Metamorphic Rocks Lab: (Rocks 16-22 +1, 11, 13, 14,15)
Name:_________________________________
READ THE DIRECTIONS!!!
1- Empty the tube onto a paper towel on the table.
2- Separate the rocks into 2 piles. Rocks #16-22 are METAMORPHIC DAUGHTER rocks. Rocks #1,11,13, 14
and 15 are PARENT rocks.
3- Use your notes and separate the metamorphic rocks into foliated and nonfoliated.
4- Find the correct metamorphic rock and record the number on the chart below.
Foliated Metamorphic Rocks:
Appears flattened, dark grey, with thin layers. Parent rock is shale (11)
________ slate
Appears platy or flaky. Parent rock is slate
________ mica schist
Parent rock is granite (1)
________ gneiss
Parent is conglomerate (15). Pebbles appear “smooshed” or flattened
________ metaconglomerate
Non-foliated Metamorphic Rocks:
Positive acid test. Parent rock is limestone (14)
________ marble
Negative acid test. Parent rock is sandstone (13)
________ quartzite
Negative acid test. Parent rock is coal
________ anthracite
Lab Questions:
1. Compare gneiss with granite (rock #1). What evidence can you observe that suggests that granite is the parent rock to
gneiss? ________________________________________________________________________________________
Thinking of the rock cycle, start with a piece of granite and explain the process that formed gneiss. ______________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Compare slate to shale (rock # 11). What evidence can you observe that suggests shale is the parent rock of slate? ___
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Starting from the igneous rock granite, describe a possible process that formed the metamorphic rock slate. Feel free
to draw it.
Reminder: shale is a sedimentary rock formed from the lithification of clay sediments. THINK ABOUT IT!!!
3. What test could you perform to prove marble is related to limestone (rock #14)?______________________________
Go ahead and perform the test. What did you observe? __________________________________________________
What mineral can you conclude is present in each rock?_________________________________________________
Recall the changes that occur during metamorphosis (what happens to the rock); explain why marble looks very
different from limestone. _________________________________________________________________________
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4. Compare quartzite and sandstone (rock #13). Notice how quartzite looks as if the sand grains have been “welded”
together. Using your knowledge the process of rocks becoming metamorphic, how could this have happened?
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5. Compare marble with gneiss. What causes some metamorphic rocks to foliate while others do not? _______________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
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6. Compare conglomerate to metaconglomerate. What evidence can you observe that suggests conglomerate is related to
metaconglomerate (besides observing the names are similar)? ____________________________________________
__________________________. Take a REALLY close look at the pebbles or gravel sediment that make up each
rock. What is different about the pebbles in conglomerate from those in metaconglomerate? ____________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
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*** Clean up your lab area. Return the rocks to the tube and wipe down the lab table. Leave no SCHIST behind.
Use your notes and the textbook to answer the following questions:
1. How are metamorphic rocks formed? ________________________________________________________________
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2. What is regional metamorphism? ___________________________________________________________________
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3. What 2 things can cause the pressure that produces metamorphic change? (this question is NOT asking about the two
kinds of metamorphism).
1. _________________________________________
2. _________________________________________
4. What role does water play in metamorphic change? ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What does the squeezing of the rock from pressure do to the rocks crystal grains? ______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What does heat and chemicals do to the rocks? ________________________________________________________
8. Explain the steps in the metamorphism of shale?
Heat & Pressure
Shale
______________
______________
______________
______________
9. Explain contact metamorphism? ____________________________________________________________________
10. Compare the amount of rock changed by contact metamorphism to regional metamorphism- ____________________
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