igneous rock

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Contents
Articles
Andesite

Basalt

Diorite

10

Gabbro

12

Granite

15

Obsidian

23

Pegmatite

27

Pumice

30

Rhyolite

32

Scoria

34

References
Article Sources and Contributors

36

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

38

Article Licenses
License

40

Andesite

Andesite
For the extinct cephalopod genus, see Andesites.

Andesite
Igneous Rock

Photomicrograph of andesite in thin section (between crossed polars)

Composition
Intemediate
Major minerals: plagioclase (often andesine) and pyroxene and/or
hornblende
Accessory minerals: magnetites, biotite, sphene, quartz

Andesite (
/ndsat/) is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of
intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a
general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The
mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus
pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite, zircon, apatite, ilmenite,
biotite, and garnet are common accessory minerals.[1] Alkali feldspar
may be present in minor amounts. The quartz-feldspar abundances in
andesite and other volcanic rocks are illustrated in QAPF diagrams.
Relative alkali and silica contents are illustrated in TAS diagrams.
Classification of andesites may be refined according to the most
abundant phenocryst. Example: hornblende-phyric andesite, if
hornblende is the principal accessory mineral.
Andesite can be considered as the extrusive equivalent of plutonic
diorite. Andesites are characteristic of subduction zones, such as the
western margin of South America. The name andesite is derived from
the Andes mountain range.

A sample of andesite (dark groundmass) with

amygdaloidal vesicules filled with zeolite.
Diameter of view is 8 cm.

Genesis of andesite
Andesite is typically formed at convergent plate margins but may
occur in other tectonic settings. Intermediate volcanic rocks are created
via several processes:
1. Hydration melting of peridotite and fractional crystallization
2. Melting of a subducted slab containing sediments
1. Magma mixing between felsic rhyolitic and mafic basaltic magmas
in an intermediate reservoir prior to emplacement or eruption.

Andesite Mount arnov (Vtnik)

Andesite

Via fractional crystallisation

Andesitic magma in island arc regions (i.e., active oceanic margins) comes from the interplay of the subducting plate
and the mantle wedge, the wedge-shaped region above the subducting plate.
Water in the subducted oceanic lithosphere 'boils off' from the slab by dehydration of hydrous minerals such as
amphibole, zeolites, chlorite etc., which are formed in the oceanic lithosphere during hydrothermal circulation at the
mid-ocean-ridge. As these minerals are subjected to greenschist or blueschist metamorphism during subduction, they
change to more stable, anhydrous forms, releasing water and soluble elements into the overlying wedge of mantle.
The slab itself, or the overlying mantle wedge, may melt. If the slab melts, it may include subducted sediment as
well. The water and initial slab melts rise into the mantle wedge, prompting melting of the peridotite to produce
basaltic magma with a distinctive enrichment of soluble elements (e.g., K, Ba, and Pb) compared to insoluble
elements (e.g., Nb and Ti).
On its way to the surface, the melt stalls and cools, enabling the fractional crystallization of silica poor minerals, thus
raising the silica content of the remaining melt and resulting in andesitic magma.

Via magma mixing

Basaltic magma may also mix with rhyolitic magma. This usually occurs in continental arc areas such as the Andes,
where the high geothermal gradient above the subducted plate, and hydrothermal flows within the mantle wedge may
create an underplate of softened, partially molten continental crust of intermediate or felsic composition. Basaltic
magmas intruded into this anomalously hot zone will prompt partial melting of the crust, and may mix with these
melts to produce intermediate compositions, typically andesite to trachyte in composition.
Alternatively, the basaltic melt may heat up the overlying arc, prompting partial melting, and may even assimilate
sediments, previous volcanic rocks, etcetera, whilst undergoing fractional crystallisation. These rocks are
subordinate due to the difficulty in assimilating sufficient cold material by magmas without cooling to a degree that
they become immobile.
Ultimately, the resultant composition of andesite and intermediate magmas is the result of fractional crystallisation,
assimilation, partial melting and contamination by the subducted slab. These may take considerable effort to resolve
the individual components.
In 2009, researchers revealed that andesite was found in two meteorites (numbered GRA 06128 and GRA 06129)
that were discovered in the Graves Nunatak Icefield during the US Antarctic Search for Meteorites 2006/2007 field
season. This possibly points to a new mechanism to generate andesite crust.[2]

References
[1] Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy, 1996, Petrology, Freeman, ISBN 0-7167-2438-3
[2] Scientists Find Evidence of Asteroids with Earth-Like Crust (http:/ / newswise. com/ articles/ view/ 547877/ ) Newswise, Retrieved on
January 19, 2008.

Origins of the Continental Crust (http://nsw.royalsoc.org.au/journal_archive/132_34.html#Arculus)

Island arc magmatism (http://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/courses/gly206/SubductionMagmas.pdf)
Experimental and Theoretical Constraints on Peridotite Partial Melting in the Mantle Wedge (http://www.
margins.wustl.edu/Eugene_PDF/SubFac_abstract_Gaetani.pdf)

Andesite

External links
Igneous Rock Textures (http://geology.csupomona.edu/alert/igneous/texture.htm)

Basalt
Basalt
Igneous Rock

Composition
Mafic: amphibole and pyroxene, sometimes plagioclase, feldspathoids, and/or olivine.

Basalt ( /bslt/, /bslt/, or /beslt/)[1] [2] is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and
fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in
a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey. According to the official definition,
basalt is defined as an aphanitic igneous rock that contains, by volume, less than 20% quartz and less than 10%
feldspathoid and where at least 65% of the feldspar is in the form of plagioclase.
On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by decompression melting of the mantle. Basalt has also formed on
Earth's Moon, Mars, Venus, and even on the asteroid Vesta. Source rocks for the partial melts probably include both
peridotite and pyroxenite (e.g., Sobolev et al., 2007). The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed
predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below ocean ridges.
The term basalt is at times applied to shallow intrusive rocks with a composition typical of basalt, but rocks of this
composition with a phaneritic (coarse) groundmass are generally referred to as diabase (also called dolerite) or
gabbro.

Etymology
The word "Basalt" is derived from Late Latin basaltes,
misspelling of L. basanites "very hard stone," which
was imported from Ancient Greek basani'ty*s
(basanites), from ba'sano*s (basanos, "touchstone") and
originated in Egyptian bauhun "slate."[3]

Uses
Basalt is used in construction (e.g. as building blocks or
in the groundwork), making cobblestones (from
columnar basalt) and in making statues. Heating and
extruding basalt yields stone wool, an excellent thermal
insulator.

Columnar basalt at Sheepeater Cliff in Yellowstone

Basalt

Vesicular basalt at Sunset Crater, Arizona. US quarter for scale.

Types
Tholeiitic basalt is relatively poor in silica and poor in sodium.
Included in this category are most basalts of the ocean floor,
most large oceanic islands, and continental flood basalts such as
the Columbia River Plateau.
MORB (Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt), is characteristically low in
incompatible elements. MORB is commonly erupted only at
ocean ridges. MORB itself has been subdivided into varieties
such as NMORB and EMORB (slightly more enriched in
incompatible elements).[4] [5]
High alumina basalt may be silica-undersaturated or
Large masses must cool slowly to form a polygonal
-oversaturated (see normative mineralogy). It has greater than
joint pattern.
17% alumina (Al2O3) and is intermediate in composition
between tholeiite and alkali basalt; the relatively alumina-rich composition is based on rocks without phenocrysts
of plagioclase.
Alkali basalt is relatively poor in silica and rich in sodium. It is silica-undersaturated and may contain
feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogopite.
Boninite is a high-magnesium form of basalt that is erupted generally in back-arc basins, distinguished by its low
titanium content and trace element composition.

Basalt

Petrology
The mineralogy of basalt is characterized by a preponderance of calcic
plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene. Olivine can also be a significant
constituent. Accessory minerals present in relatively minor amounts
include iron oxides and iron-titanium oxides, such as magnetite,
ulvospinel, and ilmenite. Because of the presence of such oxide
minerals, basalt can acquire strong magnetic signatures as it cools, and
paleomagnetic studies have made extensive use of basalt.
In tholeiitic basalt, pyroxene (augite and orthopyroxene or pigeonite)
and calcium-rich plagioclase are common phenocryst minerals. Olivine
may also be a phenocryst, and when present, may have rims of
pigeonite. The groundmass contains interstitial quartz or tridymite or
cristobalite. Olivine tholeiite has augite and orthopyroxene or pigeonite
with abundant olivine, but olivine may have rims of pyroxene and is
unlikely to be present in the groundmass.
Alkali basalts typically have mineral assemblages that lack
orthopyroxene but contain olivine. Feldspar phenocrysts typically are
labradorite to andesine in composition. Augite is rich in titanium
compared to augite in tholeiitic basalt. Minerals such as alkali feldspar,
leucite, nepheline, sodalite, phlogopite mica, and apatite may be
present in the groundmass.

Photomicrograph of a volcanic (basaltic) sand

grain; upper picture is plane-polarized light,
bottom picture is cross-polarized light, scale box
at left-center is 0.25 millimeter. Note white
plagioclase 'microlites' in cross-polarized light
picture, surrounded by very fine grained volcanic
glass.

Basalt has high liquidus and solidus temperatures--values at the Earth's

surface are near or above 1200 C (liquidus) and near or below 1000 C (solidus); these values are higher than those
of other common igneous rocks.
The majority of tholeiites are formed at approximately 50-100km depth within the mantle. Many alkali basalts may
be formed at greater depths, perhaps as deep as 150-200km. The origin of high-alumina basalt continues to be
controversial, with interpretations that it is a primary melt and that instead it is derived from other basalt types (e.g.,
Ozerov, 2000).

