Week SEVEN: Metamorphic Rocks Metamorphic rocks have been recrystallized due to intense heat and/or pressure. Heat and pressure can cause recrystallization through partial melting, diffusion, and deformation.

1. Where do metamorphic rocks occur in your region and why?  Slates and quartzite are exposed in lower Big Cottonwood canyon. Seven miles from the mouth of the canyon there is also marble. There is also gneiss up on the north end of Farmington. Since most metamorphic rocks are produced at the roots of a folded mountain belt, it makes sense that different types of metamorphic rocks are found near the Wasatch Mountains, especially places that have been eroded down, such as canyons.

gneiss boulder from of the ~1.8 billion-year-old Farmington Canyon Complex, which comprises the basal outcrop of the Wasatch Range and a bulk of the basement rock for northern Utah.

2. Describe two examples of how metamorphic rocks are used in your area.  Marble is used all over the place for construction: tile, countertops, statues, window casings.

Describe two examples of how metamorphic rocks are used in your area. Slate is used to make blackboards and patios. Blackboards are not really used in schools anymore and replaced by white boards and interactive boards.

Marble Crypt in Salt Lake City Cemetery is the most photographed marble stone in Utah. 1.Marble is a metamorphic rock formed when limestone is exposed to high temperatures and pressures. Marble forms under such conditions because the calcite forming the limestone recrystallizes forming a denser rock consisting of roughly calcite crystals. Location: Salt Lake City Cemetery (I don’t like to take pictures inside the cemetery).

LDS Tabernacle Hall –Location: Downtown Salt Lake City Rock: Metamorphic: Quartzite – Gartra Grit Member of Ankarch Formation

Utah State Capitol- Interior, Murphy Marble (Location-Salt Lake City; I did not take this picture)