5.

questionnaire, the rock cycle

1. From its understanding, where the cycle begins and where it ends.
the rocks.
The development of the rock cycle begins when volcanoes
They expel magma into space, which contains a
series of melted minerals that, when cooled, generate
crystalline structures and together form igneous rocks.
2. What does Petrology refer to?

Petrology or lithology is the branch of geology that deals with

from the study of rocks, their physical and chemical properties,
mineralogical, spatial, and chronological, of the associations
rocky and the processes responsible for their formation. It is
considered one of the main branches of geology

3. What are the chemical components of rocks

Rocks are made up of minerals and these, by elements.
chemicals. The 8 most abundant are the so-called elements
geoquímicos primarios: Oxigeno, Silicio, Mercurio, Hierro, Calcio,
Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium

4. What are the main groups of rocks that exist?

• Igneous rocks
Igneous rocks are formed when magma (rock
melted) cools and solidifies, the magma comes from the
partial fusion of pre-existing rocks from the Earth's mantle or
from the bark.
This type of rock is classified as intrusive rocks, if they are
beneath the Earth's surface and in extrusive rocks, if they are
about her.
• Sedimentary rocks
These rocks are formed by the accumulation of sediments,
they cover between 75 and 80% of the total area of the Earth and
among them are included common types of rocks such as: the
limestone, chalk, dolomite, sandstone, the
 conglomerate and the slate. The sediments are compacted and
they turn into rocks when compressed over a period
for a very long time.
• Metamorphic rocks
Metamorphic rocks are the result of
transformation of pre-existing rock types into a
process called metamorphism, which means
"change of form". The heat and the pressure at which it is
Subjected to the base rock causes changes to occur.
physical and/or chemical. The bedrock can be sedimentary,
igneous or another type of metamorphic rock

5. Describe the genesis of igneous rocks

Also called magmatic, they are all those that have been
formed by the solidification of a hot rocky material,
mobile called magma; this process, called crystallization,
resulting from the cooling of minerals and the intertwining
of its particles. These types of rocks are also formed by
the accumulation and consolidation of lava,
6. What are extrusive rocks?
Extrusive igneous rocks, or volcanic rocks, are formed when the
magma flows to the surface of the Earth and erupts or
flows over the surface of the Earth in the form of lava; and then it
cools and shapes the rocks. The lava that erupts towards the
the surface of the Earth can come from different levels of the
upper mantle of the Earth, between 50 to 150 kilometers below
from the surface of the Earth.
7. What are the intrusive rocks
The intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates into the rock.
existing, crystallizes and solidifies underground to form intrusions,
such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.
Intrusion is one of the two ways in which they can form.
igneous rocks.
8. What are hypabyssal rocks?
 The filonian, hypabyssal, or subvolcanic rocks are rocks
intrusive igneous rocks that originate when magma or fluids
mineralized hydrothermal systems make their way to the surface at
through irregular trace fissures or cracks and edge failures
plans and solidifies within itself forming veins, masses of
tabular contour rock.

9. What is referred to as a plutonic rock?

Plutonic rocks or intrusive rocks are those that are formed at
starting from a slow cooling, at great depth and in large
magma masses. They are one of the two types in which they are classified
igneous rocks based on their origin
10. What does the faneritic and aphanitic texture refer to?
• Faneritica
It is the coarse grain structure that rocks show.
igneous rocks that are formed when large masses of magma
they solidify slowly quite below the
surface. These rocks consist of a mass of crystals
intergrown that are approximately the same size
and large enough
• Afanitica
The crystalline components are so small that they are not
differentiable at first glance (they must be observed with a
microscope to identify them). The aphanitic texture is
produced due to rapid cooling and crystallization
quickly from magma with abundant nuclei starting from
the small crystals grow. The textures
Aphanitic rocks originate in small magmatic bodies.
located at a very shallow depth or in the
earth's surface, where cooling occurs
quickly

11. What are holocrystalline crystals referred to?

When more than 90% by volume of the rock is composed of
crystals. The slow cooling of plutonic rocks causes that
normally the percentage of crystals in them is 100%.
12. Granite is a common type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. It is composed mainly of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and it is known for its strength and durability.

diorita, basalto, gabro, komatita y peridotita

• Granite
It is a continental rock, which results from a process of
paused solidification of silica-rich magma, also
called saturated magma. This occurs at great depth
from the Earth's crust and under high pressure.
Granite is a plutonic igneous rock composed of quartz.
(up to 60%), feldspar and mica, main minerals
which are presented in different proportions. In it
there may also be Zircon, Apatite, Chlorite, Sericite and
Iron-titanium oxide, among others
• Riolita
A rhyolite is a volcanic rock rich in silica composed
mainly by fenocrystals of quartz and feldspar
alkaline, often with smaller amounts of plagioclase
and biotite, contained in a glassy or microcrystalline matrix.
Its chemical composition is that of granite.
• Andesite
Andesite is a volcanic rock characterized
usually due to a hypocrystalline texture with abundant
plagioclase fenocrysts between the felsic and amphibole,
biotite or pyroxenes among the mafic.
• Diorite
Diorite is a plutonic rock composed of two-thirds of
feldspars of the plagioclase group and one third of
dark minerals, generally hornblende, although they can
it can also contain biotite and sometimes pyroxene.