Geochemistry
Relative to most common igneous rocks, basalt compositions are rich
in MgO and CaO and low in SiO2 and the alkali oxides, i.e., Na2O +
K2O, consistent with the TAS classification.
Basalt generally has a composition of 45-55 wt% SiO2, 2-6 wt% total
alkalis, 0.5-2.0 wt% TiO2, 5-14 wt% FeO and 14 wt% or more Al2O3.
Contents of CaO are commonly near 10 wt%, those of MgO commonly
in the range 5 to 12 wt%.

Columnar basalt flows in Yellowstone National

Park, USA.

High alumina basalts have aluminium contents of 17-19 wt% Al2O3;

boninites have magnesium contents of up to 15% MgO. Rare
feldspathoid-rich mafic rocks, akin to alkali basalts, may have Na2O +
K2O contents of 12% or more.

MORB basalts and their intrusive equivalents, gabbros, are the characteristic igneous rocks formed at mid-ocean
ridges. They are tholeiites particularly low in total alkalis and in incompatible trace elements, and they have

Basalt

relatively flat REE patterns normalized to mantle or chondrite values. In contrast, alkali basalts have normalized
patterns highly enriched in the light REE, and with greater abundances of the REE and of other incompatible
elements. Because MORB basalt is considered a key to understanding plate tectonics, its compositions have been
much studied. Although MORB compositions are distinctive relative to average compositions of basalts erupted in
other environments, they are not uniform. For instance, compositions change with position along the Mid-Atlantic
ridge, and the compositions also define different ranges in different ocean basins (Hofmann, 2003).
Isotope ratios of elements such as strontium, neodymium, lead, hafnium, and osmium in basalts have been
much-studied, so as to learn about evolution of the Earth's mantle. Isotopic ratios of noble gases, such as 3He/4He,
are also of great value: for instance, ratios for basalts range from 6 to 10 for mid-ocean ridge tholeiite (normalized to
atmospheric values), but to 15-24+ for ocean island basalts thought to be derived from mantle plumes.

Morphology and textures

The shape, structure and texture of a basalt is diagnostic of how and
where it erupted -- whether into the sea, in an explosive cinder eruption
or as creeping pahoehoe lava flows, the classic image of Hawaiian
basalt eruptions.
Subaerial eruptions
Basalt which erupts under open air (that is, subaerially) forms three
distinct types of lava or volcanic deposits: scoria; ash or cinder
(breccia); and lava flows.

An active basalt lava flow

Basalt in the tops of subaerial lava flows and cinder cones will often be highly vesiculated, imparting a lightweight
"frothy" texture to the rock. Basaltic cinders are often red, coloured by oxidized iron from weathered iron-rich
minerals such as pyroxene.
`A`a types of blocky, cinder and breccia flows of thick, viscous basaltic lava are common in Hawaii. Pahoehoe is a
highly fluid, hot form of basalt which tends to form thin aprons of molten lava which fill up hollows and sometimes
forms lava lakes. Lava tubes are common features of pahoehoe eruptions.
Basaltic tuff or pyroclastic rocks are rare but not unknown. Usually basalt is too hot and fluid to build up sufficient
pressure to form explosive lava eruptions but occasionally this will happen by trapping of the lava within the
volcanic throat and build up of volcanic gases. Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano erupted in this way in the 19th century,
as did Mount Tarawera, New Zealand in its violent 1886 eruption. Maar volcanoes are typical of small basalt tuffs,
formed by explosive eruption of basalt through the crust, forming an apron of mixed basalt and wall rock breccia and
a fan of basalt tuff further out from the volcano.
Amygdaloidal structure is common in relict vesicles and beautifully crystallized species of zeolites, quartz or calcite
are frequently found.

Basalt

Columnar basalt
During the cooling of a thick lava flow, contractional joints or fractures
form. If a flow cools relatively rapidly, significant contraction forces
build up. While a flow can shrink in the vertical dimension without
fracturing, it cannot easily accommodate shrinking in the horizontal
direction unless cracks form; the extensive fracture network that
develops results in the formation of columns. The topology of the
lateral shapes of these columns can broadly be classed as a random
cellular network. These structures are often erroneously described as
being predominantly hexagonal. In reality, the mean number of sides
Columnar jointed basalt in Turkey
of all the columns in such a structure is indeed six (by geometrical
definition), but polygons with three to twelve or more sides can be
observed.[6] Note that the size of the columns depends loosely on the rate of cooling; very rapid cooling may result
in very small (<1cm diameter) columns, while slow cooling is more likely to produce large columns.
Submarine eruptions
Pillow basalts
When basalt erupts underwater or flows into the sea, contact with the
water quenches the surface and the lava forms a distinctive pillow
shape, through which the hot lava breaks to form another pillow. This
pillow texture is very common in underwater basaltic flows and is
diagnostic of an underwater eruption environment when found in
ancient rocks. Pillows typically consist of a fine-grained core with a
glassy crust and have radial jointing. The size of individual pillows
varies from 10cm up to several meters.

Pillow basalts on the south Pacific seafloor

When pahoehoe lava enters the sea it usually forms pillow basalts.
However when a'a enters the ocean it forms a littoral cone, a small
cone-shaped accumulation of tuffaceous debris formed when the
blocky a'a lava enters the water and explodes from built-up steam.
The island of Surtsey in the Atlantic Ocean is a basalt volcano which
breached the ocean surface in 1963. The initial phase of Surtsey's
eruption was highly explosive, as the magma was quite wet, causing
the rock to be blown apart by the boiling steam to form a tuff and
cinder cone. This has subsequently moved to a typical pahoehoe type
behaviour.

Outcrop of a Pillow Basalt, Italy

Volcanic glass may be present, particularly as rinds on rapidly chilled surfaces of lava flows, and is commonly (but
not exclusively) associated with underwater eruptions.

Basalt

Life on basaltic rocks

The common corrosion features of underwater volcanic basalt suggest that microbial activity may play a significant
role in the chemical exchange between basaltic rocks and seawater. The significant amounts of reduced iron, Fe(II),
and manganese, Mn(II), present in basaltic rocks provide potential energy sources for bacteria. Recent research has
shown that some Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria cultured from iron-sulfide surfaces are also able to grow with basaltic rock
as a source of Fe(II).[7] In recent work at Loihi Seamount, Fe- and Mn- oxidizing bacteria have been cultured from
weathered basalts.[8] The impact of bacteria on altering the chemical composition of basaltic glass (and thus, the
oceanic crust) and seawater suggest that these interactions may lead to an application of hydrothermal vents to the
origin of life.

Distribution
Basalt is one of the most common rock types in the world. Basalt is the
rock most typical of large igneous provinces. The largest occurrences
of basalt are in the ocean floor that is almost completely made up by
basalt. Above sea level basalt is common in hotspot islands and around
volcanic arcs, specially those on thin crust. However, the largest
volumes of basalt on land correspond to continental flood basalts.
Continental flood basalts are known to exist in the Deccan Traps in
India, the Chilcotin Group in British Columbia, Canada, the Paran
Traps in Brazil, the Siberian Traps in Russia, the Karoo flood basalt
province in South Africa, the Columbia River Plateau of Washington
and Oregon.

Paran Traps, Brazil

Many archipelagoes and island nations have an overwhelming majority of its exposed bedrock made up by basalt
due to being above hotspots, for example, Iceland and Hawaii
Ancient Precambrian basalts are usually only found in fold and thrust belts, and are often heavily metamorphosed.
These are known as greenstone belts, because low-grade metamorphism of basalt produces chlorite, actinolite,
epidote and other green minerals.

Lunar and Martian basalt

The dark areas visible on Earth's moon, the lunar maria, are plains of flood basaltic lava flows. These rocks were
sampled by the manned American Apollo program, the robotic Russian Luna program, and are represented among
the lunar meteorites.
Lunar basalts differ from their terrestrial counterparts principally in their high iron contents, which typically range
from about 17 to 22 wt% FeO. They also possess a stunning range of titanium concentrations (present in the mineral
ilmenite), ranging from less than 1 wt% TiO2, to about 13 wt.%. Traditionally, lunar basalts have been classified
according to their titanium content, with classes being named high-Ti, low-Ti, and very-low-Ti. Nevertheless, global
geochemical maps of titanium obtained from the Clementine mission demonstrate that the lunar maria possesses a
continuum of titanium concentrations, and that the highest concentrations are the least abundant.
Lunar basalts show exotic textures and mineralogy, particularly shock metamorphism, lack of the oxidation typical
of terrestrial basalts, and a complete lack of hydration. While most of the Moon's basalts erupted between about 3
and 3.5 billion years ago, the oldest samples are 4.2 billion years old, and the youngest flows, based on the age
dating method of "crater counting," are estimated to have erupted only 1.2 billion years ago.
Basalt is also a common rock on the surface of Mars, as determined by data sent back from the planet's surface and
by Martian meteorites.

Basalt

Alteration of basalt
Metamorphism
Basalts are important rocks within metamorphic belts, as they can provide vital information on the conditions of
metamorphism within the belt. Various metamorphic facies are named after the mineral assemblages and rock types
formed by subjecting basalts to the temperatures and pressures of the metamorphic event. These are:

Blueschist facies
Eclogite facies
Granulite facies
Greenschist facies
Zeolite facies

Metamorphosed basalts are important hosts for a variety of hydrothermal ore deposits, including gold deposits,
copper deposits, volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits and others.

