Metamorphic Petrology Flashcards
What is another word for metamorphic textures?
Metamorphic fabrics
What are the characteristics of slaty cleavage?
Splits into thin sheets along cleavage planes. Fine grained.
What are some examples of rocks with slaty cleavage?
Slate and phyllite
How is slaty cleavage formed?
By low grade metamorphism. Flat, platy minerals like clays and micas align at 90° to the direction of pressure and they’re usually parallel to the axial planes in folds
What does slaty cleavage represent?
Low grade metamorphism
How is schistosity formed?
Regional metamorphism. Alignment of flat platy minerals. 90° from direction of metamorphic pressure.
What is schistosity?
Thin parallel beds and shiny appearance where surface of micas visible (micaceous sheen)
What does schistosity indicate?
Higher grade metamorphism
What is the difference between slaty cleavage and schistosity?
Slaty cleavage: low grade. Fine grained.
Schistosity: higher grade. Coarser grained
What does gneissose banding look like?
Clearly distinguishable light and dark bands.
What makes up the light bands of gneissose banding?
Quartz and feldspar.
Usually granoblastic and equidimensional
What are the dark bands made of in gneissose banding?
Biotite and Mafic material. Foliated
Are bands in gneissose banding always straight?
No. They may be contorted or folded at 90° to maximum pressure
What are porphyroblasts?
Large metamorphic crystals within a finer matrix
What is the difference between porphyroblasts and phenocrysts?
Porphyroblasts are metamorphic.
Phenocrysts are igneous and formed by two stage cooling
How are porphyroblasts formed?
Both contact and regional metamorphism
How can porphyroblasts show the order of metamorphic events?
If they are pre, syn or post-kinematic
What are some examples of porphyroblasts?
Cubic pyrite in slate.
Garnet in schists