

 mineralogical composition is close to granites but in structure they appear more
metamorphic.

Uses

� Compact, dense and massive varieties of gneisses find applications as road stones and
in some cases as building stones.
QUARTZITE
Definition

� Quartzites are granular metamorphic rocks composed chiefly of inter sutured

grains of quartz.

� The name Orthoquartzite is used for a sedimentary rock of similar composition

but having a different (sedimentary) origin, in which quartz grains are cemented
together by siliceous cement.

Composition

� Besides quartz, the rock generally contains subordinate amounts of micas, felspars,
garnets and some amphiboles which result from the recrystallisation of some
impurities of the original sandstone during the process of metamorphism.

Origin

� Metamorphic quartzites result from the recrystallisation of rather pure sandstones

under the influence of contact and dynamic metamorphism.
Uses
� The rock is generally very hard, strong, dense and uniformly grained.

� It finds extensive use in building and road construction.

MARBLE

Definition

� Marble is essentially a granular metamorphic rock composed chiefly of

recrystallised limestone

(made of mineral calcite).

 � It is characterized by a granulose texture but the grain size shows considerable
variation in different varieties;

It varies from finely sachhroidal to highly coarse grained. Marbles often show a banded structure
also; coarse varieties may exhibit a variety of structures.
Composition
� Small amounts of many other granular minerals like olivine, serpentine,
garnet and some amphiboles are also present in many varieties, which are
derived from the impurities present in the original limestone during the process of
metamorphic recrystallisation.

Varieties

� Various types of marble are distinguished on the basis of their colour, composition and
structure.

White marble, pink marble and black marble are known on the basis of their colours,
which is

basically due to fine dispersion of some impurity.

� Dolomitic marble is a variety distinguished on the basis of composition; it may

show slightly schistose structure.

Origin

� Marble is formed from contact metamorphism of carbonate group of sedimentary rocks:

pure white marble results from pure limestone; coloured marbles from those limestones
that have some impurities and dolomitic marbles from magnesian limestones.

Uses

� Marble is commonly used in the construction of palatial and monumental buildings in

the form of blocks, slabs, arches and in the crushed form as chips for flooring.

Because of its restricted occurrence and transport costs, it is mostly used as ornamental stone in
costly construction.
 Classification Of Metamorphic Rocks

� Metamorphic rocks have been variously classified on the basis of texture and
structure, degree of metamorphism, mineralogical composition and mode of origin etc.

� A very general two-fold classification based on the presence or absence of layered

structure or

FOLIATION as defined above is as follows:

(a) Foliated Rocks

� All metamorphic rocks showing development of conspicuous parallelism in their

mineralogical and structural constitution falling under the general term foliation are
grouped together as foliated rocks.

� The parallelism indicating features include slaty cleavage, schistosity and

gneissose structures

� Typical rocks included in this group are slates, phyllites, schists and gneisses of
great variety.

(b)Non-Foliated Rocks

� Included in this group are all those metamorphic rocks characterised with total or nearly total
absence of foliation or parallelism of mineralogicaJ constituents.

� Typical examples of non-foliated rocks are quartzites, hornfels, marbles, amphibolites

and soapstone etc.

IMPORTANT METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Definition

� Slate is an extremely fine-grained metamorphic rock characterized by a slate

cleavage by virtue of which it can be readily split into thin sheets having parallel
smooth surfaces.

� The slaty cleavage is due to parallel arrangement of platy and flaky minerals of
 the slate under the dominant stresses operating during the process of metamorphism.

Composition

� Mineralogically, slate is made up of very fine flakes of mica, chlorite and

microscopic grains of quartz, felspar, oxides of iron and many other minerals, all of
which cannot be easily identified even under microscope because of their fine grain
size.

Origin.

� Slate is a product of low-grad regional metamorphism of argillaceous rock: like

clays and shales.

� When state is subjected to further action of dynamothermal metamorphism,

recrystallisation leads to the development in number and size of some minerals,
especially micas.

