# Pyrometamorphism

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pyrometamorphism
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pyrometamorphism.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrometamorphism
> Source revision: 1131077603
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Metamorphism resulting from combustion of coal or hydrocarbon deposits}}
'''Pyrometamorphism''' is a type of [metamorphism](/source/metamorphism) in which rocks are rapidly changed by heat, ''e.g.'' coming from a rapidly emplaced extrusive or intrusive igneous rock or from a fossil fuel fire. The rocks produced by pyrometamorphism include [buchite](/source/buchite), [clinker](/source/Cement_clinker) and paralava, formed due to melting and/or recrystallisation of sedimentary rocks. Both natural and anthropogenic examples of sites with active pyrometamorphism are known. One well-known area of natural pyrometamorphic rocks is the [Hatrurim Formation](/source/Hatrurim_Formation) with outcrops all around the [Dead Sea Basin](/source/Dead_Sea_Transform): in the [Negev Desert](/source/Negev_Desert) in [Israel](/source/Israel), in the [Judaean Desert](/source/Judaean_Desert) on the [West Bank](/source/West_Bank), and in western [Jordan](/source/Jordan). [Xenolith](/source/Xenolith)s of [sedimentary rock](/source/sedimentary_rock)s trapped in [volcanic lava](/source/volcanic_lava) may undergo pyrometamorphic transformation, as can some contact wallrocks. Anthropogenic pyrometamorphic rocks are found in burning coal-mining dumps (red shales). A great number of minerals, sometimes very rare, are found within these rocks. Of the silicate minerals, the typical ones are especially [cordierite](/source/cordierite), [indialite](/source/indialite), [fayalite](/source/fayalite), [mullite](/source/mullite), [tridymite](/source/tridymite) and [cristobalite](/source/cristobalite) (both tridymite and cristobalite may be classified as oxide minerals, too), and [sekaninaite](/source/sekaninaite). Oxide minerals include [corundum](/source/corundum), [hematite](/source/hematite), [hercynite](/source/hercynite), [magnesioferrite](/source/magnesioferrite), and [magnetite](/source/magnetite). Some rare minerals typical of meteorites, like [oldhamite](/source/oldhamite), are also found in pyrometamorphic rocks.<ref>Grapes, R.H., 2006. Pyrometamorphism. Springer Verlag, Berlin</ref><ref>Sokol, E.V., Maksimova, N.V., Nigmatulina, E.N., Sharygin, V.V., and  Kalugin, V.M., 2005. Combustion metamorphism. Publishing House of the Siberian Branch of the  Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk (in Russian, with parts in English)</ref><ref>Simmons, W.B., Cosca, M.A., Essene, E.J., and Coates, D.A., 1989. Pyrometamorphic rocks associated with naturally burned coal beds, Powder River Basin, Wyoming. American Mineralogist 74, 85-100</ref><ref>Grapes, R., Zhang, K., and Peng, Z., 2009. Paralava and clinker products of coal combustion, Yellow River, Shanxi Province, China. ''[Lithos](/source/Lithos_(journal))'' 113(3-4), 831-843</ref><ref>Sharygin, V.V., Sokol, E.V., and Belakovskii, D.I., 2009. Fayalite-sekaninaite paralava from the Ravat coal fire (central Tajikistan). Russian Geology and Geophysics 50(8), 703-721</ref><ref>Mindat, http://www.mindat.org</ref>

==Types of pyrometamorphic rocks==
The main types of pyrometamorphic rocks are:
* [Buchite](/source/Buchite) – usually referring to fused, partially melted rock, often formed in expense of [sandstone](/source/sandstone); it may have both glassy and vesicular texture.
* [Clinker](/source/Cement_clinker) – it usually refers to fused, not completely melted, shales; typical feature is preservation of the shaly structure.
* Paralava (or parabasalt) – a product of complete melting and (partial) recrystallization

Some thermally changed sedimentary rocks are described under a general name: [metapelite](/source/metapelite).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Geological processes

{{petrology-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pyrometamorphism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrometamorphism) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrometamorphism?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.