CHAPTER 6: METAMORPHIC ROCKS

This chapter describes processes involved in metamorphism and the characteristics of

metamorphic rocks. For a more advanced treatment of this subject see Sanders (2018) and Winter
(2010).
(Note: Terms in red and italics appear as entries in the companion glossary.)

Metamorphism includes any process that alter a rock after its initial formation as a result of
temperature and/or pressure changes. Heat and pressure can do several things to change rocks.
During metamorphism:
1) new minerals become stable and can grow from the components of minerals that become
unstable,
2) mineral grains can recrystallize into larger or smaller grains either as a result of mineral grains
of the same type forming larger single grains or through expansion of mineral grains from
components of unstable minerals, and
3) mineral grains can change shape as a result of deformation when they are weakened at
higher temperatures and as they are exposed to greater stresses. As a result, both lineations and
foliations can develop.
In these cases, not only does the temperature and pressure regime matter, but also important
is the time over which conditions are applied and the fluids (chemical solutions) circulating
through the rock. The fluids in the rock contain dissolved components derived from chemical
reactions at high temperatures and pressures.

A metamorphic rock is defined as one that has experienced alterations due to changes in
temperature and pressure. This includes the metamorphism of igneous, sedimentary, or existing
metamorphic rocks. It is tempting to think of this simply as rocks being changed by exposure to
higher temperatures or pressures. However, once rocks become stable at elevated temperatures
and pressures, they can also be changed when temperature and pressure decrease, which is
called retrograde metamorphism. Whether this happens is dependent on how fast the change
occurs. Many metamorphic rocks exhibit either minor or limited retrograde metamorphic
changes. The transition of rocks from Earth surface conditions to metamorphism at relatively low
elevated temperatures and pressures can be an indistinct boundary, but there are easily
recognizable changes when temperatures and pressures get higher. At the other extreme, if
temperatures and pressures get high enough, eventually reaching the point where minerals begin
to melt, magma will start to form. Remember the rock cycle in Chapter 2.

6.1 REGIONAL METAMORPHISM AND METAMORPHIC GRADE

Regional metamorphism is caused by the heating and squeezing of rocks over a large area of
the crust (think on the scale of whole mountain ranges). The degree to which a rock is regionally
metamorphosed is known as its metamorphic grade. Rocks that have been metamorphosed at
low temperatures and pressures have a low metamorphic grade, while rocks subjected to high
temperatures and pressures, and that have been altered substantially, have a high metamorphic
grade. With higher grades of metamorphism, fewer mineral grains survive without change, and
many are completely reconstituted.

The original rock that was altered to form a metamorphic rock is known as the protolith,
which has a large influence on the composition of the resulting metamorphic rock. In the naming

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 1

of metamorphic rocks, it is sometimes customary to apply the prefix “meta-” to the name of the
protolith; for example: metaconglomerate, metasandstone, and metabasalt (Fig. 6.1). In some cases,
it is not possible to determine the protolith without doing a chemical analysis because the texture
and minerals of the protolith have been completely altered. In addition to the names above, there
are other names applied to metamorphic rocks based on their overall composition and structure.

A B

C
D

E
Figure 6.1 – Common metamorphic rock types and their
possible protoliths. Protoliths are on the left. Scales are in
cm. A) Slate that may have formed from rusty and flakey
shale. Note flat upper surface of slate, which is rock
cleavage forming a break plane cutting across original
bedding (faint dark band). B) Amphibolite with large
amphibole crystals formed from basalt or gabbro. C)
Granitic gneiss formed from granite. Note the foliation
defined by segregated dark and light mineral bands. D)
Marble formed from limestone. Limestone may have
abundant fossils (shown here are brachiopods) that are
wiped out by recrystallization of calcite. E)
Metaconglomerate formed from conglomerate. Note the
stretched and flattened pebbles.
As metamorphic grade gets higher, regional metamorphism induces more changes to mineral
grains and will eventually destroy original structures such as bedding and fossils (Fig. 6.1). Minerals
may change to other minerals that are more stable at higher pressure and temperature, or they can
recrystallize into larger grains of the same mineral. Even lower pressures and modest temperatures
may cause mineral grains of new or recrystallized minerals to align themselves with an orientation
that is more compatible with the direction of stress being applied to the rock. Geologists categorize
metamorphic grade by looking for key minerals that are indicators of specific pressure and
temperature thresholds. Based on these minerals, metamorphism can be categorized by different
temperature and pressure regimes, with each metamorphic grade having its own characteristic

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 2

minerals. Some minerals formed by regional metamorphism in the Fells are chlorite, muscovite
mica, diopside, tremolite, actinolite, and hornblende (see Chapter 3).