� Such metamorphic rocks with conspicuous micaceous constituents and general

slaty appearance are termed PHYLLITES. Uses.

� Slate is used locally (where available) for construction purpose as a roofing and
paving material only.

Schists:

Schists are megascopically crystalline foliated metamorphic rocks characterised by a

typical schistose structure.

The constituent flaky and platy minerals are mostly arranged in parallel or sub parallel
layers or bands.

Texture and Structure

� Most varieties are coarsely crystalline in texture and exhibit a typical schistose
structure.

� Quite a few types show lineation and porphyroblastic fabric.

Composition
 � Platy and rod-like acicular minerals form the bulk of most of the schists.

� Micas (both muscovite and biotite), chlorite, hornblende, tremolite, actinolite 'and
kyanite are quite common constituents of most of the schists
� Quartz and felspars are comparatively rare but not altogether absent.

� Porphyroblasts of granular minerals like staurolite, garnet and andalucite make their
appearance in many schists.
Varieties

� Specific names are given to different types of schists on the basis of predominance
of anyone or more minerals.

� Thus some commonly found schists are: muscovite schists, biotite schists, sericite-
schist, tourmaline- schist etc.

� Sometimes schists are grouped into two categories on the basis of degree of
metamorphism as indicated by the presence of index minerals:
a) Low-grade schists
� Formed under conditions of regional metamorphism at low temperature.

� These are rich in minerals like albite, muscovite and chlorite that are unstable at
high temperature.

� Examples Mica-schist, chlorite-schist and talc-schist are a few from this group.

b) High-grade schists

� These are formed under conditions of regional metamorphism and are rich in
minerals that are stable at high temperatures such as andalusite, cordierite, gamet,
staurolite and sillimanite etc.
� Gamet-schists, cordierite-schists and sta1'rolite-schists are common examples.

Origin

� Slates and Schists are generally the product of dynamothennal metamorphism of

argillaceous sedimentary rocks like clays and shales.

These indicate the final and stable stage in the metamorphism of shales through the intervening
stages of slates and phyllites.
GNEISS
Definition
� A gneiss is a megascopically crystalline foliated metamophorphic rock
characterised by segregation of constituent minerals into layers or bands of
contrasting colour, texture and composition.
� A typical gneiss will show bands of micaceous minerals
alternating with bands of equidimensional minerals like felspars, quartz and garnet etc.
Composition

� Gneisses are generally rich in the minerals of parent rocks that are simply
recrystallised during the process of metamorphism.
� Felspar and quartz are more common in gneisses than in schists.

� Dark minerals of pyroxene and amphibole groups are also common, as are the typical
metamorphic minerals like staurolite, sillimanite, gamet, kyanite and epidote etc.

Texture and Structure

� Gneisses show a variety of textures and structures, the most common being
coarsely crystalline texture and the gneissose structure.

� Augen-gneisses show a typical cataclastic structure in which the hard minerals are

flattened and elongated.

Varieties
Important types are:

� Orthogneiss formed as a result of metamorphism of granites and other igneous rocks.

� Paragneiss these are formed from the metamorphism of sedimentary rocks
like sandstones;
� Banded gneiss typical gneiss in which the tabular and flaky minerals are segregated in
very conspicuous pands of alternating dark and light colours.

� Gneisses of all varieties are generally the result of advanced stages of

metamorphism of a variety of parent rocks such as sandstones, conglomerates,
granites and rhyolites etc.
 � There is difference of opinion on the original of the granitic gneisses; their

mineralogical composition is close to granites but in structure they appear more

metamorphic.

Uses

� Compact, dense and massive varieties of gneisses find applications as road stones and
in some cases as building stones.
QUARTZITE
Definition

� Quartzites are granular metamorphic rocks composed chiefly of inter sutured

grains of quartz.

� The name Orthoquartzite is used for a sedimentary rock of similar composition

but having a different (sedimentary) origin, in which quartz grains are cemented
together by siliceous cement.