Weathering
Compared to other rocks found on Earth's surface, basalts weather relatively fast. Chemical weathering of basalt
minerals release cations such as calcium, sodium and magnesium, which give basaltic areas a strong buffer capacity
against acidification. Calcium released by basalts binds up CO2 from the atmosphere forming CaCO3 acting thus as a
CO2 trap. To this it must be added that the eruption of basalt itself is often associated with the release of large
quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere from volcanic gases.
Carbon sequestration in basalt has been studied as a means of removing carbon dioxide, produced by human
industrialization, from the atmosphere. Underwater basalt deposits, scattered in seas around the globe, have the
added benefit of the water serving as a barrier to the re-release of CO2 into the atmosphere.[9]

References
[1] basalt (http:/ / encarta. msn. com/ encnet/ features/ dictionary/ DictionaryResults. aspx?refid=1861589073) definition - Dictionary - MSN
Encarta. Archived (http:/ / www. webcitation. org/ 5kwPtNIhx) 2009-10-31.
[2] Yourdictionary.com (http:/ / www. yourdictionary. com/ basalt)
[3] Etymonline.com (http:/ / www. etymonline. com/ index. php?term=basalt)
[4] See the PETDB database (http:/ / www. petdb. org/ ).Hyndman, Donald W. (1985). Petrology of igneous and metamorphic rocks (2nd ed.
ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN0-07-031658-9.
[5] Blatt, Harvey and Robert Tracy (1996). Petrology (2nd ed. ed.). Freeman. ISBN0-7167-2438-3.
[6] D. Weaire and N. Rivier. Contemporary Physics 25 1 (1984), pp. 55-99
[7] Katrina J. Edwards, Wolfgang Bach and Daniel R. Rogers, Geomicrobiology of the Ocean Crust: A Role for Chemoautotrophic Fe-Bacteria,
Biol. Bull. 204: 180-185. (April 2003) Biolbull.org (http:/ / www. biolbull. org/ cgi/ content/ full/ 204/ 2/ 180)
[8] Templeton, A.S., Staudigel, H., Tebo, B.M. (2005). Diverse Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria isolated from submarine basalts at Loihi Seamount,
Geomicrobiology Journal, v. 22, 129-137. OGI.edu (http:/ / www. ebs. ogi. edu/ tebob/ pdfs/ Templeton GeomicroJ. pdf)
[9] Mongabay.com (http:/ / news. mongabay. com/ 2010/ 0104-hance_ccs. html)

A. Y. Ozerov, The evolution of high-alumina basalts of the Klyuchevskoy volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, based on
microprobe analyses of mineral inclusions. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 95, pp.65-79
(2000).
A. W. Hofmann, Sampling mantle heterogeneity through oceanic basalts: isotopes and trace elements. Treatise
on Geochemistry Volume 2, pages 61-101 Elsevier Ltd. (2003). ISBN 0-08-044337-0 In March, 2007, the article
was available on the web at MPG.de. (http://www1.mpch-mainz.mpg.de/~geo/hofmann/Hofmann.
mantle_heterogen1.pdf)
A. V. Sobolev and others, The amount of recycled crust in sources of mantle-derived melts. Science, v. 316,
pp.412-417 (2007). Sciencemag.org (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/316/5823/412)

Basalt

10

External links

Basalt Columns (http://giantcrystals.strahlen.org/europe/basalt.htm)

Basalt in Northern Ireland (http://geographyinaction.co.uk//Geology files/Basalt.html)
Lava - water interface (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/lava_water.html)
Petrology of Lunar Rocks and Mare Basalts (http://web.archive.org/web/20080607121825/http://www.
union.edu/PUBLIC/GEODEPT/COURSES/petrology/moon_rocks/)
Pillow lava USGS (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/PillowLava.html)

Diorite
Diorite (
/darat/) is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive
igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar (typically
andesine), biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small
amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene,
magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory minerals.[1] It can
also be black or bluish-grey, and frequently has a greenish cast.
Varieties deficient in hornblende and other dark minerals are called
leucodiorite. When olivine and more iron-rich augite are present, the
rock grades into ferrodiorite, which is transitional to gabbro. The
presence of significant quartz makes the rock type quartz-diorite (>5%
quartz) or tonalite (>20% quartz), and if orthoclase (potassium
feldspar) is present at greater than ten percent the rock type grades into
monzodiorite or granodiorite. Diorite has a medium grain size texture,
occasionally with porphyry.

Diorite

Diorites may be associated with either granite or gabbro intrusions,

into which they may subtly merge. Diorite results from partial melting
of a mafic rock above a subduction zone. It is commonly produced in
volcanic arcs, and in cordilleran mountain building such as in the
Andes Mountains as large batholiths. The extrusive volcanic equivalent
rock type is andesite.

Diorite classification on QAPF diagram

Diorite

11

Occurrence
Diorite is a relatively rare rock; source localities include Leicestershire;
UK[2] (one name for microdiorite - Markfieldite - exists due to the rock
being found in the village of Markfield), Sondrio, Italy; Thuringia and
Saxony in Germany; Finland; Romania; Northeastern Turkey; central
Sweden; Scotland; the Darrans range of New Zealand; the Andes
Mountains; the Isle of Guernsey; Basin and Range province and
Minnesota in the USA; Idahet in Egypt
An orbicular variety found in Corsica is called corsite.
Diorite

Historic use
Diorite is an extremely hard rock, making it difficult to carve and work
with. It is so hard that ancient civilizations (such as Ancient Egypt)
used diorite balls to work granite. Its hardness, however, also allows it
to be worked finely and take a high polish, and to provide a durable
finished work.
One comparatively frequent use of diorite was for inscription, as it is
easier to carve in relief than in three-dimensional statuary. Perhaps the
most famous diorite work extant is the Code of Hammurabi, inscribed
upon a 2.23m (7ft 4in) pillar of black diorite. The original can be seen
today in Paris' Muse de Louvre.[3] The use of diorite in art was most
important among very early Middle Eastern civilizations such as
Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria and Sumer. It was so valued in
early times that the first great Mesopotamian empire -- the Empire of
Sargon of Akkad -- listed the taking of diorite as a purpose of military
expeditions.
Diorite Porphyry vase from predynastic Ancient
Although one can find diorite art from later periods, it became more
Egypt, ca. 3600 BC; approx 30 cm.
popular as a structural stone and was frequently used as pavement due
to its durability. Diorite was used by both the Inca and Mayan
civilizations, but mostly for fortress walls, weaponry, etc. It was especially popular with medieval Islamic builders.
In later times, diorite was commonly used as cobblestone; today many diorite cobblestone streets can be found in
England, Guernsey and Scotland, and scattered throughout the world in such places as Ecuador and China. Although
diorite is rough-textured in nature, its ability to take a polish can be seen in the diorite steps of St. Paul's Cathedral,
London, where centuries of foot traffic have polished the steps to a sheen.

Diorite

12

References
[1] Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy (1996) Petrology, W. H. Freeman, 2nd edition, p. 53 ISBN 0-7167-2438-3
[2] Midland Quarry Products (http:/ / www. mqp. co. uk/ cliffe-hill-quarry. htm)
[3] The Louvre: Law Code of Hammurabi (http:/ / www. louvre. fr/ llv/ oeuvres/ detail_notice. jsp?CONTENT<>cnt_id=10134198673226487&
CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE<>cnt_id=10134198673226487& FOLDER<>folder_id=9852723696500800& bmUID=1156475018923&
bmLocale=en)

Gabbro
Gabbro ( /bro/) refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained,
intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The
rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the
Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass.
The vast majority of the Earth's surface is underlain by gabbro within
the oceanic crust, produced by basalt magmatism at mid-ocean ridges.

Gabbro specimen; Rock Creek Canyon, eastern

Sierra Nevada, California.

Close-up of gabbro specimen; Rock Creek

Canyon, eastern Sierra Nevada, California.

Photomicrograph of a thin section of gabbro.

Gabbro

13

Petrology
Gabbro is dense, greenish or dark-colored and contains pyroxene,
plagioclase, amphibole, and olivine (olivine gabbro when olivine is
present in a large amount).
The pyroxene is mostly clinopyroxene; small amounts of
orthopyroxene may be present. If the amount of orthopyroxene is
substantially greater than the amount of clinopyroxene, the rock is then
a norite. Quartz gabbros are also known to occur and are probably
derived from magma that was over-saturated with silica. Essexites
represent gabbros whose parent magma was under-saturated with
silica, resulting in the formation of the feldspathoid mineral nepheline.
(Silica saturation of a rock can be evaluated by normative mineralogy).
Gabbros contain minor amounts, typically a few percent, of
iron-titanium oxides such as magnetite, ilmenite, and ulvospinel.
Gabbro is generally coarse grained, with crystals in the size range of
1mm or greater. Finer grained equivalents of gabbro are called
diabase, although the vernacular term microgabbro is often used when
extra descriptiveness is desired. Gabbro may be extremely coarse
grained to pegmatitic, and some pyroxene-plagioclase cumulates are
essentially coarse grained gabbro, although these may exhibit acicular
crystal habits.

A gabbro landscape on the main ridge of the

Cuillin, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Gabbro as a xenolith in a granite, eastern Sierra

Nevada, Rock Creek Canyon, California.

Gabbro is usually equigranular in texture, although it may be porphyritic at times, especially when plagioclase
oikocrysts have grown earlier than the groundmass minerals.

Distribution
Gabbro can be formed as a massive, uniform intrusion via in-situ crystallisation of pyroxene and plagioclase, or as
part of a layered intrusion as a cumulate formed by settling of pyroxene and plagioclase. Cumulate gabbros are more
properly termed pyroxene-plagioclase orthocumulate.
Gabbro is an essential part of the oceanic crust, and can be found in many ophiolite complexes as parts of zones III
and IV (sheeted dyke zone to massive gabbro zone). Long belts of gabbroic intrusions are typically formed at
proto-rift zones and around ancient rift zone margins, intruding into the rift flanks. Mantle plume hypotheses may
rely on identifying mafic and ultramafic intrusions and coeval basalt volcanism.

