Chapter 8: Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks

• give a lot of information for tectonic environmental changes

metamorphic rocks:

• greek: meta = change

  morph = form

• pre-existing parent rocks altered by temperature, pressure, tectonic forces, fluids

• any rock can become a metamorphic rock

new minerals/textures tells us about depth and temperature conditions at which the rock formed (this is imperative to reconstruct plate boundaries)