INTRODUCTION

Rock, the most important (rather only) tool in Geology, is an assemblage of minerals ( fossils).
Mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic compound with regular crystal geometry.
naturally occurring stands for the fact that a mineral would have unique crystalline
geometry irrespective of its site, time and stage of growth.
regular crystal geometry stands for unique crystallographic lattice structure which will
be maintained irrespective of size of the mineral grain.
Rock may be of three types sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. On the basis of mode of
origin, sedimentary and igneous rocks are considered primary rock and metamorphic rocks are
considered as secondary rocks.
A sedimentary rock is formed sequentially through weathering and breaking of preexisting rock
(sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic), followed by transportation of the resulting sediment
particles by air, water or glacier, then deposition at a suitable site of accumulation and finally
diagenesis and lithification (compaction). Thus a sedimentary rock can also be a source of
sediment particles for a new (younger) sedimentary rock. It is formed in layers, one above the
other, following Law of Superposition, i.e., the early supplied, coarser and/or denser particles
will constitute the bottom most layer and the successively higher layers will be made up of lately
supplied, finer and/or lighter particles.
An igneous rock originates through cooling and crystallization of lave or magma. It may be of
two types volcanic that is formed from lava erupted through a volcano and rapid cooling, and
plutonic that is formed at depth by slow crystallization of a magma. In general, lesser the silica
(SiO2) content lesser the viscosity (higher the fluidity) of the magma, and higher is the chance of
eruption of the magma (lava flow) on the surface of the earth. For example,
SiO2 content
< 45%
< 52%
52-63%
63-69%
>69%

Fe-Mg vs. Al-Si

Ultramafic
Mafic
Intermediate
Intermediate-felsic
Felsic

Acidity
Ultrabasic
Basic
Intermediate
Intermediate-acidic
Acidic

Volcanic
Komatiite
Basalt
Andesite
Dacite
Rhyolite

Plutonic
Peridotite
Gabbro
Diorite
Granodiorite
Ganite

A metamorphic rock is formed through transformation of a preexisting rock through burial,

deformation and transformation under a new Pressure-Temperature condition. Such
transformation takes place in the way of recrystallization of the earlier mineral structure and /or
Neomineralization, i.e., growth of new mineral (s) from one mineral or an assemblage of
minerals. For example, Mica schist, granite gneiss, metabasalt, quartz-chlorite-mica schist.

Because of viscosity basalt as a volcanic rock and granite as a plutonic rock are most
common igneous rocks on the earths surface.
Minerals which are essential constituents of rocks are the rock forming minerals, for
example, quartz, feldspars, mica, pyroxene, amphibole etc. The essential rock forming
minerals for basalt (volcanic) and gabbro (plutonic) are feldspar and pyroxene, while that
for Rhyolite (volcanic) and granite (plutonic) are quartz, feldspars and mica.
Thus if composition of the common igneous rocks (basalt & granite) are considered, the
most common mineral on earths surface would be feldspars. But feldspars are easily
weatherable, and hence quartz is the most common mineral on earths surface. Moreover
because of resistance quartz is also a very common mineral in the sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are typically characterized by rounded shape of mineral grains,
because of its abrasion during transportation from the source to the site of deposition.
Igneous rocks are marked by straight crystal outline of the mineral grains.
Metamorphic rocks are characterized by new Index (of degree of metamorphism)
minerals, in addition to straight crystal outlines of the grains.
All the rock types may be characterized by bimodal grain size distribution, i.e., coarser
grains set in a fine grained groundmass. Terminology used to denote the coarser and finer
fractions of the three rock types are different and name of the corresponding textures are
also different as below.

Rock type
Sedimentary
Igneous
Metamorphic

Coarse grain
Framework
Phenocryst
Pophyroblast

Fine fraction
Matrix
Groundmass
Groundmass

Texture
Framework
Porphyritic
Porphyroblastic

Age of Rock: It is of two types, relative and absolute. Relative age of a rock is determined
on the basis of field relation of different rocks, i.e., their disposition in the outcrop. As per
Law of Superposition the lowermost layer is the oldest rock unit and the successively
higher layers are more and more young.
The absolute age of a rock, on the other hand, is estimated on the basis of radiometric age
determination.