Metamorphism of basic rocks (under construction)

Basic rocks, clays, marls – they all metamorphosize to a composition which is typical of basalt, the rock all others derive from.

Basalts, through differentiation (fractioned crystallization), can generate other kinds of igneous rocks such as diorites and granites. They are weathered into sedimentary rocks (feldspars alter into clay minerals). Metamorphism turns sedimentary rocks back into basalts. The rock cycle continues…