metamorphic facies
Mineral stability fields
Metamorphic facies are categories geologists use to classify rocks that formed under similar temperature and pressure conditions.
Each facies—greenschist, blueschist, amphibolite, and others—represents a distinct set of mineral assemblages that develop when rocks are subjected to specific metamorphic environments: The presence of garnet indicates the rock reached amphibolite facies.
The system helps geologists reconstruct the burial and heating history of rock formations.
- kyaniteBlue aluminosilicate mineral
- contact metamorphismRock change from adjacent heat
- garnetRed semiprecious stone
- subduction zoneWhere one plate slides under another
- recrystallizationPurification through dissolving and reforming
zeolite · biotite · chlorite · accretionary wedge · amphibole · quartz · feldspar · pyroxene · volcanic arc · slate · temperature · gneiss · minerals · burial · marble · foliation · pressure · mid-ocean ridge
- Metamorphismmetamorphic rock, foliation, schist, gneiss, quartzite
- petrologypetrology, igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks, rock cycle
- facies