Uses
Gabbro often contains valuable amounts of chromium, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum, and copper sulfides.
Ocellar varieties of gabbro can be used as ornamental facing stones, paving stones and it is also known by the trade
name of 'black granite', which is a popular type of graveyard headstone used in funerary rites. It is also used in
kitchens and their countertops, also under the misnomer of 'black granite'.

Etymology
Gabbro was named by the German geologist Christian Leopold von Buch after a town in the Italian Tuscany region.
Essexite is named after the type locality in Essex County, Massachusetts, US.

Gabbro

External links
Ocean drilling program gabbro petrology [1]
Scientists find the elusive gabbro [2]

References
[1] http:/ / www-odp. tamu. edu/ publications/ prelim/ 176_PREL/ 176IGNE. HTML
[2] http:/ / www. livescience. com/ forcesofnature/ 060420_earth_drill. html

14

Granite

15

Granite
Granite
Igneous Rock

Granite containing potassium feldspar, plagioclase feldspar, quartz, and biotite and/or amphibole
Composition
Potassium feldspar, plagioclase feldspar, and quartz; differing amounts of muscovite, biotite, and hornblende-type amphiboles.

Granite ( /rnt/) is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granites usually
have a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts) are larger than the
groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is
sometimes known as a porphyry. Granites can be pink to gray in color, depending on their chemistry and
mineralogy. By definition, granite is an igneous rock with at least 20% quartz by volume. Granite differs from
granodiorite in that at least 35% of the feldspar in granite is alkali feldspar as opposed to plagioclase; it is the alkali
feldspar that gives many granites a distinctive pink color. Outcrops of granite tend to form tors and rounded massifs.
Granites sometimes occur in circular depressions surrounded by a range of hills, formed by the metamorphic aureole
or hornfels. Granite is usually found in the continental plates of the Earth's crust.
Granite is nearly always massive (lacking internal structures), hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread
use as a construction stone. The average density of granite is between 2.65[1] and 2.75 g/cm3, its compressive
strength usually lies above 200 MPa, and its viscosity at standard temperature and pressure is 3-6 1019 Pas.[2]
The word granite comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a
crystalline rock.
Granitoid is a general, descriptive field term for light-colored, coarse-grained igneous rocks. Petrographic
examination is required for identification of specific types of granitoids.[3]

Granite

16

Mineralogy
Granite is classified according to the QAPF diagram for
coarse grained plutonic rocks and is named according
to the percentage of quartz, alkali feldspar (orthoclase,
sanidine, or microcline) and plagioclase feldspar on the
A-Q-P half of the diagram. True granite according to
modern petrologic convention contains both
plagioclase and alkali feldspars. When a granitoid is
devoid or nearly devoid of plagioclase, the rock is
referred to as alkali granite. When a granitoid contains
less than 10% orthoclase, it is called tonalite; pyroxene
and amphibole are common in tonalite. A granite
containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a
Orbicular granite near the town of Caldera, northern Chile
binary or two-mica granite. Two-mica granites are
typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase, and
are usually S-type granites or A-type granites. The volcanic equivalent of plutonic granite is rhyolite. Granite has
poor primary permeability but strong secondary permeability.

Chemical composition
A worldwide average of the chemical composition of granite, by weight percent:[4]
SiO2 72.04% (silica)
Al2O3 14.42% (alumina)
K2O 4.12%
Na2O 3.69%
CaO 1.82%
FeO 1.68%
Fe2O3 1.22%
MgO 0.71%
TiO2 0.30%
P2O5 0.12%

The Stawamus Chief is a granite monolith in

British Columbia

MnO 0.05%
Based on 2485 analyses

Occurrence
Granite is currently known only on Earth, where it forms a major part of continental crust. Granite often occurs as
relatively small, less than 100km stock masses (stocks) and in batholiths that are often associated with orogenic
mountain ranges. Small dikes of granitic composition called aplites are often associated with the margins of granitic
intrusions. In some locations, very coarse-grained pegmatite masses occur with granite.
Granite has been intruded into the crust of the Earth during all geologic periods, although much of it is of
Precambrian age. Granitic rock is widely distributed throughout the continental crust and is the most abundant
basement rock that underlies the relatively thin sedimentary veneer of the continents.

Granite

17

Origin
Granite is an igneous rock and is formed from magma. Granitic magma
has many potential origins but it must intrude other rocks. Most granite
intrusions are emplaced at depth within the crust, usually greater than
1.5kilometres and up to 50km depth within thick continental crust.
The origin of granite is contentious and has led to varied schemes of
classification. Classification schemes are regional and include French,
British, and American systems.

Close-up of granite exposed in Chennai, India.

Geochemical origins
Granitoids are a ubiquitous component of the crust. They have
crystallized from magmas that have compositions at or near a eutectic
point (or a temperature minimum on a cotectic curve). Magmas will
evolve to the eutectic because of igneous differentiation, or because
Various granites (cut and polished surfaces)
they represent low degrees of partial melting. Fractional crystallisation
serves to reduce a melt in iron, magnesium, titanium, calcium and
sodium, and enrich the melt in potassium and silicon - alkali feldspar (rich in potassium) and quartz (SiO2), are two
of the defining constituents of granite.
This process operates regardless of the origin of the parental magma to
the granite, and regardless of its chemistry. However, the composition
and origin of the magma which differentiates into granite, leaves
certain geochemical and mineral evidence as to what the granite's
parental rock was. The final mineralogy, texture and chemical
composition of a granite is often distinctive as to its origin. For
instance, a granite which is formed from melted sediments may have
more alkali feldspar, whereas a granite derived from melted basalt may
be richer in plagioclase feldspar. It is on this basis that the modern
"alphabet" classification schemes are based.

Close-up of granite from Yosemite National Park,

valley of the Merced River

Chappell & White classification system

The letter-based Chappell & White classification system was proposed initially to divide granites into I-type granite
(or igneous protolith) granite and S-type or sedimentary protolith granite.[5] Both of these types of granite are formed
by melting of high grade metamorphic rocks, either other granite or intrusive mafic rocks, or buried sediment,
respectively.
M-type or mantle derived granite was proposed later, to cover those granites which were clearly sourced from
crystallized mafic magmas, generally sourced from the mantle. These are rare, because it is difficult to turn basalt
into granite via fractional crystallisation.
A-type or anorogenic granites are formed above volcanic "hot spot" activity and have peculiar mineralogy and
geochemistry. These granites are formed by melting of the lower crust under conditions that are usually extremely
dry. The rhyolites of the Yellowstone caldera are examples of volcanic equivalents of A-type granite.[6] [7]

Granite

18

Granitization
An old, and largely discounted theory, granitization states that granite is formed in place by extreme metasomatism
by fluids bringing in elements e.g. potassium and removing others e.g. calcium to transform the metamorphic rock
into a granite. This was supposed to occur across a migrating front. The production of granite by metamorphic heat is
difficult, but is observed to occur in certain amphibolite and granulite terrains. In-situ granitisation or melting by
metamorphism is difficult to recognise except where leucosome and melanosome textures are present in gneisses.
Once a metamorphic rock is melted it is no longer a metamorphic rock and is a magma, so these rocks are seen as a
transitional between the two, but are not technically granite as they do not actually intrude into other rocks. In all
cases, melting of solid rock requires high temperature, and also water or other volatiles which act as a catalyst by
lowering the solidus temperature of the rock.

Ascent and emplacement

The ascent and emplacement of large volumes of granite within
the upper continental crust is a source of much debate amongst
geologists. There is a lack of field evidence for any proposed
mechanisms, so hypotheses are predominantly based upon
experimental data. There are two major hypotheses for the ascent
of magma through the crust:
Stokes Diapir
Fracture Propagation
Of these two mechanisms, Stokes diapir was favoured for many
years in the absence of a reasonable alternative. The basic idea is
that magma will rise through the crust as a single mass through
buoyancy. As it rises it heats the wall rocks, causing them to
behave as a power-law fluid and thus flow around the pluton
allowing it to pass rapidly and without major heat loss.[8] This is
entirely feasible in the warm, ductile lower crust where rocks are
easily deformed, but runs into problems in the upper crust which is
far colder and more brittle. Rocks there do not deform so easily:
for magma to rise as a pluton it would expend far too much energy
in heating wall rocks, thus cooling and solidifying before reaching
higher levels within the crust.

Roche Rock, Cornwall

Nowadays fracture propagation is the mechanism preferred by

many geologists as it largely eliminates the major problems of
moving a huge mass of magma through cold brittle crust. Magma
rises instead in small channels along self-propagating dykes which
The Cheesewring, a granite tor on the southern edge of
form along new or pre-existing fault systems and networks of
Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
active shear zones (Clemens, 1998).[9] As these narrow conduits
open, the first magma to enter solidifies and provides a form of insulation for later magma.
Granitic magma must make room for itself or be intruded into other rocks in order to form an intrusion, and several
mechanisms have been proposed to explain how large batholiths have been emplaced:
Stoping, where the granite cracks the wall rocks and pushes upwards as it removes blocks of the overlying crust
Assimilation, where the granite melts its way up into the crust and removes overlying material in this way
Inflation, where the granite body inflates under pressure and is injected into position

Granite

19

Most geologists today accept that a combination of these phenomena can be used to explain granite intrusions, and
that not all granites can be explained entirely by one or another mechanism.

