Sir Charles Lyell

General character of metamorphic rocks — Gneiss — Hornblende-schist — Mica-schist — Clay-slate — Quartzite — Chlorite-schist — Metamorphic limestone — Alphabetical list and explanation of other rocks of this family — Origin of the metamorphic strata — Their stratification is real and distinct from cleavage — Joints and slaty cleavage — Supposed causes of these structures — How far connected with crystalline action.

We have now considered three distinct classes of rocks: first, the aqueous, or fossiliferous; secondly, the volcanic; and, thirdly, the plutonic, or granitic; and we have now, lastly, to examine those crystalline (or hypogene) strata to which the name of metamorphic has been assigned. The last-mentioned term expresses, as before explained, a theoretical opinion that such strata, after having been deposited from water, acquired, by the influence of heat and other causes, a highly crystalline texture. They who still question this opinion may call the rocks under consideration the stratified hypogene, or schistose hypogene formations.

These rocks, when in their most characteristic or normal state, are wholly devoid of organic remains, and contain no distinct fragments of other rocks, whether rounded or angular. They sometimes break out in the central parts of narrow mountain chains, but in other cases extend over areas of vast dimensions, occupying, for example, nearly the whole of Norway and Sweden, where, as in Brazil, they appear alike in the lower and higher grounds. In Great Britain, those members of the series which approach most nearly to granite in their composition, as gneiss, mica-schist, and hornblende-schist, are confined to the country north of the rivers Forth and Clyde.

Many attempts have been made to trace a general order of succession or superposition in the members of this family; gneiss, for example, having been often supposed to hold invariably a lower geological position than mica-schist. But although such an order may prevail throughout limited districts, it is by no means universal, nor even general, throughout the globe. To this subject, however, I shall again revert, in the last chapter of this volume, when the chronological relations of the metamorphic rocks are pointed out.

The following may be enumerated as the principal members of the metamorphic class:—gneiss, mica-schist, hornblende-schist, clay-slate, chlorite-schist, hypogene or metamorphic limestone, and certain kinds of quartz-rock or quartzite.

Fig. 508.

Fragment of gneiss, natural size; section at right angles to planes of stratification.

Gneiss.—The first of these, gneiss, may be called stratified granite, being formed of the same materials as granite, namely, felspar, quartz, and mica. In the specimen here figured, the white layers consist almost exclusively of granular felspar, with here and there a speck of mica and grain of quartz. The dark layers are composed of grey quartz and black mica, with occasionally a grain of felspar intermixed. The rock splits most easily in the plane of these darker layers, and the surface thus exposed is almost entirely covered with shining spangles of mica. The accompanying quartz, however, greatly predominates in quantity, but the most ready cleavage is determined by the abundance of mica in certain parts of the dark layer.

Instead of these thin laminÆ, gneiss is sometimes simply divided into thick beds, in which the mica has only a slight degree of parallelism to the planes of stratification.

The term "gneiss," however, in geology is commonly used in a wider sense, to designate a formation in which the above-mentioned rock prevails, but with which any one of the other metamorphic rocks, and more especially hornblende-schist, may alternate. These other members of the metamorphic series are, in this case, considered as subordinate to the true gneiss.

The different varieties of rock allied to gneiss, into which felspar enters as an essential ingredient, will be understood by referring to what was said of granite. Thus, for example, hornblende may be superadded to mica, quartz, and felspar, forming a syenitic gneiss; or talc may be substituted for mica, constituting talcose gneiss, a rock composed of felspar, quartz, and talc, in distinct crystals or grains (stratified protogine of the French).

Hornblende-schist is usually black, and composed principally of hornblende, with a variable quantity of felspar, and sometimes grains of quartz. When the hornblende and felspar are nearly in equal quantities, and the rock is not slaty, it corresponds in character with the greenstones of the trap family, and has been called "primitive greenstone." It may be termed hornblende rock. Some of these hornblendic masses may really have been volcanic rocks, which have since assumed a more crystalline or metamorphic texture.

Mica-schist, or Micaceous schist, is, next to gneiss, one of the most abundant rocks of the metamorphic series. It is slaty, essentially composed of mica and quartz, the mica sometimes appearing to constitute the whole mass. Beds of pure quartz also occur in this formation. In some districts, garnets in regular twelve-sided crystals form an integrant part of mica-schist. This rock passes by insensible gradations into clay-slate.

