Name: _________________________________________________
Date: ____________
Period: ______
Metamorphic Rocks Worksheet
1. Base your answer to the question on the geologic cross section of Earth’s crust below and on your knowledge
of Earth science. Letters A through F identify rock units. Letter X identifies a fault. Wavy line YZ represents
an unconformity. The locations of contact metamorphism and the map symbols for sedimentary rock layers B
and E have been omitted.
Draw the contact metamorphism symbol to indicate all locations where contact metamorphism has occurred.
2. Base your answer to the question on the geologic cross section below, which shows rock units 1 through 7
that have not been overturned. Some of the rock units contain New York State index fossils. An unconformity
exists between rock units 5 and 6.
Identify one metamorphic rock that could have been formed by the contact metamorphism within rock unit 1.
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3. Describe the texture shown by this metamorphic rock that indicates it could be schist.
4. A student on a field trip in New York State collected a sample of metamorphic bedrock containing bands of
coarse-grained crystals of plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, quartz, and mica. Identify the metamorphic rock
found by the student.
-------------------------------------------------------------------Use the diagram below to answer questions 5 and 6:
5. Identify the grain size of the metamorphic rock at location D.
6. Identify one of the most abundant minerals in the metamorphic rock at location A.
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7. Base your answer to this question on the cross section below, which shows rock units A through E that have
not been overturned.
Identify one metamorphic rock that may be found
along the boundary between rock units C and E.
8. Base your answer to this question on the sequence of diagrams below, which shows four stages in coal
formation.
State the form of coal which normally has the highest density and explain why.
9. Base your answer to the question on the cross section and on your knowledge of Earth science. The cross
section shows a portion of Earth’s crust. The age, in millions of years, of each boundary between the different
sedimentary rock layers is shown. The age of boundary X between the sedimentary rock and the metamorphic
rock is not shown. Assume no overturning has occurred. Describe how the rock type below boundary X was
formed.
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10. Base your answer on the graph, which shows a generalized sequence of rock types that form from original
clay deposits at certain depths and temperature conditions within Earth’s interior.
a. Explain why gneiss would not form at a depth of 27 kilometers and at a temperature of 800°C.
b. When clay materials are buried to a depth of 14 kilometers, which type of metamorphic rock is normally
formed?
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False
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