Natural radiation
Granite is a natural source of radiation, like most natural stones. However, some granites have been reported to have
higher radioactivity thereby raising some concerns about their safety.
Some granites contain around 10 to 20 parts per million of uranium. By contrast, more mafic rocks such as tonalite,
gabbro or diorite have 1 to 5 ppm uranium, and limestones and sedimentary rocks usually have equally low amounts.
Many large granite plutons are the sources for palaeochannel-hosted or roll front uranium ore deposits, where the
uranium washes into the sediments from the granite uplands and associated, often highly radioactive, pegmatites.
Granite could be considered a potential natural radiological hazard as, for instance, villages located over granite may
be susceptible to higher doses of radiation than other communities.[10] Cellars and basements sunk into soils over
granite can become a trap for radon gas, which is formed by the decay of uranium.[11] Radon can also be introduced
into houses by wells drilled into granite.[12] Radon gas poses significant health concerns, and is the number two
cause of lung cancer in the US behind smoking.[12]
There is some concern that materials sold as granite countertops or as building material may be hazardous to health.
Dan Steck of St. Johns University, has stated[13] that approximately 5% of all granites will be of concern, with the
caveat that only a tiny percentage of the tens of thousands of granite slabs have been tested. Various resources from
national geological survey organizations are accessible online to assist in assessing the risk factors in granite country
and design rules relating, in particular, to preventing accumulation of radon gas in enclosed basements and
dwellings.
A study of granite countertops was done (initiated and paid for by the Marble Institute of America) in November
2008 by National Health and Engineering Inc of USA, and found that all of the 39 full size granite slabs that were
measured for the study showed radiation levels well below the European Union safety standards (section 4.1.1.1 of
the National Health and Engineering study) and radon emission levels well below the average outdoor radon
concentrations in the US.[14]

Uses
Antiquity
The Red Pyramid of Egypt (c.26th century BC), named for the light
crimson hue of its exposed granite surfaces, is the third largest of
Egyptian pyramids. Menkaure's Pyramid, likely dating to the same era,
was constructed of limestone and granite blocks. The Great Pyramid of
Giza (c.2580 BC) contains a huge granite sarcophagus fashioned of
"Red Aswan Granite." The mostly ruined Black Pyramid dating from
the reign of Amenemhat III once had a polished granite pyramidion or
capstone, now on display in the main hall of the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo (see Dahshur). Other uses in Ancient Egypt include columns,
door lintels, sills, jambs, and wall and floor veneer.[15] How the
Egyptians worked the solid granite is still a matter of debate. Dr.
Patrick Hunt[16] has postulated that the Egyptians used emery shown to
have higher hardness on the Mohs scale.

Life-size elephant and other creatures carved in

granite; Mahabalipuram, India.

Many large Hindu temples in southern India, particularly those built by the 11th century king Rajaraja Chola I, were
made of granite. There is a large amount of granite in these structures. They are comparable to the Great Pyramid of

Granite

20

Giza.[17]

Modern
Building
Granite has been extensively used as a dimension stone and as flooring
tiles in public and commercial buildings and monuments. Aberdeen in
Scotland, which is constructed principally from local granite, is known
as "The Granite City". Because of its abundance, granite was
commonly used to build foundations for homes in New England. The
Granite Railway, America's first railroad, was built to haul granite
from the quarries in Quincy, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River in
the 1820s. With increasing amounts of acid rain in parts of the world,
granite has begun to supplant marble as a monument material, since it
is much more durable. Polished granite is also a popular choice for
kitchen countertops due to its high durability and aesthetic qualities. In
building and for countertops, the term "granite" is often applied to all
igneous rocks with large crystals, and not specifically to those with a
granitic composition.

Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah

Territory, in Little Cottonwood Canyon

Other uses
Curling stones are traditionally fashioned of Ailsa Craig granite. The
first stones were made in the 1750s, the original source being Ailsa
Craig in Scotland. Because of the particular rarity of the granite, the
best stones can cost as much as US$1,500. Between 6070 percent of
the stones used today are made from Ailsa Craig granite, although the
island is now a wildlife reserve and is no longer used for quarrying.[18]
In some areas granite is used for gravestones and memorials. Granite is
a hard stone and requires skill to carve by hand. Modern methods of
carving include using computer-controlled rotary bits and sandblasting
over a rubber stencil. Leaving the letters, numbers and emblems
exposed on the stone, the blaster can create virtually any kind of
artwork or epitaph.
Engineering
Engineers have traditionally used polished granite surfaces to establish
Polished red granite tombstone
a plane of reference, since they are relatively impervious and
inflexible. Sandblasted concrete with a heavy aggregate content has an
appearance similar to rough granite, and is often used as a substitute when use of real granite is impractical. A most
unusual use of granite was in the construction of the rails for the Haytor Granite Tramway, Devon, England, in 1820.
Granite block is usually processed into slabs and after can be cut and shaped by a cutting center.

Granite

21

Granite was used for cobblestones on the St.

Louis riverfront and for the piers of the Eads
Bridge (background).

Rock climbing
Granite is one of the rocks most prized by climbers, for its steepness,
soundness, crack systems, and friction. Well-known venues for granite
climbing include Yosemite, the Bugaboos, the Mont Blanc massif (and
peaks such as the Aiguille du Dru, the Mountains of Mourne, the
Aiguille du Midi and the Grandes Jorasses), the Bregaglia, Corsica,
parts of the Karakoram (especially the Trango Towers), the Fitzroy
Massif, Patagonia, Baffin Island, Ogawayama, the Cornish coast and
the Cairngorms.
Granite rock climbing is so popular that many of the artificial rock
climbing walls found in gyms and theme parks are made to look and
feel like granite.

The granite peaks of the Torres del Paine in the

Chilean Patagonia

References
[1] "Basic Rock Mechanics" (http:/ / webpages. sdsmt. edu/ ~lstetler/ merlot/
rock_mechanics. htm). Webpages.sdsmt.edu. . Retrieved 2010-05-09.
[2] Kumagai, Naoichi; Sadao Sasajima, Hidebumi Ito (15 February 1978). "Long-term
Creep of Rocks: Results with Large Specimens Obtained in about 20 Years and
Those with Small Specimens in about 3 Years" (http:/ / translate. google. com/
translate?hl=en& sl=ja& u=http:/ / ci. nii. ac. jp/ naid/ 110002299397/ & sa=X&
oi=translate& resnum=4& ct=result& prev=/ search?q=Ito+ Hidebumi& hl=en).
Journal of the Society of Materials Science (Japan) (Japan Energy Society) 27 (293):
157161. . Retrieved 2008-06-16.
[3] "Granitoids - Granite and the Related Rocks Granodiorite, Diorite and Tonalite"
(http:/ / geology. about. com/ od/ more_igrocks/ a/ granitoids. htm).
Geology.about.com. 2010-02-06. . Retrieved 2010-05-09.

Half Dome, Yosemite, a classic granite dome and

popular rock climbing

[4] Harvey Blatt and Robert J. Tracy (1997). Petrology (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman. p.66. ISBN0-7167-2438-3.
[5] Chappell, B.W. and White, A.J.R., 2001. Two contrasting granite types: 25 years later. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences v.48, p.489-499.
[6] Boroughs, S., Wolff, J., Bonnichsen, B., Godchaux, M., and Larson, P., 2005, Large-volume, low-18O rhyolites of the central Snake River
Plain, Idaho, USA: Geology 33: 821824.
[7] C.D. Frost, M. McCurry, R. Christiansen, K. Putirka and M. Kuntz, Extrusive A-type magmatism of the Yellowstone hot spot track 15th
Goldschmidt Conference Field Trip AC-4. Field Trip Guide, University of Wyoming (2005) 76 pp., plus an appended map.
[8] Weinberg, R. F., and Podladchikov, Y., Diapiric ascent of magmas through power-law crust and mantle, 1994, J. Geophys. Res., 99,
9543-9559
[9] Clemens, John (1998). "Observations on the origins and ascent mechanisms of granitic magmas". Journal of the Geological Society of
London 155 (Part 5): 84351. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.155.5.0843.

Granite

22

[10] "Radiation and Life" (http:/ / world-nuclear. org/ education/ ral. htm). World Nuclear Association. July 2002. . Retrieved 2010-02-04.
[11] "Decay series of Uranium" (http:/ / www. world-nuclear. org/ images/ info/ decayseries. gif). . Retrieved 2008-10-19.
[12] "Radon and Cancer: Questions and Answers" (http:/ / www. cancer. gov/ cancerTopics/ factsheet/ Risk/ radon). National Cancer Institute. .
Retrieved 2008-10-19.
[13] Steck, Daniel J. (2009). "Pre- and Post-Market Measurements of Gamma Radiation and Radon Emanation from a Large Sample of
Decorative Granites" (http:/ / www. aarst. org/ proceedings/ 2009/
PRE-AND_POST-MARKET_MEASUREMENTS_OF_GAMMA_RADIATION_AND_RADON_EMANATION_FROM_A_LARGE_SAMPLE_OF_DECORA
pdf). .
[14] Natural Stone Countertops and Radon (http:/ / www. marble-institute. com/ industryresources/ countertops_radon_wp. pdf) - Environmental
Health and Engineering - Assessing Exposure to Radon and Radiation from Granite Countertops.
[15] James A. Harrell. "Decorative Stones in the Pre-Ottoman Islamic Buildings of Cairo, Egypt" (http:/ / www. eeescience. utoledo. edu/
Faculty/ Harrell/ Egypt/ Mosques/ CAIRO_Rocks_1. htm). . Retrieved 2008-01-06.
[16] "Egyptian Genius: Stoneworking for Eternity" (http:/ / hebsed. home. comcast. net/ hunt. htm). . Retrieved 2008-01-06.
[17] "The Lost Temples of India" (http:/ / video. google. com/ videoplay?docid=8931191297840928556& q=Lost+ temples+ India) (video). .
Retrieved 2008-01-06.
[18] "National Geographic News Puffins Return to Scottish Island Famous for Curling Stones" (http:/ / news. nationalgeographic. com/ news/
2004/ 10/ 1027_041027_curling_stones. html). News.nationalgeographic.com. . Retrieved 2009-07-30.

