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Rinconada Formation
The Rinconada Formation is a geologic formation that crops out in the Picuris Mountains of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the Rinconada Formation of about 1723 Mya, placing it in the Statherian period of the Precambrian. Description The formation consists of gray to buff quartz-muscovite schist with some inberbedded quartzite and metaconglomerate. which fills an inverted syncline in the northern Picuris Mountains. It is missing from the Hondo Group in the Tusas Mountains. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a minimum age for the Rinconada Formation of 1762 Mya. However, this reflects the crystallization age of the source rocks, and the true age is likely closer to 1723 Mya based on zircon ages in the underlying Ortega Formation. This indicates a shift in source region between the Ortega Formation and the Rinconada Formation. The formation is divided into three informal members. The first is composed of staurolite gne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garnet
Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different species are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular (varieties of which are hessonite or cinnamon-stone and tsavorite), uvarovite and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series: pyrope-almandine-spessartine (pyralspite), with the composition range ; and uvarovite-grossular-andradite (ugrandite), with the composition range . Etymology The word ''garnet'' comes from the 14th-century Middle English word ''gernet'', meaning 'dark red'. It is borrowed from Old French ''grenate'' from Latin ''granatus,'' from ''granum'' ('grain, seed'). This is possibly a reference to ''mela granatum'' or even ''pomum granatum'' (' pomegranate', ''Punica granatum''), a plant whose fruits contain abundant and vivid red seed covers ( arils), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statherian
The Statherian Period (; grc, σταθερός, statherós, meaning "stable, firm") is the final geologic period in the Paleoproterozoic Era and lasted from Mya to Mya (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined chronometrically. The period was characterized on most continents by either new platforms or final cratonization of fold belts. Oxygen levels were 10% to 20% of current values. '' Rafatazmia'', controversially claimed to be present in Statherian beds in India, may be the oldest known confirmably eukaryotic fossil organism. By the beginning of the Statherian, the supercontinent Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ... had assembled. At roughly 1.7 billion years before present a series of natural nuclear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biotite
Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron- endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more aluminous end-members include siderophyllite and eastonite. Biotite was regarded as a mineral ''species'' by the International Mineralogical Association until 1998, when its status was changed to a mineral ''group''. The term ''biotite'' is still used to describe unanalysed dark micas in the field. Biotite was named by J.F.L. Hausmann in 1847 in honor of the French physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot, who performed early research into the many optical properties of mica. Members of the biotite group are sheet silicates. Iron, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen form sheets that are weakly bound together by potassium ions. The term "iron mica" is sometimes used for iron-rich biotite, but the term also refers to a flaky micaceou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andalusite
Andalusite is an aluminium nesosilicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. This mineral was called andalousite by Delamétehrie, who thought it came from Andalusia, Spain. It soon became clear that it was a locality error, and that the specimens studied were actually from El Cardoso de la Sierra, in the Spanish province of Guadalajara, not Andalusia. Andalusite is trimorphic with kyanite and sillimanite, being the lower pressure mid temperature polymorph. At higher temperatures and pressures, andalusite may convert to sillimanite. Thus, as with its other polymorphs, andalusite is an aluminosilicate index mineral, providing clues to depth and pressures involved in producing the host rock. Varieties The variety chiastolite commonly contains dark inclusions of carbon or clay which form a cruciform pattern when shown in cross-section. This stone was known at least from the sixteenth century, being taken to many European countries, as a souvenir, by pilgrims returning from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Twinning
Crystal twinning occurs when two or more adjacent crystals of the same mineral are oriented so that they share some of the same crystal lattice points in a symmetrical manner. The result is an intergrowth of two separate crystals that are tightly bonded to each other. The surface along which the lattice points are shared in twinned crystals is called a composition surface or twin plane. Crystallographers classify twinned crystals by a number of twin laws. These twin laws are specific to the crystal structure. The type of twinning can be a diagnostic tool in mineral identification. Deformation twinning, in which twinning develops in a crystal in response to a shear stress, is an important mechanism for permanent shape changes in a crystal.Courtney, Thomas H. (2000) ''Mechanical Behavior of Materials'', 2nd ed. McGraw Hill. Definition Twinning is a form of symmetrical intergrowth between two or more adjacent crystals of the same mineral. It differs from the ordinary random ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures and pressures than schist. Gneiss nearly always shows a banded texture characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands and without a distinct cleavage. Gneisses are common in the ancient crust of continental shields. Some of the oldest rocks on Earth are gneisses, such as the Acasta Gneiss. Description Orthogneiss from the Czech Republic In traditional English and North American usage, a gneiss is a coarse-grained metamorphic rock showing compositional banding ( gneissic banding) but poorly developed schistosity and indistinct cleavage. In other words, it is a metamorphic rock composed of mineral grains easily seen with the unaided eye, which form obvious compositional layers, but which has only a weak tendency to fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Member (geology)
