Rock Topics

• Introduction
• Basics
• The Rock Cycle
• Igneous Rocks
• Sedimentary Rocks
• Metamorphic Rocks
  1. Agents of Change
  2. Classification
  3. Foliated Textures
  Slaty
  Phyllitic
  Schistose
  Gneissic
  4. Non-foliated Textures
  5. Composition
  6. Index Minerals
  7. Common Metamorphic Rocks
  Slate
  Phyllite
  Schist
  Gneiss
  Amphibolite
  Marble
  Quartzite
  Soapstone
• Rocks In Virginia

Classification of Metamorphic Rocks (Part 2)

Foliated Textures (Continued)

Schistose Texture

• Schistose rocks have visible grains.  They are most commonly made up of platy minerals like mica.

Schist (Photograph by Parvinder Sethi)

Rocks with schistose texture, like this garnet schist, are more metamorphosed than those with phyllitic texture.  Schists can form from a variety of parent rocks.

Gneissic Texture

• Gneissic rocks have minerals separated into light and dark bands.

Gneiss (Photograph by Parvinder Sethi)

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