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Trachydacite
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrusions) enriched with silica and alkali metals. It is the volcanic equivalent of syenite. Trachyte is common wherever alkali magma is erupted, including in late stages of ocean island volcanismMacDonald 1983, pp. 51–52 and in continental rift valleys, above mantle plumes,Philpotts and Ague 2009, pp. 390–394 and in areas of back-arc extension. Trachyte has also been found in Gale crater on Mars. Trachyte has been used as decorative building stone and was extensively used as dimension stone in the Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice. Chemical composition Trachyte has a silica content of 60 to 65% and an alkali oxide content of over 7%. This gives it less SiO2 than rhyolite and more (Na2O plus K2O) than dacite. These chemical differences are c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenocryst
image:montblanc granite phenocrysts.JPG, 300px, Granites often have large feldspar, feldspathic phenocrysts. This granite, from the Switzerland, Swiss side of the Mont Blanc massif, has large white phenocrysts of plagioclase (that have trapezoid shapes when cut through). 1 euro coin (diameter 2.3 cm) for scale. A phenocryst is an early forming, relatively large and usually conspicuous crystal distinctly larger than the grains of the rock Matrix (geology), groundmass of an igneous rock. Such rocks that have a distinct difference in the size of the crystals are called Porphyry (geology), porphyries, and the adjective porphyritic is used to describe them. Phenocrysts often have euhedral forms, either due to early growth within a magma, or by post-emplacement recrystallization (geology), recrystallization. Normally the term ''phenocryst'' is not used unless the crystals are directly observable, which is sometimes stated as greater than in diameter. Phenocrysts below this level, but s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gale Crater
Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer from Sydney, Australia, who observed Mars in the late 19th century. Aeolis Mons, also known as Mount Sharp, is a mountain in the center of Gale and rises high. Aeolis Palus is the plain between the northern wall of Gale and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons. Peace Vallis, a nearby outflow channel, 'flows' down from the hills to the Aeolis Palus below and seems to have been carved by flowing water. Several lines of evidence suggest that a lake existed inside Gale shortly after the formation of the crater. The NASA Mars rover ''Curiosity'', of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, landed in "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' of Aeolis Palus in Gale at 05:32 UTC August 6, 2012. NASA named the landing location Bradbury Landi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QAPF Diagram
A QAPF diagram is a doubled-triangle plot diagram used to classify igneous rocks based on their mineralogy. The acronym QAPF stands for "quartz, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, feldspathoid (foid)", which are the four mineral groups used for classification in a QAPF diagram. The percentages (ratios) of the Q, A, P and F groups are normalized, i.e., recalculated so that their sum is 100%. Origin QAPF diagrams are created by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS): ''Subcommission on the Systematics of Igneous Rocks'' as fostered by Albert Streckeisen (whence their alternative name: Streckeisen diagrams). Geologists worldwide use the diagrams in classifying igneous, especially plutonic rocks. Usage QAPF diagrams are mostly used to classify plutonic rocks ( phaneritic rocks), and can be used to classify volcanic rocks ( aphanitic rocks) if modal mineralogical compositions have been determined (for an example, see basalt). But QAPF diagrams are ''not used'' to cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nepheline
Nepheline, also called nephelite (), is a rock-forming mineral in the feldspathoid groupa silica-undersaturated aluminosilicate, Na3 K Al4 Si4 O16, that occurs in intrusive and volcanic rocks with low silica, and in their associated pegmatites. It is used in glass and ceramic manufacturing and other industries, and has been investigated as an ore of aluminium. Description and properties Nepheline crystals are rare and belong to the hexagonal system, usually having the form of a short, six-sided prism terminated by the basal plane. The crystals appear to have more symmetry than they actually possess, but unsymmetrical etched figures produced artificially on the prism faces indicate that the crystals are hemimorphic and tetartohedral, the only element of symmetry being a polar hexad axis. Nepheline is found in compact, granular aggregates, and can be white, yellow, gray, green, or reddish. Its hardness on the Mohs scale is 5.5 to 6, and its specific gravity 2.60–2.65. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plagioclase
Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series. This was first shown by the German mineralogist Johann F. C. Hessel, Johann Friedrich Christian Hessel (1796–1872) in 1826. The series ranges from albite to anorthite endmembers (with respective compositions NaAlSi3O8 to CaAl2Si2O8), where sodium and calcium atoms can substitute for each other in the mineral's crystallography, crystal lattice structure. Plagioclase in hand samples is often identified by its polysynthetic crystal twinning or "phonograph record, record-groove" effect. Plagioclase is a major constituent mineral in Earth's crust and is consequently an important diagnostic tool in petrology for identifying the composition, origin and evolutio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opal Polished