In most places in the Fells, original structures and protoliths of metamorphic rocks are still
recognizable in the field. Regional metamorphism has altered the rocks less than many other areas
of New England, which have significantly higher metamorphic grades. However, it should be
emphasized that this does not necessarily mean that the rocks in the Fells have not been exposed to
moderate pressures and temperatures. It is possible, if the rocks have not been deformed
significantly (sheared), for original structures to survive. If you want to see metamorphic rocks of a
high grade that have had their original protolith structures altered and have some of the minerals
traditionally recognized as “metamorphic minerals,” this can easily be accomplished by driving west
or north of Boston on the Mass Pike, Rt. 2 or Rt. 93, which have many road cuts in regionally
metamorphosed rock (Skehan, 2001; or see guidebooks at NEIGC, 2021).

6.1.1 Regional Metamorphic Structures and Rock Types

Regionally metamorphosed rocks are often squeezed and stretched (sheared) at high
temperature and pressure conditions. This can produce several types of linear and planar features
(lineations and foliations). For example, it is not uncommon for individual mineral grains to become
elongate and form a linear feature in a rock (Fig. 6.2). Pebbles in a conglomerate can also get
flattened and elongated. Lineations and foliations indicate the direction in which the rock has been
stretched and flattened. Foliation in metamorphic rocks includes fractures or joints, slatey cleavage,
schistosity, and gneissic banding (Fig. 6.3). Foliations can also be folded and may represent either
folding of layers originally in the protolith, such as bedding in a sedimentary rock, or the folding of
earlier foliations that were developed during earlier metamorphism (Fig. 6.4).

A C

D
B

Figure 6.2 - (caption on next page)

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 3
Figure 6.2 (previous page) – Some common lineations found in metamorphic rocks. A) Linear stretching and
elongation (yellow arrow) of quartz and alkali feldspar grains on a foliation plane in gneiss from the
Adirondacks of New York. Scale in cm. B) Elongation of pebbles in a metaconglomerate on a foliation plane in
the Harvard Conglomerate in Harvard, Massachusetts. The pebbles are also flattened parallel to a foliation
plane and the matrix of the rock has deformed to compensate for the stronger pebbles. Scale in cm. C)
Foliation plane in mica-rich rock (schist) with a lineation defined by dark minerals on the plane. Light areas
are muscovite mica. Sidewalk slab on Main Street, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Quarter for scale. D) Thin
section view with crossed polarizers of flattened quartz grains in metasandstone in the Fells. Quartz grains are
sutured where in contact with each other and have serrated edges and internal changes in color due to
bending of the grains and recrystallization of different parts of single original sand grains. Pink-colored fine
background grains are tremolite that grew from a calcium-rich matrix material (see Chap.3).

A B

C
D

Figure 6.3 – Some common foliations found in metamorphic rocks. In addition to fractures and joint planes (Fig.
1.9) there can be: A) slatey cleavage that forms flat planes (top surface of block) that cut across bedding (red
line) as a result of the growth of microscopic mica in a uniform direction. Lines on the near and left face of the
rock that cut bedding are saw marks (yellow). Image courtesy of James D. Hume. Pen for scale. B) Slatey
cleavage (dashed yellow line) cutting across original bedding (red line) in the Martinsburg Formation in
southeastern New York. Rock hammer for scale. C) Schistosity, which is often wavy, that results from the
macroscopic planar growth of mica (shiny mineral grains). The example is a garnet (dark grains) schist viewed
down onto the foliation plane. Scale in cm. D) Gneissic banding in garnet gneiss formed from the stretching,
preferential orientation, and segregated recrystallization of coarse mineral grains including quartz and feldspar
pods, biotite mica, and amphibole. See also Figure 6.1C.