External links
The Emplacement and Origin of Granite (http://www.geologynet.com/granite1.htm)

Obsidian

23

Obsidian
Obsidian

Obsidian from Lake County, Oregon

General
Category

Volcanic glass

Chemical formula

7075% SiO2,
plus MgO, Fe3O4

Identification
Color

Black

Fracture

Conchoidal

Mohs scale hardness ~ 5 to 5.5

Luster

Vitreous

Specific gravity

~ 2.5

Optical properties

Translucent

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.

It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth. Obsidian is
commonly found within the margins of rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows, where the chemical
composition (high silica content) induces a high viscosity and polymerization degree of the lava. The inhibition of
atomic diffusion through this highly viscous and polymerized lava explains the lack of crystal growth. Because of
this lack of crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness, leading to its ancient use as
projectile points and blades, and its modern use as surgical scalpel blades.[1] [2]

Origin and properties

Pliny's Natural History features volcanic glass called "Obsidianus", so named from its resemblance to a stone found
in Ethiopia by one Obsius.[3]
Obsidian is mineral-like, but not a true mineral because as a glass it is not crystalline; in addition, its composition is
too complex to comprise a single mineral. It is sometimes classified as a mineraloid. Though obsidian is usually dark
in color similar to mafic rocks such as basalt, obsidian's composition is extremely felsic. Obsidian consists mainly of
SiO2 (silicon dioxide), usually 70% or more. Crystalline rocks with obsidian's composition include granite and
rhyolite. Because obsidian is metastable at the Earth's surface (over time the glass becomes fine-grained mineral
crystals), no obsidian has been found that is older than Cretaceous age. This breakdown of obsidian is accelerated by
the presence of water. Obsidian has low water content when fresh, typically less than 1% water by weight,[4] but
becomes progressively hydrated when exposed to groundwater, forming perlite. Tektites were once thought by many
to be obsidian produced by lunar volcanic eruptions, though few scientists now adhere to this hypothesis.

Obsidian

24

Pure obsidian is usually dark in appearance, though the color varies depending on the presence of impurities. Iron
and magnesium typically give the obsidian a dark green to brown to black color. Very few samples are nearly
colorless. In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals of cristobalite in the black glass
produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern (snowflake obsidian). It may contain patterns of gas bubbles remaining from
the lava flow, aligned along layers created as the molten rock was flowing before being cooled. These bubbles can
produce interesting effects such as a golden sheen (sheen obsidian) or an iridescent, rainbow-like sheen (rainbow
obsidian).

Occurrence
Obsidian can be found in locations which have experienced rhyolitic eruptions. It can be found in Argentina,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, Greece, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New
Zealand, Peru, Scotland and the United States. Obsidian flows which may be hiked on are found within the calderas
of Newberry Volcano and Medicine Lake Volcano in the Cascade Range of western North America, and at Inyo
Craters east of the Sierra Nevada in California. Yellowstone National Park has a mountainside containing obsidian
located between Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Geyser Basin, and deposits can be found in many other
western U.S. states including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington,[5] Oregon[6] and Idaho.
Obsidian can also be found in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia.

Historical use
Obsidian was valued in Stone Age cultures because, like flint, it could
be fractured to produce sharp blades or arrowheads. Like all glass and
some other types of naturally occurring rocks, obsidian breaks with a
characteristic conchoidal fracture. It was also polished to create early
mirrors.
Modern archaeologists have developed a relative dating system,
obsidian hydration dating, to calculate the age of obsidian artifacts.

Middle East
In Ubaid in the 5th millennium BC, blades were manufactured from
obsidian mined in today's Turkey.[7]
Ancient Egyptians used obsidian imported from the eastern
Mediterranean and southern Red Sea regions. Obsidian was also used
in ritual circumcisions because of its deftness and sharpness.[8]

Obsidian arrowhead

Obsidian

25

Americas

Obsidian talus at Obsidian Dome, California

Lithic analysis can be instrumental in understanding prehispanic

groups in Mesoamerica. A careful analysis of obsidian in a culture or
place can be of considerable use to reconstruct commerce, production,
distribution and thereby understand economic, social and political
aspects of a civilization. This is the case in Yaxchiln, a Maya city
where even warfare implications have been studied linked with
obsidian use and its debris.[9] Another example is the archeological
recovery at coastal Chumash sites in California indicating considerable
trade with the distant site of Casa Diablo, California in the Sierra

Nevada Mountains.[10]
Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans' use of obsidian was extensive and sophisticated; including carved and worked
obsidian for tools and decorative objects. Mesoamericans also made a type of sword with obsidian blades mounted in
a wooden body. Called a macuahuitl, the weapon was capable of inflicting terrible injuries, combining the sharp
cutting edge of an obsidian blade with the ragged cut of a serrated weapon.
Native American people traded obsidian throughout the Americas.
Each volcano and in some cases each volcanic eruption produces a
distinguishable type of obsidian, making it possible for archaeologists
to trace the origins of a particular artifact. Similar tracing techniques
have allowed obsidian to be identified in Greece also as coming from
Melos, Nisyros or Yiali, islands in the Aegean Sea. Obsidian cores and
blades were traded great distances inland from the coast.
Counterclockwise from top: obsidian, pumice and
rhyolite (light color)

In Chile obsidian tools from Chaitn Volcano have been found as far
away as in Chan-Chan 400km north of the volcano and also in sites
400km south of it.[11] [12]

Easter Island
Glass Mountain, a large obsidian flow at
Medicine Lake Volcano

Obsidian was also used on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) for edged tools
such as Mataia and the pupils of the eyes of their Moai (statues).

Current use
Obsidian has been used for blades in surgery, as well-crafted obsidian blades have a cutting edge many times sharper
than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, the cutting edge of the blade being only about 3 nanometers thick.[13] Even
the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope; when
examined even under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even. One study found that
obsidian incisions produced narrower scars, fewer inflammatory cells, and less granulation tissue in a group of
rats.[14] Don Crabtree produced obsidian blades for surgery and other purposes[13] , and has written articles on the

Obsidian

26

subject.
Obsidian is also used for ornamental purposes and as a gemstone. It
possesses the property of presenting a different appearance according
to the manner in which it is cut: when cut in one direction it is jet
black; in another it is glistening gray. "Apache tears" are small rounded
obsidian nuggets embedded within a grayish-white perlite matrix.
Plinths for audio turntables have been made of obsidian since the
1970s; e.g. the greyish-black SH-10B3 plinth by Technics.
Pig carved in snowflake obsidian, 10 centimeters
(4 in) long. The markings are spherulites.

References
Notes
[1] Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills (http:/ / books. google. com. au/ books?id=HlwUo0IccoMC& pg=PT90& lpg=PT90&
dq=obsidian+ surgical+ scalpel& source=web& ots=tO8nfz3GFt& sig=7rQSy1-tT3-mm_Pp7nhyxOXjyTc& hl=en#PPT90,M1) David
Wescott
[2] Supplier of modern obsidian surgical scalpels with information on use (http:/ / www. finescience. com/ commerce/ ccc1065-obsidian-scalpels.
htm)
[3] Encyclopedia.com (http:/ / www. encyclopedia. com/ doc/ 1O27-obsidian. html)
[4] "Perlite - Mineral Deposit Profiles, B.C. Geological Survey" (http:/ / www. em. gov. bc. ca/ mining/ GeolSurv/ MetallicMinerals/
MineralDepositProfiles/ profiles/ r12. htm). . Retrieved 2007-11-20.
[5] Washington Obsidian Source Map (http:/ / www. obsidianlab. com/ image_maps/ image_maps. html#wa)
[6] Oregon Obsidian Sources (http:/ / www. sourcecatalog. com/ or/ s_or. html)
[7] "In Syria, a Prologue for Cities" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2010/ 04/ 06/ science/ 06archeo. html). The New York Times. 5 April 2010.
[8] Harrell, James A. (2000). "Stone in Ancient Egypt" (http:/ / www. eeescience. utoledo. edu/ faculty/ harrell/ egypt/ Stone Use/
Harrell_Stones_text. htm). University of Toledo. .
[9] Brokmann, Carlos, Tipologa y anlisis de la obsidiana de Yaxchiln, Chiapas, Coleccin Cientfica, no.422, INAH, 2000, 284p.
[10] C.Michael Hogan (2008) Morro Creek, ed. by A. Burnham (http:/ / www. megalithic. co. uk/ article. php?sid=18502)
[11] (Spanish) Pino, Mario and Navarro, Rayen. Geoarqueologa del sitio arcaico Chan-Chan 18 (http:/ / www. scielo. cl/ scielo.
php?pid=S0716-02082005000100004& script=sci_arttext). Revista Geolgica de Chile, 2005.
[12] Naranjo, Jos A; Stern, Charles R (December 2004). Holocene tephrochronology of the southernmost part (4230'-45S) of the Andean
Southern Volcanic Zone (http:/ / www. scielo. cl/ scielo. php?pid=S0716-02082004000200003& script=sci_arttext). 31. Revista geolgica de
Chile. pp. 225240. ISSN0716-0208. OCLC61022562. . Retrieved 2008-05-02.
[13] Buck, BA (March 1982). "Ancient technology in contemporary surgery". The Western journal of medicine 136 (3): 265269.
ISSN0093-0415. OCLC115633208. PMC1273673. PMID7046256.
[14] Disa, JJ; Vossoughi, J; Goldberg, NH (October 1993). "A comparison of obsidian and surgical steel scalpel wound healing in rats" (http:/ /
www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ pubmed/ 8415970?dopt=AbstractPlus). Plastic and reconstructive surgery 92 (5): 884887.
doi:10.1097/00006534-199392050-00015. ISSN0032-1052. OCLC121212765. PMID8415970. . Retrieved 2007-11-20.