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. The name ''opal'' is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word (), which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative (). There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color (iridescence); common opal does not. Play-of-color is defined as "a pseudo chromatic optical effect resulting in flashes of colored light from certain minerals, as they are turned in white light." The internal structure of precious opal causes it to diffract light, resulting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trachyte Qapf
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrusions) enriched with silica and alkali metals. It is the volcanic equivalent of syenite. Trachyte is common wherever alkali magma is erupted, including in late stages of ocean island volcanismMacDonald 1983, pp. 51–52 and in continental rift valleys, above mantle plumes,Philpotts and Ague 2009, pp. 390–394 and in areas of back-arc extension. Trachyte has also been found in Gale crater on Mars. Trachyte has been used as decorative building stone and was extensively used as dimension stone in the Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice. Chemical composition Trachyte has a silica content of 60 to 65% and an alkali oxide content of over 7%. This gives it less SiO2 than rhyolite and more (Na2O plus K2O) than dacite. These chemical differe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normative Mineralogy
Normative mineralogy is a calculation of the composition of a rock sample that estimates the ''idealised mineralogy'' of a rock based on a quantitative chemical analysis according to the principles of geochemistry. Normative mineral calculations can be achieved via either the CIPW Norm or the Barth-Niggli Norm (also known as the Cation Norm). Normative calculations are used to produce an idealised mineralogy of a crystallized melt. First, a rock is chemically analysed to determine the elemental constituents. Results of the chemical analysis traditionally are expressed as oxides (e.g., weight percent Mg is expressed as weight percent MgO). The normative mineralogy of the rock then is calculated, based upon assumptions about the order of mineral formation and known phase relationships of rocks and minerals, and using simplified mineral formulas. The calculated mineralogy can be used to assess concepts such as silica saturation of melts. Because the normative calculation is essenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TAS Classification
TAS stands for Total Alkali Silica. The TAS classification can be used to assign names to many common types of volcanic rocks based upon the relationships between the combined alkali and silica contents. These chemical parameters are useful because the relative proportions of alkalis and silica are important in determining both normative mineralogy and actual mineralogy. The classification can be simple to use for rocks that have been chemically analyzed. Except for the following quotation from Johannsen (1937), this discussion is based upon Le Maitre et al (2002). Use of the TAS classification Before using the TAS or any other classification, some particular guidance by Johannsen (1937) should be kept in mind. :''Many and peculiar are the classifications that have been proposed for igneous rocks. Their variability depends in part upon the purpose for which each was intended, and in part upon the difficulties arising from the characters of the rocks themselves. The trouble is not w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dacite
Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. It is composed predominantly of plagioclase feldspar and quartz. Dacite is relatively common, occurring in many tectonic settings. It is associated with andesite and rhyolite as part of the subalkaline tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magma series. Etymology The word ''dacite'' comes from Dacia, a province of the Roman Empire which lay between the Danube River and Carpathian Mountains (now modern Romania and Moldova) where the rock was first described. The term ''dacite'' was used for the first time in the scientific literature in the book ''Geologie Siebenbürgens'' (''The Geology of Transylvania'') by Austrian geologists Franz Ritter von Hauer and Guido Stache. Dacite was originally defined as a new rock type to separate calc-alkaline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhyolite
Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matrix (geology), groundmass. The mineral assemblage is predominantly quartz, sanidine, and plagioclase. It is the extrusive equivalent of granite. Its high silica content makes rhyolitic magma extremely viscosity, viscous. This favors explosive eruptions over effusive eruptions, so this type of magma is more often erupted as pyroclastic rock than as lava flows. Rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs are among the most voluminous of continental igneous rock formations. Rhyolitic tuff has been used extensively for construction. Obsidian, which is rhyolitic volcanic glass, has been used for tools from prehistoric times to the present day because it can be shaped to an extremely sharp edge. Rhyolitic pumice finds use as an abrasive, in concrete, and as a soil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trachyte TAS Field
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrusions) enriched with silica and alkali metals. It is the volcanic equivalent of syenite. Trachyte is common wherever alkali magma is erupted, including in late stages of ocean island volcanismMacDonald 1983, pp. 51–52 and in continental rift valleys, above mantle plumes,Philpotts and Ague 2009, pp. 390–394 and in areas of back-arc extension. Trachyte has also been found in Gale crater on Mars. Trachyte has been used as decorative building stone and was extensively used as dimension stone in the Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice. Chemical composition Trachyte has a silica content of 60 to 65% and an alkali oxide content of over 7%. This gives it less SiO2 than rhyolite and more (Na2O plus K2O) than dacite. These chemical differe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