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 4

 A B

C
Figure 6.4 – Folds formed in metamorphic rocks. A)
Folding of sedimentary layers of a protolith in
chloritic banded iron formation at the Iron Mountain
Mine near Atlantic City, Wyoming. Chlorite gives the
rock its green color. Image about 1 m across. B)
Quartz layer (likely an original sandstone layer) that
is highly folded and recrystallized in metamorphosed
argillite with faint cleavage development (dashed
yellow line). The rock was heavily compressed, or
shortened, perpendicular to cleavage, causing the
tight folding of the quartz layer. C) Gneiss with folded
foliation that was not in the original protolith. Earlier metamorphism created the gneissic banding, which was
later folded. The purplish-red grains are garnet. Black bands are mostly biotite mica and light bands are
feldspar and quartz. Scale in cm. This rock would make a beautiful countertop!

Many of the foliation structures seen in regional metamorphic rocks are easy to recognize, and
geologists have developed names for rocks with these structures. Any time hard rocks are put under
stress, they will eventually fail if the stress is high enough. Parallel fractures, or joints, will develop
with an orientation determined by the direction of the stress applied to the rock and the rock’s
mechanical properties (see Fig. 1.9B). Joints tend to form at relatively low temperatures when the
rocks are still brittle (more on brittle vs. ductile rocks in Chapter 7). The orientations of joints make
it possible to determine the direction of the stress that was applied to the rocks when the joints
formed.

At low grades of metamorphism, sedimentary rocks that have clay in them begin to undergo
mineralogical changes with the microscopic recrystallization of clay minerals to mica. This is aided
by the dissolution of minerals and loss of mass as the rock is squeezed. Dissolved constituents
greatly aid the recrystallization process and formation of mica. Mica grains grow as sheets
perpendicular to the stress being applied to the rock, which is usually at a different orientation than
sedimentary bedding. The rock will tend to break more easily in the direction of mica growth,
leading to the development of slatey cleavage and the rock is called slate (Fig. 6.3A-B, 6.4B). Slatey
cleavage takes the form of closely-spaced parallel fractures that cut across bedding. With intense
metamorphism, mica grains grow to a size where individual flakes can be recognized without a
microscope. The rock starts to develop a shiny micaceous appearance and is said to have schistosity
(Fig. 6.3C). The rock will split more easily parallel to wavy surfaces defined by mica flakes. This type
of rock is called schist.
Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 5
 In rocks that are dominated by a combination of mineral grains other than mica, including quartz,
feldspar, and silicate and aluminosilicate mafic minerals, there is often a segregation of minerals of
different types as the rock recrystallizes. While this rock is being sheared at high temperature and
pressure, layers of rock with different compositions will develop as gneissic (or metamorphic)
banding. A rock that displays this banding is called gneiss (Fig. 6.3D & 6.4C).

6.2 CONTACT METAMORPHISM

A second way in which a rock can be metamorphosed is by being in an area heated by intruding
magma. The magma loses heat to the surrounding host rock, which induces changes in the host
rock’s mineral grains. At shallow depth, the rock is heated but doesn’t develop a foliation because of
a lack of shearing or deformation. In this environment, metamorphism is caused by chemical
reactions between chemical-laden fluids and the heated minerals that become unstable. This is
known as contact metamorphism and is often referred to as baking. Contact metamorphism is a
common phenomenon, but its extent is usually restricted to a limited area as compared to regional
metamorphism. Adjacent to small intrusions, especially along dikes, it may be possible to see a
baked zone, but it rarely extends very far away from the intrusion, perhaps only a meter or two, and
the effects of contact metamorphism may be subtle. However, adjacent to large intrusions, more
heat must be dissipated for the magma to cool, and a larger region is baked. As a result, the rock
surrounding a large magma chamber is usually subjected to higher temperatures for a longer time
than rock next to a small dike.

6.2.1 Hornfels Formation

When shale or other fine-grained rocks are baked, it has the effect of creating a hard, brittle rock
called hornfels (Fig. 6.5). When clay and silt are baked, the hornfels is effectively a ceramic material
like would form in a kiln. In the Boston area, a good place to see hornfels is at the eastern-most tip
of the Nahant peninsula where sedimentary rocks, originally thin shale and limestone beds of the
Weymouth Formation, were baked in proximity to many basaltic dikes and sills and adjacent to a
large body of gabbro (Fig. 6.5).

