petrologic

Petrologic is an adjective describing matters related to petrology, the branch of geology that studies rocks. It encompasses understanding rock formation, mineral composition, texture, and history, as well as the processes that assemble rocks in the Earth's crust and mantle. In scholarly use, petrologic analysis seeks to classify rocks and interpret their origin, whether through cooling of molten material, accumulation and cementation of sediment, or metamorphic transformation under pressure and heat.

Petrology is traditionally divided into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic disciplines, each focusing on distinct formation mechanisms and textural features. Petrography, the microscopic study of thin sections, is a core tool of petrologic work, complemented by geochemical assays, isotopic dating, and mineralogical analyses. Through petrologic methods, geologists infer conditions of formation, such as temperature, pressure, and fluid composition, and place rocks within the broader rock cycle and plate tectonic context.

Beyond Earth, petrologic methods are applied in planetary science to study meteorites and rocks from other planetary bodies. Practical applications include mineral exploration, hydrocarbon reservoir studies, and understanding crustal evolution. The term petrologic thus denotes both the methodological approach and the descriptive attributes used to characterize rocks in geological research.