Clay-slate, or Argillaceous schist.—This rock resembles an indurated clay or shale, is for the most part extremely fissile, often affording good roofing slate. It may consist of the ingredients of gneiss, or of an extremely fine mixture of mica and quartz, or talc and quartz. Occasionally it derives a shining and silky lustre from the minute particles of mica or talc which it contains. It varies from greenish or bluish-grey to a lead colour. It may be said of this, more than of any other schist, that it is common to the metamorphic and fossiliferous series, for some clay-slates taken from each division would not be distinguishable by mineralogical characters.

Quartzite, or Quartz rock, is an aggregate of grains of quartz, which are either in minute crystals, or in many cases slightly rounded, occurring in regular strata, associated with gneiss or other metamorphic rocks. Compact quartz, like that so frequently found in veins, is also found together with granular quartzite. Both of these alternate with gneiss or mica-schist, or pass into those rocks by the addition of mica, or of felspar and mica.

Chlorite-schist is a green slaty rock, in which chlorite is abundant in foliated plates, usually blended with minute grains of quartz, or sometimes with felspar or mica. Often associated with, and graduating into, gneiss and clay-slate.

Hypogene, or Metamorphic limestone.—This rock, commonly called primary limestone, is sometimes a thick bedded white crystalline granular marble used in sculpture; but more frequently it occurs in thin beds, forming a foliated schist much resembling in colour and appearance certain varieties of gneiss and mica-schist. It alternates with both these rocks, and in like manner with argillaceous schist. It then usually contains some crystals of mica, and occasionally quartz, felspar, hornblende, and talc. This member of the metamorphic series enters sparingly into the structure of the hypogene districts of Norway, Sweden, and Scotland, but is largely developed in the Alps.

Before offering any farther observations on the probable origin of the metamorphic rocks, I subjoin, in the form of a glossary, a brief explanation of some of the principal varieties and their synonymies.

Actinolite-schist. A slaty foliated rock, composed chiefly of actinolite, (an emerald-green mineral, allied to hornblende,) with some admixture of felspar, or quartz, or mica.

Ampelite. Aluminous slate (Brongniart); occurs both in the metamorphic and fossiliferous series.

Amphibolite. Hornblende rock, which see.

Argillaceous-schist, or Clay-slate. See p. 465.

Arkose. Term used by Brongniart for granular Quartzite, which see.

Chiastolite-slate scarcely differs from clay-slate, but includes numerous crystals of Chiastolite; in considerable thickness in Cumberland. Chiastolite occurs in long slender rhomboidal crystals. For composition, see Table, p. 377.

Chlorite-schist. A green slaty rock, in which chlorite, a green scaly mineral, is abundant. See p. 465.

Clay-slate, or Argillaceous-schist. See p. 465.

Eurite and Euritic Porphyry. A base of compact felspar, with grains of laminar felspar, and often mica and other minerals disseminated (Brongniart). M. D'Aubuisson regards eurite as an extremely fine-grained granite, in which felspar predominates, the whole forming an apparently homogeneous rock. Eurite has been already mentioned as a plutonic rock, but occurs also in beds subordinate to gneiss or mica-slate.

Gneiss. A stratified or laminated rock, same composition as granite. See p. 464.

Hornblende Rock, or Amphibolite. Composed of hornblende and felspar. The same composition as hornblende-schist, stratified, but not fissile. See p. 376.

Hornblende-schist, or Slate. Composed chiefly of hornblende, with occasionally some felspar. See p. 464.

Hornblendic or Syenitic-Gneiss. Composed of felspar, quartz, and hornblende.

Hypogene Limestone. See p. 465.

Marble. See p. 465.

Mica-schist, or Micaceous-schist. A slaty rock, composed of mica and quartz in variable proportions. See p. 465.

Mica-slate. See Mica-schist, p. 465.

Phyllade. D'Aubuisson's term for clay-slate, from f???a?, a heap of leaves.

Primary Limestone. See Hypogene Limestone, p. 465.

Protogine. See Talcose-gneiss, p. 464.; when unstratified it is Talcose-granite.

Quartz Rock, or Quartzite. A stratified rock; an aggregate of grains of quartz. See p. 465.

Serpentine occurs in both divisions of the hypogene series, as a stratified or unstratified rock; contains much magnesia; is chiefly composed of the mineral called serpentine, mixed with diallage, talc, and steatite. The pure varieties of this rock, called noble serpentine, consist of a hydrated silicate of magnesia, generally of a greenish colour: this base is commonly mixed with oxide of iron.