Composition

� Besides quartz, the rock generally contains subordinate amounts of micas, felspars,
garnets and some amphiboles which result from the recrystallisation of some
impurities of the original sandstone during the process of metamorphism.

Origin

� Metamorphic quartzites result from the recrystallisation of rather pure sandstones

under the influence of contact and dynamic metamorphism.
Uses
� The rock is generally very hard, strong, dense and uniformly grained.

� It finds extensive use in building and road construction.

MARBLE

Definition
 � Marble is essentially a granular metamorphic rock composed chiefly of
recrystallised limestone

(made of mineral calcite).

� It is characterized by a granulose texture but the grain size shows considerable

variation in different varieties;

It varies from finely sachhroidal to highly coarse grained. Marbles often show a banded structure
also; coarse varieties may exhibit a variety of structures.
Composition
� Small amounts of many other granular minerals like olivine, serpentine,
garnet and some amphiboles are also present in many varieties, which are
derived from the impurities present in the original limestone during the process of
metamorphic recrystallisation.

Varieties

� Various types of marble are distinguished on the basis of their colour, composition and
structure.

White marble, pink marble and black marble are known on the basis of their colours,
which is

basically due to fine dispersion of some impurity.

� Dolomitic marble is a variety distinguished on the basis of composition; it may

show slightly schistose structure.

Origin

� Marble is formed from contact metamorphism of carbonate group of sedimentary rocks:

pure white marble results from pure limestone; coloured marbles from those limestones
that have some impurities and dolomitic marbles from magnesian limestones.

Uses

� Marble is commonly used in the construction of palatial and monumental buildings in

the form of blocks, slabs, arches and in the crushed form as chips for flooring.
Because of its restricted occurrence and transport costs, it is mostly used as ornamental stone in
costly construction.

Important Question And Answer: Civil - Engineering Geology - Petrology

Civil - Engineering Geology - Petrology

1. Define Igneous Rocks?

All rocks that have formed from an original hot, molten material through the process of cooling
and crystallization may be defined as Igneous Rocks.

2. Explain about Hypabyssal Rocks?

These Igneous Rocks are formed at Intermediate depths, generally up to 2 Km, below the surface
of earth and exhibit mixed characteristics of volcanic and plutonic rocks. Porphyries of various
compositions are example of Hypabyssal Rocks.

3. Define Texture of Igneous Rocks?

The term texture has been defined as the mutual relationship of different mineralogical
constituents in a rock. It is determine by size, shape and arrangement of these constituents within
the body of rock.

4. What are the factors Explaining Texture?

a) Degree of Crystallization Holocrystalline, Holohyaline.

b) Granularity

Coarse grained, Medium grained, Fine grained. c) Fabric

Panidiomorphi, Allotrimorphic, Hypidiomorphic.

5. Define Equigranular and Inequigranular Texture?

All those textures in which majority of constituent crystals of rock are broadly equal in size are
described as equigranular textures. All those textures in which majority of constituent minerals
show marked difference in their relative grain size are grouped as inequigranular textures.

6. Define Structure of Igneous Rocks?

Those feature of Igneous Rocks that are developed on a large scale in the body of an extraction
or instruction giving rise conspicuous shapes or forms are included under the term structures.
They may be so well developed as to be recognized easily on visual inspection or they become
apparent only when this section of such rocks is examined under microscope. In latter case they
are termed microstructure.

7. What are the numbers of factor depending on Igneous Rocks?

a) The structural deposition of the host rock (also called country rock).
b) The viscosity of the magma or lava.
c) The composition of the magma or lava.
The environment in which injection of magma or eruption of lava place.
8. Classification of Rocks?

� IGNEOUS ROCKS

� SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
 � METAMORPHIC ROCKS

9.. Write about igneous Rocks?

IGNEOUS ROCKS

� Rocks that have formed from an originally hot molten material through the process

of cooling and crystallisation may be defined as Igneous rocks.