External links
Mindat with location data (http://www.mindat.org/min-8519.html)
Obsidian: Mineral galleries (http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/mineralo/obsidian/obsidian.htm)
USGS Obsidian photo glossary (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/obsidian.php)

Pegmatite

27

Pegmatite
A pegmatite is a very coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock
composed of interlocking grains usually larger than 2.5cm in size;[1]
such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic.
Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar and mica; in essence
a granite. Rarer intermediate composition and mafic pegmatites
containing amphibole, Ca-plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene and other
minerals are known, found in recrystallised zones and apophyses
associated with large layered intrusions.

Pegmatite with blue corundum crystals

Crystal size is the most striking feature of pegmatites, with crystals

usually over 5cm in size. Individual crystals over 10 meters across
have been found, and the world's largest crystal was found within a
pegmatite.
Similarly, crystal texture and form within pegmatitic rock may be
taken to extreme size and perfection. Feldspar within a pegmatite may
display exaggerated and perfect twinning, exsolution lamellae, and
when affected by hydrous crystallization, macroscale graphic texture is
known, with feldspar and quartz intergrown. Perthite feldspar within a
pegmatite often shows gigantic perthitic texture visible to the naked
eye.

Pegmatite containing lepidolite, tourmaline, and

quartz from the White Elephant Mine in the
Black Hills, South Dakota

Petrology
Crystal growth rates in pegmatite must be incredibly fast to allow gigantic crystals to grow within the confines and
pressures of the Earth's crust. For this reason, the consensus on pegmatitic growth mechanisms involves a
combination of the following processes;
Low rates of nucleation of crystals coupled with high diffusivity to force growth of a few large crystals instead of
many smaller crystals
High vapor and water pressure, to assist in the enhancement of conditions of diffusivity
High concentrations of fluxing elements such as boron and lithium which lower the temperature of solidification
within the magma or vapor
Low thermal gradients coupled with a high wall rock temperature, explaining the preponderance for pegmatite to
occur only within greenschist metamorphic terranes
Despite this consensus on likely chemical, thermal and compositional conditions required to promote pegmatite
growth there are three main theories behind pegmatite formation;

Pegmatite

28

Theory
name

Theory

Metamorphic

pegmatite fluids are created by devolatilisation (dewatering) of metamorphic rocks, particularly felsic gneiss, to liberate the right
constituents and water, at the right temperature

Magmatic

pegmatites tend to occur in the aureoles of granites in most cases, and are usually granitic in character, often closely matching the
compositions of nearby granites. Pegmatites thus represent exsolved granitic material which crystallises in the country rocks

Metasomatic

pegmatite, in a few cases, could be explained by the action of hot alteration fluids upon a rock mass, with bulk chemical and textural
change.

Metasomatism is currently not well favored as a mechanism for pegmatite formation and it is likely that
metamorphism and magmatism are both contributors toward the conditions necessary for pegmatite genesis.

Mineralogy
The mineralogy of a pegmatite is in all cases dominated by some form
of feldspar, often with mica and usually with quartz, being altogether
"granitic" in character. Beyond that, pegmatite may include most
minerals associated with granite and granite-associated hydrothermal
systems, granite-associated mineralisation styles, for example greisens,
and somewhat with skarn associated mineralisation.
It is however impossible to quantify the mineralogy of pegmatite in
simple terms because of their varied mineralogy and difficulty in
estimating the modal abundance of mineral species which are of only a
trace amount. This is because of the difficulty in counting and
sampling mineral grains in a rock which may have crystals from
centimeters to meters across.

Pegmatitic granite, Rock Creek Canyon, eastern

Sierra Nevada, California. Note pink potassium
feldspars and cumulate-filled chamber.

Garnet, commonly almandine or spessartine, is a common mineral within pegmatites intruding mafic and
carbonate-bearing sequences. Pegmatites associated with granitic domes within the Archaean Yilgarn Craton
intruding ultramafic and mafic rocks contain red, orange and brown almandine garnet.
Tantalum and niobium minerals (columbite, tantalite, niobite) are found in association with spodumene, lepidolite,
tourmaline, cassiterite in the massive Greenbushes Pegmatite in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia, considered
a typical metamorphic pegmatite unassociated with granite.

Geochemistry
Pegmatite is difficult to sample representatively due to the large size of the constituent mineral crystals. Often, bulk
samples of some 5060kg of rock must be crushed to obtain a meaningful and repeatable result. Hence, pegmatite is
often characterised by sampling the individual minerals which comprise the pegmatite, and comparisons are made
according to mineral chemistry.
Geochemically, pegmatites typically have major element compositions approximating "granite", however, when
found in association with granitic plutons it is likely that a pegmatite dike will have a different trace element
composition with greater enrichment in large-ion lithophile (incompatible) elements, boron, beryllium, aluminium,
potassium and lithium, uranium, thorium, cesium, et cetera.
Occasionally, enrichment in the unusual trace elements will result in crystallisation of equally unusual and rare
minerals such as beryl, tourmaline, columbite, tantalite, zinnwaldite and so forth. In most cases, there is no particular
genetic significance to the presence of rare mineralogy within a pegmatite, however it is possible to see some
causative and genetic links between, say, tourmaline-bearing granite dikes and tourmaline-bearing pegmatites within

Pegmatite
the area of influence of a composite granite intrusion (Mount Isa Inlier, Queensland, Australia).

Economic importance
Pegmatites are important because they often contain rare earth minerals and gemstones, such as aquamarine,
tourmaline, topaz, fluorite, apatite and corundum, often along with tin and tungsten minerals, among others. For
example, beautiful crystals of aquamarines and topaz can be found in pegmatites in the mountains of Colorado and
Idaho.
Pegmatites are the primary source of lithium either as spodumene, lithiophyllite or usually from lepidolite (Li-mica).
The only used source for caesium is also a mineral from a zoned pegmatite, pollucite. The majority of the world's
beryllium is sourced from non-gem quality beryl within pegmatite. Tantalum, niobium, rare-earth elements are
sourced from a few pegmatites worldwide, notably the Greenbushes Pegmatite. Bismuth, molybdenum and tin have
been won from pegmatite, but this is not yet an important source of these metals.

Nomenclature
Pegmatites can be classified according to the elements or mineral of interest, for instance "lithian pegmatite" to
describe a Li-bearing or Li-mineral bearing pegmatite, or "boron pegmatite" for those containing tourmaline.
There is often no meaningful way to distinguish pegmatites according to chemistry due to the difficulty of obtaining
a representative sample, but often groups of pegmatites can be distinguished on contact textures, orientation,
accessory minerals and timing. These may be named formally or informally as a class of intrusive rock or within a
larger igneous association.
While difficult to be certain of derivation of pegmatite in the strictest sense, often pegmatites are referred to as
"metamorphic", "granitic" or "metasomatic", based on the interpretations of the investigating geologist.

Occurrence
Worldwide, notable pegmatite occurrences are within the major cratons, and within greenschist-facies metamorphic
belts. However, pegmatite localities are only well recorded when economic mineralisation is found.
Within the metamorphic belts, pegmatite tends to concentrate around granitic bodies within zones of low mean strain
and within zones of extension, for example within the strain shadow of a large rigid granite body. Similarly,
pegmatite is often found within the contact zone of granite, transitional with some greisens, as a late-stage
magmatic-hydrothermal effect of syn-metamorphic granitic magmatism. Some skarns associated with granites also
tend to host pegmatites.
Aplite and porphyry dikes and veins may intrude pegmatites and wall rocks adjacent to intrusions, creating a
confused sequence of felsic intrusive apophyses (thin branches or offshoots of igneous bodies) within the aureole of
some granites.

References
Footnotes
[1] USGS pegmatite definition (http:/ / vulcan. wr. usgs. gov/ LivingWith/ VolcanicPast/ Notes/ pegmatite. html), , retrieved 2009-08-28

Notations
Tan, Li-ping, 1966, Major Pegmatite Deposits of New York State, New York State Museum Bulletin No. 408

29

Pumice

30

Pumice
Pumice ( /p.ms/) is a textural term for a volcanic rock that is a
solidified frothy lava typically created when super-heated, highly
pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. It can be formed
when lava and water are mixed. This unusual formation is due to the
simultaneous actions of rapid cooling and rapid depressurization. The
depressurization creates bubbles by lowering the solubility of gases
(including water and CO2) dissolved in the lava, causing the gases to
rapidly exsolve (like the bubbles of CO2 that appear when a carbonated
drink is opened). The simultaneous cooling and depressurization
freezes the bubbles in the matrix.
Specimen of highly porous pumice from Teide
volcano on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Density of
specimen approximately 0.25 g/cm3; scale in
centimeters.

Properties
Pumice is composed of highly microvesicular glass pyroclastic with
very thin, translucent bubble walls of extrusive igneous rock. It is
commonly, but not exclusively of silicic or felsic to intermediate in
composition (e.g., rhyolitic, dacitic, andesite, pantellerite, phonolite,
trachyte), but basaltic and other compositions are known. Pumice is
commonly pale in color, ranging from white, cream, blue or grey, to
green-brown or black. It forms when volcanic gases exsolving from
viscous magma nucleate bubbles which cannot readily decouple from
the viscous magma prior to chilling to glass. Pumice is a common
product of explosive eruptions (plinian and ignimbrite-forming) and
commonly forms zones in upper parts of silicic lavas. Pumice has an
average porosity of 90%, and initially floats on water.

Illustrates the porous nature in detail.