Talcose-gneiss. Same composition as talcose-granite or protogine, but either stratified or laminated. See p. 464.

Talcose-schist consists chiefly of talc, or of talc and quartz, or of talc and felspar, and has a texture something like that of clay-slate.

Whitestone. Same as Eurite.

Origin of the Metamorphic Strata.

Having said thus much of the mineral composition of the metamorphic rocks, I may combine what remains to be said of their structure and history with an account of the opinions entertained of their probable origin. At the same time, it may be well to forewarn the reader that we are here entering upon ground of controversy, and soon reach the limits where positive induction ends, and beyond which we can only indulge in speculations. It was once a favourite doctrine, and is still maintained by many, that these rocks owe their crystalline texture, their want of all signs of a mechanical origin, or of fossil contents, to a peculiar and nascent condition of the planet at the period of their formation. The arguments in refutation of this hypothesis will be more fully considered when I show, in the last chapter of this volume, to how many different ages the metamorphic formations are referable, and how gneiss, mica-schist, clay-slate, and hypogene limestone (that of Carrara for example), have been formed, not only since the first introduction of organic beings into this planet, but even long after many distinct races of plants and animals had passed away in succession.

The doctrine respecting the crystalline strata, implied in the name metamorphic, may properly be treated of in this place; and we must first inquire whether these rocks are really entitled to be called stratified in the strict sense of having been originally deposited as sediment from water. The general adoption by geologists of the term stratified, as applied to these rocks, sufficiently attests their division into beds very analogous, at least in form, to ordinary fossiliferous strata. This resemblance is by no means confined to the existence in both of an occasional slaty structure, but extends to every kind of arrangement which is compatible with the absence of fossils, and of sand, pebbles, ripple-mark, and other characters which the metamorphic theory supposes to have been obliterated by plutonic action. Thus, for example, we behold alike in the crystalline and fossiliferous formations an alternation of beds varying greatly in composition, colour, and thickness. We observe, for instance, gneiss alternating with layers of black hornblende-schist, or with granular quartz, or limestone; and the interchange of these different strata may be repeated for an indefinite number of times. In the like manner, mica-schist alternates with chlorite-schist, and with granular limestone in thin layers.

As in fossiliferous formations strata of pure siliceous sand alternate with micaceous sand and with layers of clay, so in the crystalline or metamorphic rocks we have beds of pure quartzite alternating with mica-schist and clay-slate. As in the secondary and tertiary series we meet with limestone alternating again and again with micaceous or argillaceous sand, so we find in the hypogene, gneiss and mica-schist alternating with pure and impure granular limestones.It has also been shown that the ripple-mark is very commonly repeated throughout a considerable thickness of fossiliferous strata; so in mica-schist and gneiss, there is sometimes an undulation of the laminÆ on a minute scale, which may, perhaps, be a modification of similar inequalities in the original deposit.

In the crystalline formations also, as in many of the sedimentary before described, single strata are sometimes made up of laminÆ placed diagonally, such laminÆ not being regularly parallel to the planes of cleavage.

This disposition of the layers is illustrated in the accompanying diagram, in which I have represented carefully the stratification of a coarse argillaceous schist, which I examined in the Pyrenees, part of which approaches in character to a green and blue roofing slate, while part is extremely quartzose, the whole mass passing downwards into micaceous schist. The vertical section here exhibited is about 3 feet in height, and the layers are sometimes so thin that fifty may be counted in the thickness of an inch. Some of them consist of pure quartz.

The inference drawn from the phenomena above described in favour of the aqueous origin of clay-slate and other crystalline strata, is greatly strengthened by the fact that many of these metamorphic rocks occasionally alternate with, and sometimes pass by intermediate gradations into, rocks of a decidedly mechanical origin, and exhibiting traces of organic remains. The fossiliferous formations, moreover, into which this passage is effected, are by no means invariably of the same age nor of the highest antiquity, as will be afterwards explained.

Stratification of the metamorphic rocks distinct from cleavage.—The beds into which gneiss, mica-schist, and hypogene limestone divide, exhibit most commonly, like ordinary strata, a want of perfect geometrical parallelism. For this reason, therefore, in addition to the alternate recurrence of layers of distinct materials, the stratified arrangement of the crystalline rocks cannot be explained away by supposing it to be simply a divisional structure like that to which we owe some of the slates used for writing and roofing. Slaty cleavage, as it has been called, has in many cases been produced by the regular deposition of thin plates of fine sediment one upon another; but there are many instances where it is decidedly unconnected with such a mode of origin, and where it is not even confined to the aqueous formations. Some kinds of trap, for example, as clinkstone, split into laminÆ, and are used for roofing.