Important Conditions For The Original Material

� very high

temperature and

� a molten state
10.Explain about Magma?

The hot molten material occurring naturally below the surface of the

Earth is called magma.

v It is called lava when erupted through volcanoes.

v Igneous rocks are formed both from magma and lava.

v It maybe mentioned here that magma is actually a hypothetical melt.

v Lava is a thoroughly studied material that has poured out occasionally

 from volcanoes in many regions of the world again and again.

v Magma or lava from which igneous rocks are formed may not be entirely

a pure melt: it may have a crystalline or solid fraction and also a gaseous
fraction thoroughly mixed with

it.

v The solid and gaseous fractions, however, form only a small part of the

magma or lava, which are predominantly made up of liquid material

igneous rock.

11.What is mean by hypabyssal rocks?

� These igneous rocks are formed at intermediate depths, generally up to 2 kms

below the surface of the earth and exhibit mixed characteristics of volcanic and
plutonic rocks.

� Porphyries of various compositions are examples of hypabyssal rocks.

12.What is mean by Batholiths?

� These are huge bodies of igneous masses that show both concordant and
discordant relations with the country rock.
� Their dimensions vary considerably but it is generally agreed that to qualify as

a batholith the igneous mass should be greater than 100 square kilometers in area
and its depth should not be
 traceable. This is typical of batholiths: they show extensive downward enlargement

� In composition, batholiths may be made of any type of igneous rock.

They also exhibit many types of textures and structures. But as, a matter of
observation, majority of batholiths shows predominantly granitic composition, texture and
structure. 13.Write about Granites ?
� Definition Granites may be defined as plutonic light coloured igneous rocks.

� These are among the most common igneous rocks.

� Composition. Two most common and essential mineral constituents of granite

are: Quartz and

Felspar.

� Quartz is always recognized by its glassy lustre, high hardness (H = 7),

and cleavage less transparent white appearance.

� Felspars making granites may be of two varieties: the potash felspars, commonly
orthoclase and the soda-bearing felspars like albite and oligoclase.
14.Write about Diorite ?

Definition.

� It is an intermediate type of igneous rock of plutonic origin with silica percentage

generally lying between 52-66 per cent.
 Composition.

� Diorites are typically rich in felspar plagioclase of sodic group (e.g. Albite).

� Besides plagioclase and alkali felspars, diorites also contain accessory minerals like
hornblende, biotite and some pyroxenes.

� Quartz is not common but may be present in some varieties that are then specially
named as quartz-diorites.

15.What is mean by Andesite ?

Definition.

� These are volcanic rocks in which plagioclase felspars (sodic and sub-calcic
varieties like albite, andesine and labradorite) are the predominant constituents
making the potash felspar only a
subordinate member.
16. What is mean by Dolerites ?

Definition.

� These are igneous rocks of typically hypabyssal origin having formed as shallow
sills and dykes

� They may be regarded as equivalents of gabbros of plutonic origin and basalts of

volcanic origin.

Composition.

� Dolerites are predominantly made up of calcic plagioclase (e.g. anorthite and

labradorite).
 17.What is mean by Basalts ?

Definition

� Basalts are volcanic igneous rocks formed by rapid cooling from lava flows from
volcanoes either over the surface or under water on oceanic floors. They are basic in
character.

18.Define Sedimentary Rocks ?

� Sedimentary rocks are also called secondary rocks.

This group includes a wide variety of rocks formed by accumulation, compaction and
consolidation of sediments.

� The sediments may be defined as particles produced from the decay and

weathering of pre- existing rocks or may be derived from remains of dead sea or
land animals in suitable

envir onme nts.

� The accumulation and compaction of these sediments commonly takes place under
water or at least in the presence of water.
19. Write about sandstones ?

� Sandstones are mechanically formed sedimentary rocks of Arenaceous Group.

� These are mostly composed of sand grade particles that have been compacted and
consolidated
 together in the form of beds in basins of sedimentation.