• Basalt
Basalt is a volcanic rock composed of
fundamentally by calcic plagioclase and pyroxene
(orthopyroxene or clinopyroxene)
• Gabro
Gabro is a dark plutonic rock (with a color index in
the range 35-65%) essentially composed of plagioclase
calcic (Anorthite > 50), clinopyroxene and/or orthopyroxene, and
 iron oxides (opaque). Additionally, both magnesium olivine
(rich in forsterite molecule) like quartz (in low
proportion) may be present
• Komatita
Komatiite is a volcanic rock formed from magma.
extremely hot, fluid and rich in magnesium that
it derives from a hot mantle
• Peridotite
Peridotite is a plutonic igneous rock formed by the
general olivine accompanied by pyroxenes and amphiboles. It is
very dense and dark in color. It is believed to be the rock
dominant in the upper part of the mantle
13. Describe Bowen's Series for differentiation
magma
The Bowen reaction series are two sequences that
they describe the crystallization order of the minerals of the group
from the silicates to the cooling of basaltic type magmas in the
interior of the Earth. Such sequences are identifiable in
many cases due to the textural relationships that are established
among the minerals.

The Canadian petrologist Norman Bowen (1887-1956) described

these series in 1915 and 1922, and included them in his well-known treatise
on the crystallization of igneous rocks from 1928 (The evolution of
the igneous rock
The order of crystallization is determined by two factors
main:
• The thermodynamics of the crystallization process
• The composition of the magma that crystallizes
14. Define sedimentary rocks
Sedimentary rocks are those that have been formed
due to the accumulation of sediments over time
coming from other rocks or organic remains. They correspond to
75% of the existing rocks in the world, being the most
Sedimentary rocks are rocks that are formed
 by the accumulation of sediments, formed from particles
of various sizes transported by water, ice or the
wind, and are subjected to physical and chemical processes, which give
place to consolidated materials.
15. Elastic and non-elastic
• Clastic or detrital rocks are a class of rocks.
sedimentary composed of fragments, or clasts, of
rock and pre-existing accumulated minerals
mechanically, which have consolidated to a greater or
lower grade. When it has not been consolidated, it is preferred
use the terms sediment or deposit
• The sediment that produces it comes from precipitation.
chemistry of different salts (carbonates, phosphates, sulfates,
) or the accumulation of biological remains (skeletons
and supporting structures) linked by the precipitate
16. Based on what are sedimentary rocks classified
Depending on their components, sedimentary rocks are
they classify into: detrital or clastic rocks (more than 50% of
terrigenous). ... not detrital (less than 50% of terrigenous), which
they can also be subdivided into: chemical precipitation or
biogeochemistry
17. Describe metamorphic rocks.
Results from the transformation of pre-existing rocks that have
suffered structural and mineralogical adjustments under certain
physical or chemical conditions, or a combination of both,
what are the temperature, pressure, and/or chemical activity of
the fluid agents of metamorphism
18. What are the main agents of metamorphism?
Effect of hydrothermal fluids
Compression, shearing, and orientation development
preferential
Changes due to pressure and temperature
19. Genetically, how many and what types of metamorphism
you exist, describe them.
• Impact metamorphism
When large meteorites collide with the Earth, a large
an amount of kinetic energy is instantaneously transformed
in heat, and a pulse of extreme compression (a wave of
shock) propagates to the Earth.
• Metamorphism in subduction zones
Blue schist is a relatively rare rock that
it contains an unusual blue amphibole. The experiments
laboratory studies indicate that the formation of this mineral
requires a very high pressure, but temperature
relatively low
• Hydrothermal metamorphism
In the mid-ocean ridges, the hot magma
ascends from the depth, so when the water
from the sea sinks through cracks in the oceanic crust
along the ridges, it heats up and transforms into
hydrothermal fluid
• Burial metamorphism
As sediment is buried in a basin
sedimentary, the pressure increases due to the weight of the
overload and also the temperature rises due to the
geothermal gradient. At depths greater than
approximately 8 to 15 km, depending on the gradient
geothermal, the temperatures can be
large enough for them to begin the
metamorphic reactions and form metamorphic rocks
of low degree.

• Regional or dynamothermal metamorphism

During the development of the mountain ranges, in
response to convergent margin tectonics or collision
continental, the crust regions are compressed and large
continental crust slices glide along
the faults and they move up over other portions
from the crust. As a result, the rock that once
it was close to the surface of the Earth throughout the
the margin of a continent ends at great depth
beneath the mountain range.
• Dynamic metamorphism
 Faults are surfaces over which a piece of
bark slides, or shear. Near the surface of the
Earth (in the upper 10 to 15 km) this movement
it can fracture the rock, dividing it into angular fragments or
even crush it into dust. But to
at greater depths, the rock behaves like plastic
soft when movement occurs along the
fail.
• Thermal or contact metamorphism
Heat flows from the magma to the wall rock and
As a result, the magma cools and solidifies.
while the rock box heats up.
20. How are metamorphic rocks classified?

Foliated metamorphic rocks

They are rocks subjected to heat and differential pressure during the
metamorphism characterized by presenting alignment
parallel minerals, which gives the rock an appearance of
layers or bands. The size and shape of mineral grains
in these cases they determine the type of foliation, which can go
from fine to coarse.

Non-foliated metamorphic rocks

They are rocks where the mineral grains do not show a

distinguishable preferred orientation, instead of this, they present
a mosaic of somewhat equidimensional minerals that are the
result of contact or regional metamorphism in rocks
where there is no presence of laminated or elongated minerals.

Cataclastic metamorphic rocks

They are rocks deformed by great pressures and/or stresses that

originate folding, faulting, flow or granulation, product
of a dynamic metamorphism. The initial stages of the
deformation is expressed by the granulation of the mineral already
that the intense continued movement, under the action of a
effort, originates the progressive wear of the grains of
mineral and the particles of the rock