There are, says Professor Sedgwick, three distinct forms of structure exhibited in certain rocks throughout large districts: viz.—First, stratification; secondly, joints; and thirdly, slaty cleavage; the two last having no connection with true bedding, and having been superinduced by causes absolutely independent of gravitation. All these different structures must have different names, even though there be some cases where it is impossible, after carefully studying the appearances, to decide upon the class to which they belong.[469-A]

Joints.—Now, in regard to the second of these forms of structure or joints, they are natural fissures which often traverse rocks in straight and well-determined lines. They afford to the quarryman, as Sir R. Murchison observes, when speaking of the phenomena, as exhibited in Shropshire and the neighbouring counties, the greatest aid in the extraction of blocks of stone; and, if a sufficient number cross each other, the whole mass of rock is split into symmetrical blocks.[469-B] The faces of the joints are for the most part smoother and more regular than the surfaces of true strata. The joints are straight-cut chinks, often slightly open, often passing, not only through layers of successive deposition, but also through balls of limestone or other matter which have been formed by concretionary action, since the original accumulation of the strata. Such joints, therefore, must often have resulted from one of the last changes superinduced upon sedimentary deposits.[469-C]

In the annexed diagram the flat surfaces of rock A, B, C, represent exposed faces of joints, to which the walls of other joints, J J, are parallel. S S are the lines of stratification; D D are lines of slaty cleavage, which intersect the rock at a considerable angle to the planes of stratification.

Joints, according to Professor Sedgwick, are distinguishable from lines of slaty cleavage in this, that the rock intervening between two joints has no tendency to cleave in a direction parallel to the planes of the joints, whereas a rock is capable of indefinite subdivision in the direction of its slaty cleavage. In some cases where the strata are curved, the planes of cleavage are still perfectly parallel. This has been observed in the slate rocks of part of Wales (see fig. 511.), which consist of a hard greenish slate. The true bedding is there indicated by a number of parallel stripes, some of a lighter and some of a darker colour than the general mass. Such stripes are found to be parallel to the true planes of stratification, wherever these are manifested by ripple-mark, or by beds containing peculiar organic remains. Some of the contorted strata are of a coarse mechanical structure, alternating with fine-grained crystalline chloritic slates, in which case the same slaty cleavage extends through the coarser and finer beds, though it is brought out in greater perfection in proportion as the materials of the rock are fine and homogeneous. It is only when these are very coarse that the cleavage planes entirely vanish. These planes are usually inclined at a very considerable angle to the planes of the strata. In the Welsh chains, for example, the average angle is as much as from 30° to 40°. Sometimes the cleavage planes dip towards the same point of the compass as those of stratification, but more frequently to opposite points. It may be stated as a general rule, that when beds of coarser materials alternate with those composed of finer particles, the slaty cleavage is either entirely confined to the fine-grained rock, or is very imperfectly exhibited in that of coarser texture. This rule holds, whether the cleavage is parallel to the planes of stratification or not.

In the Swiss and Savoy Alps, as Mr. Bakewell has remarked, enormous masses of limestone are cut through so regularly by nearly vertical partings, and these are often so much more conspicuous than the seams of stratification, that an inexperienced observer will almost inevitably confound them, and suppose the strata to be perpendicular in places where in fact they are almost horizontal.[470-A]

Now these joints are supposed to be analogous to those partings which have been already observed to separate volcanic and plutonic rocks into cuboidal and prismatic masses. On a small scale we see clay and starch when dry split into similar shapes, which is often caused by simple contraction, whether the shrinking be due to the evaporation of water, or to a change of temperature. It is well known that many sandstones and other rocks expand by the application of moderate degrees of heat, and then contract again on cooling; and there can be no doubt that large portions of the earth's crust have, in the course of past ages, been subjected again and again to very different degrees of heat and cold. These alternations of temperature have probably contributed largely to the production of joints in rocks.

In some countries, as in Saxony, where masses of basalt rest on sandstone, the aqueous rock has for the distance of several feet from the point of junction assumed a columnar structure similar to that of the trap. In like manner some hearthstones, after exposure to the heat of a furnace without being melted, have become prismatic. Certain crystals also acquire by the application of heat a new internal arrangement, so as to break in a new direction, their external form remaining unaltered.

