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USGS CMG InfoBank: Metamorphic Facies

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Comment: 16:48 - 17:34 (00:46)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 18. Metamorphic Rocks

Keywords: "James Sadd", "metamorphic facies", basalt, metamorphism, temperature, pressure, composition, mineral, "metamorphic rock", amphibole, "amphibolite facies"

Our transcription: As basalt is metamorphosed to different combinations of temperature and pressure, its mineral composition changes as the rock re-equilibrates to its new condition.

These zones on the chart are called "metamorphic facies," and each facies is defined by the formation during metamorphism of a particular mineral or mineral assemblage.

For example, this is a metamorphosed basalt containing the mineral "amphibole."

Amphibole forms at a temperature between 450 and 700 degrees centigrade and at a pressure corresponding to a depth of at least six kilometers.

So this metamorphosed basalt would plot here on a chart in the amphibolite facies.

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