What happens to minerals when rock becomes metamorphic rock?

Answer 1

Molten minerals in magma crystallize when they have cooled sufficiently to reach their temperature range of crystallization. When all of the minerals have crystallized, the resultant product is an igneous rock. In an igneous rock like granite, the minerals in the magma crystallize at different temperatures and interlock, forming a very durable rock. Minerals in sedimentary rock are a product of sedimentation of particles of other rocks or solutions rich in minerals. These minerals in solution can bridge gaps between particles of rock (which themselves are composed of minerals), and cement the particles together, forming a rock. In metamorphic rocks, heat and pressure can alter the crystal and mineral structures of the parent rock. == Rocks are composedof Minerals, so any bunch of minerals is a rock, even if the rock is made of only one or more types of minerals.

So minerals don't become rocks. They just are (collectively) rocks.

Answer 2

"It just does"

Not correct. Stars, or more accurately, Super Novas, are for example the reason why diamonds are formed. Rocks then, are formed from a variety of incidents and occurrences. Volcanoes, erosion, salt, even lightning bolts have been known to change the properties of minerals. Lightning bolts are thought to be why magnetite on the surface of the earth is often magnetized. These naturally occurring magnets have been called lodestones, and were used in compasses by seafarers for a long time. Basalts are formed after being heated up by volcanoes.

http://www.meteorites.wustl.edu/id/lavarocks.htm

Sandstones occur after sand is buried and dissolution occurs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandstone

It is hard to point to the root minerals of all rocks because they change so much, but here are the three main categories: Igneous--formed by crystalline solids encountering magma; Sedimentary--formed by rocks that are compacted and cemented together; and Metamorphic--formed by encounters with foreign minerals which make the minerals of the rock unstable, often this kind of rock is under immense pressure, and so the rock seeks equilibrium and therefore absorbs other minerals or changes the atoms in its own mineral composition that will offset its lack of equilibrium.

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry13.html

There is much more to life and the origins of what we see than merely observing it and assuming its always been that way.

Answer 3

They can deform, align in layers, recrystallize, or form into new minerals that are stable at the increased temperature and pressure of their environment.