Sir R. Murchison observes, that in referring both joints and slaty cleavage to crystalline action, we are borne out by a well-known analogy in which crystallization has in like manner given rise to two distinct kinds of structure in the same body. Thus, for example, in a six-sided prism of quartz, the planes of cleavage are distinct from those of the prism. It is impossible to cleave the crystals parallel to the plane of the prism, just as slaty rocks cannot be cleaved parallel to the joints; but the quartz crystal, like the older schists, may be cleaved ad infinitum in the direction of the cleavage planes.[471-A]

It seems, therefore, that the fissures called joints may have been the result of different causes, as of some modification of crystalline action, or simple contraction during consolidation, or during a change of temperature. And there are cases where joints may have been due to mechanical violence, and the strain exerted on strata during their upheaval, or when they have sunk down below their former level. Professor Phillips has suggested that the previous existence of divisional planes may often have determined, and must greatly have modified, the lines and points of fracture caused in rocks by those forces to which they owe their elevation or dislocations. These lines and points being those of least resistance, cannot fail to have influenced the direction in which the solid mass would give way on the application of external force.

Professor Phillips has also remarked that in some slaty rocks the form of the outline of fossil shells and trilobites has been much changed by distortion, which has taken place in a longitudinal, transverse, or oblique direction. This change, he adds, seems to be the result of a "creeping movement" of the particles of the rock along the planes of cleavage, its direction being always uniform over the same tract of country, and its amount in space being sometimes measurable, and being as much as a quarter or even half an inch. The hard shells are not affected, but only those which are thin.[471-B] Mr. D. Sharpe, following up the same line of inquiry, came to the conclusion, that the present distorted forms of the shells in certain British slate rocks may be accounted for by supposing that the rocks in which they are imbedded have undergone compression in a direction perpendicular to the planes of cleavage, and a corresponding expansion in the direction of the dip of the cleavage.[471-C]

Mr. Darwin infers from his observations, that in South America the strike of the cleavage planes is very uniform over wide regions, and that it corresponds with the strike of the planes of foliation in the gneiss and mica-schists of the same parts of Chili, Tierra del Fuego, &c. The explanation which he suggests, is based upon a combination of mechanical and crystalline forces. The planes, he says, of cleavage, and even the foliation of mica-schist and gneiss, may be intimately connected with the planes of different tension to which the area was long subjected, after the main fissures or axis of upheavement had been formed, but before the final consolidation of the mass and the total cessation of all molecular movement.[472-A]

I have already stated that some extremely fine slates are perfectly parallel to the planes of stratification, as those of the Niesen, for example, near the Lake of Thun, in Switzerland, which contain fucoids, and are no doubt due to successive aqueous deposition. Even where the slates are oblique to the general planes of the strata, it by no means follows as a matter of course that they have been caused by crystalline action, for they may be the result of that diagonal lamination which I have before described (p. 17.). In this case, however, there is usually much irregularity, whereas cleavage planes oblique to the true stratification, which are referred to a crystalline action, are often perfectly symmetrical, and observe a strict geometrical parallelism, even when the strata are contorted, as already described (p. 470.).

Professor Sedgwick, speaking of the planes of slaty cleavage, where they are decidedly distinct from those of sedimentary deposition, declares his opinion that no retreat of parts, no contraction in the dimensions of rocks in passing to a solid state, can account for the phenomenon. It must be referred to crystalline or polar forces acting simultaneously, and somewhat uniformly, in given directions, on large masses having a homogeneous composition.

Sir John Herschel, in allusion to slaty cleavage, has suggested, "that if rocks have been so heated as to allow a commencement of crystallization; that is to say, if they have been heated to a point at which the particles can begin to move amongst themselves, or at least on their own axes, some general law must then determine the position in which these particles will rest on cooling. Probably that position will have some relation to the direction in which the heat escapes. Now, when all, or a majority of particles of the same nature, have a general tendency to one position, that must of course determine a cleavage plane. Thus we see the infinitesimal crystals of fresh precipitated sulphate of barytes, and some other such bodies, arrange themselves alike in the fluid in which they float; so as, when stirred, all to glance with one light, and give the appearance of silky filaments. Some sorts of soap, in which insoluble margarates[472-B] exist, exhibit the same phenomenon when mixed with water; and what occurs in our experiments on a minute scale may occur in nature on a great one."[472-C]