A B

Figure 6.5 – Hornfels formed from the baking of shaly sedimentary rock during contact metamorphism of the
Weymouth Formation at East Nahant, Massachusetts. A) Contact metamorphism of calcareous shale with
pod-like areas where carbonate rock layers were baked, resulting in a change in their shape as they lost CO2
and the adjacent shale beds dehydrated. The dark hornfels layers have the appearance of chert but are not
pure silica. B) Limestone beds, apparently baked less extremely than in (A), that have been recrystallized to
marble interbedded with calcareous shale layers that form thin hornfels layers. Rock hammer for scale.

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 6

6.3 METAMORPHISM OF ROCKS WITH CARBONATE MINERALS

Regional or contact metamorphism of limestone or dolostone can cause not only their
recrystallization to marble but also the formation of many new minerals that take advantage of the
high calcium and magnesium content of the carbonate rock. Marble (with either calcite or dolomite)
and new calcium/magnesium-silicate minerals together form what is known as skarn when
carbonate rocks have been contact metamorphosed. Skarn is not common in the Fells, but it does
have a tiny occurrence at the north end of Middle Reservoir near a large granite intrusion. Also, Ca-
Mg silicate and carbonate layers in Virginia Wood are the result of regional metamorphism of calcite
and dolomite bearing sedimentary rocks. These rocks have minor calcite with calcium/magnesium
minerals (Fig. 6.6) including magnesium-rich amphibole (tremolite), calcium-rich pyroxene (diopside),
and a calcium silicate related to epidote (zoisite). The original rock was probably not limestone or
dolostone but instead argillite or sandstone with a carbonate cement.

Figure 6.6 – Calcium magnesium silicate minerals in

Virginia Wood where carbonate layers were
metamorphosed within the sandstone and argillite.
Thin section views with crossed polarizers.

A) Pod of diopside crystals (brightly colored) in

heavily foliated layers of very fine tremolite, quartz,
and chlorite. Within the pod are fine crystals of
calcite. The whole pod has been stretched and
separated on the right side.
B
B) Heavily foliated very fine tremolite, quartz and
chlorite with large crystals of diopside (bright blue
and pink) and zoisite (grayish blue). The dark line in
the center is a fracture in the thin section (open
space).

6.4 CONTACT METAMORPHISM OF METASANDSTONE

In many places in the Fells, metasandstone was intruded by large bodies of igneous rock that
caused mineralogical changes (Fig. 6.7). In both contact areas and inclusions of metasandstone,
matrix materials, and minor amounts of feldspar, were converted to very fine muscovite mica
(sericite), chlorite, and biotite, and occasionally hornblende (amphibole). In addition, the quartz in
these rocks has been recrystallized, and contacts between quartz grains have flat, sutured
boundaries.

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 7

 A B

C D

E F

Figure 6.7 – Contact metamorphism of metasandstone in thin sections. Examples shown here are from
inclusions in granitic plutons of the Fells. Images A,C,E and F are thin sections in plane polarized light; B and D
are with crossed polarizers. In plane polarized light, chlorite is green, biotite is orangish-brown, feldspar is
light gray and fuzzy due to alteration to sericite, and quartz is clear. In crossed polarizers, chlorite is dark gray
to black, biotite is brown with faint colors, feldspar is gray and speckled, and quartz is white to black and very
clear (non-speckled). Chlorite is likely an alteration product of biotite. A-B (same view): Metasandstone with
matrix material recrystallized to chlorite and black opaque mineral (magnetite), and dusty gray feldspar partly
altered to sericite. Note flat sutured grain boundaries between quartz grains (arrows). C-D (same view):
Metasandstone with matrix material altered to biotite and minor chlorite. Quartz grains also have flat
boundaries with each other. E: Metasandstone with separate areas of chlorite (left) and biotite (right) in the
same sample. F: Folded quartzite with layering defined by bands of a chlorite and biotite mixture. This is likely
heavily altered original bedding that was first folded.

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 8

REFERENCES

NEIGC, 2021, Web site of the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference:
http://w3.salemstate.edu/~lhanson/NEIGC/index.html, accessed 2021.

Sanders, I., 2018, Introducing Metamorphism: Dunedin Academic Press, Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland, 148 p.

Skehan, J.W., 2001, Roadside Geology of Massachusetts: Roadside Geology series, Mountain Press
Publishing Co., Missoula, Montana, 379 p.

Winter, J.D., 2010, An Introduction to Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology (2nd edition): Prentice Hall, New
York, 702 p.

Chapter 6 - Metamorphic Rocks 9