contact metamorphism

geology

Also known as: contact metasomatism

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June 22, 2026

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Contact metamorphism occurs when existing rocks are altered by the heat from nearby igneous intrusions. This type of metamorphism happens in the vicinity of hot magma, regardless of depth, and involves a significant12

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amphibole
Contact metamorphic rocks
Amphiboles occur in contact metamorphic aureoles around igneous intrusions. (An aureole is the zone surrounding an intrusion, which is a mass of igneous rock that solidified between other rocks located within the Earth.) The contact aureoles produced in siliceous limestones and dolomites,…
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Amphiboles occur in contact metamorphic aureoles around igneous intrusions. (An aureole is the zone surrounding an intrusion, which is a mass of igneous rock that solidified between other rocks located within the Earth.) The contact aureoles produced in siliceous limestones and dolomites,…
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metamorphic rock
Contact metamorphism
Whenever silicate melts (magmas, from which igneous rocks crystallize within Earth) invade the crust at any level, they perturb the normal thermal regime and cause a heat increase in the vicinity. If a mass of basaltic liquid ascending from the upper
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Whenever silicate melts (magmas, from which igneous rocks crystallize within Earth) invade the crust at any level, they perturb the normal thermal regime and cause a heat increase in the vicinity. If a mass of basaltic liquid ascending from the upper
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metamorphism
Contact metamorphism occurs primarily as a consequence of increases in temperature when differential stress is minor. A common phenomenon is the effect produced adjacent to igneous intrusions where several metamorphic zones represented by changing mineral assemblages reflect the temperature gradient from the high-temperature intrusion to…
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Contact metamorphism occurs primarily as a consequence of increases in temperature when differential stress is minor. A common phenomenon is the effect produced adjacent to igneous intrusions where several metamorphic zones represented by changing mineral assemblages reflect the temperature gradient from the high-temperature intrusion to…
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roof pendant
…metamorphosed through the processes of contact metamorphism, during which heat and fluids from the intrusion have reconstituted the enclosed rock. The presence of roof pendants indicates that the igneous body is being observed near its upper surface; they are exposed by erosion of the overlying rock. Roof pendants can be…
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…metamorphosed through the processes of contact metamorphism, during which heat and fluids from the intrusion have reconstituted the enclosed rock. The presence of roof pendants indicates that the igneous body is being observed near its upper surface; they are exposed by erosion of the overlying rock. Roof pendants can be…
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xenolith
…reconstituted through the processes of contact metamorphism, in which heat and fluids cause mineralogic and chemical changes in the parent rock of the xenolith; a study of these changes can give information on the temperature and composition of the magmatic body.
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…reconstituted through the processes of contact metamorphism, in which heat and fluids cause mineralogic and chemical changes in the parent rock of the xenolith; a study of these changes can give information on the temperature and composition of the magmatic body.
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