A stratigraphic unit is a volume of rock of identifiable origin and relative age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features ( facies) that characterize it. Units must be ''mappable'' and ''distinct'' from one another, but the contact need not be particularly distinct. For instance, a unit may be defined by terms such as "when the sandstone component exceeds 75%". Lithostratigraphic units Sequences of sedimentary and volcanic rocks are subdivided the basis of their shared or associated lithology. Formally identified lithostratigraphic units are structured in a hierarchy of lithostratigraphic rank, higher rank units generally comprising two or more units of lower rank. Going from smaller to larger in rank, the main lithostratigraphic ranks are Bed, Member, Formation, Group and Supergroup. Formal names of lithostratigraphic units are assigned by geological surveys. Units of formation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weathered Out Rinconada Staurolite
''Weathered'' is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until '' Full Circle'' came out in October 2009, with Creed disbanding in June 2004. It is the only Creed album to be recorded as a three-member band, as bassist Brian Marshall departed in August 2000. Vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti wrote most of the material for the album during a three-week period in late 2000, following their successful tour to support their second album, '' Human Clay''. Manager Jeff Hanson once again paired the band with longtime producer John Kurzweg, who rented out a private residence/recording studio in Ocoee, Florida owned by Jay Stanley, where the band would set up their studio inside to record the album. Recording sessions for the album began in July 2001, with Tremonti taking on bass guitar duties in Marshall's absence, and would last four months to complete. Musically, the album was touted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tusas Mountains
The Tusas Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico, extending slightly into southern Colorado. They are considered the southeasternmost part of the San Juan Mountains. Grouse Mesa, , is the highest peak in the range. The mountains are located to the west of Taos and northwest of Santa Fe. The Tusas Mountains are a wide region of upland mesas and gently sloping mountains, dissected in places by deep canyons. Geography The eastern part of the range is primarily located in the Carson National Forest, bordered by the Taos Plateau volcanic field and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument to the east. It provides the headwaters for the Rio San Antonio, a tributary of the Conejos River (which flows into the Rio Grande in Colorado), and further south the Rio Tusas and Rio Vallecito, which form the Rio Ojo Caliente, a tributary of the Rio Chama (also a Rio Grande tributary). Numerous volcanic features are located along the eastern edge of the range bordering the Taos plateau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold (synform), termed a synformal syncline (i.e. a trough), but synclines that point upwards can be found when strata have been overturned and folded (an antiformal syncline). Characteristics On a geologic map, synclines are recognized as a sequence of rock layers, with the youngest at the fold's center or ''hinge'' and with a reverse sequence of the same rock layers on the opposite side of the hinge. If the fold pattern is circular or elongate, the structure is a basin. Folds typically form during crustal deformation as the result of compression that accompanies orogenic mountain building. Notable examples * Powder River Basin, Wyoming, US * Sideling Hill roadcut along Interstat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metaconglomerate
Metaconglomerate is a rock type which originated from conglomerate after undergoing metamorphism. Conglomerate is easily identifiable by the pebbles or larger clasts in a matrix of sand, silt, or clay. Metaconglomerate looks similar to conglomerate, although sometimes the clasts are deformed. The cement matrix of conglomerate is not as durable as the grains, and hence when broken, conglomerate breaks around the grains. Metaconglomerate, however, breaks through the grains, as the cement has recrystallized and may be as durable as the clasts. Foliated metaconglomerate is created under the same metamorphic conditions that produce slate or phyllite, but with the parent rock ( protolith) being conglomerate, rather than clay.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak The metaconglomerates of the Jack Hills of Western Australia are the source rocks for much of the detrital zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the meta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to grey, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink and red due to varying amounts of hematite. Other colors, such as yellow, green, blue and orange, are due to other minerals. The term ''quartzite'' is also sometimes used for very hard but unmetamorphosed sandstones that are composed of quartz grains thoroughly cemented with additional quartz. Such sedimentary rock has come to be described as orthoquartzite to distinguish it from metamorphic quartzite, which is sometimes called metaquartzite to emphasize its metamorphic origins. Quartzite is very resistant to chemical weathering and often forms ridges and resistant hilltops. The nearly pure silica co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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