� The component grains of sandstones generally range in size between 2mm and 1/16
mm. Silica in the form of very resistant mineral QUARTZ is the dominant mineral
constituent of most sandstones.

20.Write about Shale ?

� Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock of argillaceous (clayey)

composition.

� Shales are generally characterized with a distinct fissility (parting) parallel to the
bedding planes and are made up of very fine particles of silt grade and to some
extent of clay.

� Besides fissility, some shales show the laminated structure.

21.Write about limestone ? .

Definition

� These are the most common sedimentary rocks from the non-clastic-group and are
composed chiefly of carbonate of calcium with subordinate proportions of carbonate of
magnesium.

� They are formed both bio-chemically and mechanically.

Composition
� Pure limestone is invariably made up of mineral calcite (CaC03).
 � In terms of chemical composition, limestone' s are chiefly made
up of CaO and CO2, Magnesium Oxide is a common impurity in most
limestone' s; in some its percentage may

exceed 2 percent, the rock is then called magnesian limestone.

22. Write about Dolomite ?

Definition.

It is a carbonate rock of sedimentary origin and is made up chiefly more than 50 percent - of the
mineral dolomite which is a double carbonate of calcium and magnesium with a formula of
CaMg(C03h.
� Ferrous iron is present in small proportions in some varieties.
� Gypsum also makes appearance in some dolomites.
� But the chief associated carbonate is that of calcium, in the form of calcite.

23.What is mean by Coals ?

Definition.

� These may broadly be defined as metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of carbonaceous

character in which the raw material has mostly been supplied by plants of various
groups.

24.What is mean by Anthracite ?

� It is considered the highest-grade coal with fixed carbon ranging between 92-98 per
cent.

� It has highest calorific value in coals and burns almost without any smoke, as the
volatile matter is negligible.
25. Write about METAMORPHIC ROCKS ?

METAMORHISM is the term used to express the process responsible for all the changes
that take place in an original rock under the influence of changes in the surrounding conditions
of temperature, pressure and chemically active fluids.

Define METAMORPHIC ROCKS ?

Metamorphic rocks are defined as those rocks which have formed through the operation
of Stress Minerals
various types of metamorphic processes on the pre-existing igneous and sedimentary rocks
involving changes in textures, structures and mineralogical compositions.
The direction of change depends upon the type of the original rock and the type of metamorphic
process that operates on the rock.
Heat, pressure and chemically active fluids are the main agents involved in metamorphic
processes.
Plastic deformation, recrystallisation of mineral constituents and development of parallel
orientation are typical characters of metamorphic rocks.
27.What is mean by CLASSIFICATION OF METAMORPHIC ROCKS ?

� Metamorphic rocks have been variously classified on the basis of texture and
structure, degree of metamorphism, mineralogical composition and mode of origin
etc.

� A very general two-fold classification based on the presence or absence of

layered structure or

(a) Foliated Rocks

Non-Foliated Rocks

28. Write about Foliated Rocks ?

 � All metamorphic rocks showing development of conspicuous parallelism in their
mineralogical and structural constitution falling under the general term foliation are
grouped together as foliated rocks.

� The parallelism indicating features include slaty cleavage, schistosity and

gneissose structures

� Typical rocks included in this group are slates, phyllites, schists and gneisses of
great variety.

29.Write about Non-Foliated Rocks ?

� Included in this group are all those metamorphic rocks characterised with total or
nearly total absence of foliation or parallelism of mineralogicaJ constituents.
� Typical examples of non-foliated rocks are quartzites, hornfels, marbles,

amphibolites and soapstone etc.

30. What is mean by ROCKS SLATE ?

Definition

� Slate is an extremely fine-grained metamorphic rock characterized by a slate

cleavage by virtue of which it can be readily split into thin sheets having parallel
smooth surfaces.

� The slaty cleavage is due to parallel arrangement of platy and flaky minerals of

the slate under the dominant stresses operating during the process of metamorphism.
Reference:
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