Scoria differs from pumice in being denser. With larger vesicles and
thicker vesicle walls, it sinks rapidly. The difference is the result of the
lower viscosity of the magma that forms scoria. When larger amounts
of gas are present, the result is a finer-grained variety of pumice known
as pumicite. Pumice is considered a glass because it has no crystal
structure. Pumice varies in density according to the thickness of the
solid material between the bubbles; many samples float in water. After
the explosion of Krakatoa, rafts of pumice drifted through the Pacific
Rocks from the Bishop tuff, uncompressed with
Ocean for up to 20 years, with tree trunks floating among them.[1] In
pumice on left; compressed with fiamme on right.
fact, pumice rafts disperse and support several marine species.[2] In
1979, 1984 and 2006, underwater volcanic eruptions near Tonga created large pumice rafts, some as large as 30
kilometres that floated hundreds of kilometres to Fiji.[3]

Pumice

31

There are two main forms of vesicles. Most pumice contains tubular
microvesicles that can impart a silky or fibrous fabric. The elongation
of the microvesicles occurs due to ductile elongation in the volcanic
conduit or, in the case of pumiceous lavas, during flow. The other form
of vesicles are subspherical to spherical and result from high vapor
pressure during eruption.

Uses
A 15 centimeter (6 inch) piece of pumice
Pumice is widely used to make lightweight concrete or insulative
supported by a rolled-up U.S. 20-dollar bill
low-density breeze blocks. When used as an additive for cement, a
demonstrates its very low density.
fine-grained version of pumice called pozzolan is mixed with lime to
form a light-weight, smooth, plaster-like concrete. This form of
concrete was used as far back as Roman times. Roman engineers used it to build the huge dome of the Pantheon and
as construction material for many aqueducts.

It is also used as an abrasive, especially in polishes, pencil erasers, cosmetic exfoliants, and the production of
stone-washed jeans. "Pumice stones" are often used in beauty salons during the pedicure process to remove dry and
excess skin from the bottom of the foot as well as calluses. It was also used in ancient Greek and Roman times to
remove excess hair.[4] Finely ground pumice is added to some toothpastes and heavy-duty hand cleaners (such as
Lava soap) as a mild abrasive. Pumice is also used as a growing substrate for growing horticultural crops.

References
[1] De Vantier, L.M. (September 1992). "Rafting of tropical marine organisms on buoyant coralla" (http:/ / www. int-res. com/ articles/ meps/ 86/
m086p301. pdf). Marine Ecology Progress Series 86: 301302. doi:10.3354/meps086301. . Retrieved 2007-07-14. "Trunks and pumice that
washed ashore at Keeling Atoll in the early 1900's had been drifting for some 20 years, since the eruption of Krakatoa 1000 km to the
northeast in 1883 (Wood-Jones 1912)".
[2] Bryan, S.E.; A. Cook, J.P. Evans, P.W. Colls, M.G. Wells, M.G. Lawrence, J.S. Jell, A. Greig, R. Leslie (2004). "Pumice rafting and faunal
dispersion during 20012002 in the Southwest Pacific: record of a dacitic submarine explosive eruption from Tonga" (http:/ / earth. geology.
yale. edu/ ~je84/ mystuff/ research/ bryanetal2004. pdf). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 227: 135154. Bibcode2004E&PSL.227..135B.
doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2004.08.009. . Retrieved 2007-07-14. "The abundance and variety of fouling taxa, coupled with the long dispersal trajectory
(>3500km) and period of pumice floatation (1year), confirm the importance of sea-rafted pumice as a long-distance dispersal mechanism
for marine organisms".
[3] "New Island and pumice raft in the Tongas" (http:/ / earthobservatory. nasa. gov/ Newsroom/ NewImages/ images. php3?img_id=17461).
NASA Earth Observatory. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 16 November 2006. .
[4] Sherrow, V. 2001. For appearance' sake: the historical encyclopedia of good looks. Greenwood, 312pp. ISBN 1-57356-204-1

External links
University of Oxford image of pumice. (http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~oesis/rocks/ign8.html) Retrieved
2010-09-27.
Analytical identification of a single source pumice from Greek shores and ancient sites in the Levant. (http://uoa.
academia.edu/CharalamposVasilatos/Papers/265386/
Analytical_identification_of_a_single_source_pumice_from_Greek_shores_and_ancient_sites_in_the_Levant)
On the occurrence of a pumice-rich layer in Holocene deposits of western Peloponnesus, Ionian Sea, Greece. A
geomorphological and geochemical approach. (http://uoa.academia.edu/CharalamposVasilatos/Papers/88430/
On_the_occurrence_of_a_pumice-rich_layer_in_Holocene_deposits_of_western_Peloponnesus_Ionian_Sea_Greece.
_A_geomorphological_and_geochemical_approach)

Rhyolite

32

Rhyolite
Rhyolite
Igneous Rock

Composition
Felsic: igneous quartz and alkali feldspar (orthoclase, sanidine and sodic plagioclase), biotite and hornblende.

This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see
Rhyolite/Aquacade.
Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock, of felsic (silica-rich) composition (typically > 69% SiO2 see the
TAS classification). It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic. The mineral assemblage is
usually quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase (in a ratio > 1:2 see the QAPF diagram). Biotite and hornblende are
common accessory minerals.

Geology
Rhyolite can be considered as the extrusive equivalent to the plutonic
granite rock, and consequently, outcrops of rhyolite may bear a
resemblance to granite. Due to their high content of silica and low iron
and magnesium contents, rhyolite melts are highly polymerized and
form highly viscous lavas. They can also occur as breccias or in
volcanic plugs and dikes. Rhyolites that cool too quickly to grow
crystals form a natural glass or vitrophyre, also called obsidian. Slower
Rocks from the Bishop tuff, uncompressed with
cooling forms microscopic crystals in the lava and results in textures
pumice on left; compressed with fiamme on right.
such as flow foliations, spherulitic, nodular, and lithophysal structures.
Some rhyolite is highly vesicular pumice. Many eruptions of rhyolite
are highly explosive and the deposits may consist of fallout tephra/tuff or of ignimbrites.

Rhyolite

33

History
In North American pre-historic times, rhyolite was quarried extensively in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States.
Among the leading quarries was the Carbaugh Run Rhyolite Quarry Site in Adams County, where as many as fifty
small quarry pits are known.[1]

Name
The name rhyolite was introduced into science by the German traveler
and geologist Ferdinand von Richthofen after his explorations in the
Rocky Mountains in the 1860s.

References
[1] Beckerman, Ira. National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination:
Carbaugh Run Rhyolite Quarry Site (36AD30). National Park Service, 1981, 2.

External links
University of North Dakota description of rhyolite (http://volcano.
und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Slideshow/Igrocks/Igrock9.
html)

Top stone is obsidian (vitrophyre), below that is

pumice and in lower right corner is rhyolite (light
color)

Information from rocks-rock.com (http://www.rocks-rock.com/

rhyolite.html)

A sample of Rhyolite from the Conical Hill dome

at the head Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula,
New Zealand

Scoria

Scoria
Scoria is a volcanic rock containing many holes or vesicles. It is most
generally dark in color (generally dark brown, black or red), and
basaltic or andesitic in composition. Scoria is relatively low in mass as
a result of its numerous macroscopic ellipsoidal vesicles, but in
contrast to pumice, all scoria has a specific gravity greater than 1, and
sinks in water. The holes or vesicules form when gases that were
dissolved in the magma come out of solution as it erupts, creating
bubbles in the molten rock, some of which are frozen in place as the
Scoria
rock chills and solidifies. Scoria may form as part of a lava flow,
typically near its surface, or as fragmental ejecta (lapilli, blocks and
bombs), for instance in Strombolian eruptions that form steep-sided scoria cones. Most scoria is composed of glassy
fragments, and may contain phenocrysts.
The word scoria comes from the Greek , skria, rust. An old name for scoria is cinder.

Comparisons
Scoria differs from pumice, another vesicular volcanic rock, in having larger vesicles and thicker vesicle walls, and
hence is denser. The difference is probably the result of lower magma viscosity, allowing rapid volatile diffusion,
bubble growth, coalescence, and bursting.

Formation
As rising magma encounters lower pressures, dissolved gases are able to exsolve and form vesicles. Some of the
vesicles are trapped when the magma chills and solidifies. Vesicles are usually small, spheroidal and do not impinge
upon one another; instead they open into one another with little distortion.
Volcanic cones of scoria can be left behind after eruptions, usually forming mountains with a crater at the summit.
An example is Mount Wellington, Auckland in New Zealand, which like the Three Kings in the south of the same
city has been extensively quarried. Quincan, a unique form of Scoria, is quarried at Mount Quincan in Far North
Queensland, Australia.

34

Scoria

35

Uses
Scoria has several useful characteristics that influence how it is used. It is
somewhat porous, has high surface area and strength for its weight, and often has
striking colours. Scoria is often used in landscaping and drainage works.[1] It is
also commonly used in barbecue grills.[2]
Scoria can be used for high-temperature insulation.
The quarry of Puna Pau on Rapa Nui/Easter Island was the source of a red
coloured scoria which the Rapanui people used to carve the pukao (or topknots)
for their distinctive moai statues, and to carve some moai from.

Tuff moai with red scoria pukao on

its head

Images

Fresh scoria sometimes has a

blue sheen to its surface.

Scoria of various
hues exists on
Mount Tarawera,
from its 1886
eruption.

Holocene scoria-producing
volcano near Veyo, Utah

Photomicrograph
of a volcanic lithic
fragment (sand
grain) derived
from scoria; upper
picture is
plane-polarized
light, bottom
picture is
cross-polarized
light, scale box at
left-center is 0.25
millimeter.

References
[1] Three Kings Quarry (http:/ / www. winstoneaggregates. co. nz/ Auckland. php?location=Three Kings), Winstone Aggregates.
[2] Rock Types and Rocks Found in Michigan (http:/ / www. michigan. gov/ documents/ deq/ GIMDL-GGRF_307777_7. pdf)

Article Sources and Contributors

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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

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(Transfered by bramfab/Original uploaded by Qfl247)
Image:Parana traps.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Parana_traps.JPG License: unknown Contributors: Eurico Zimbres
Image:DioriteUSGOV.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DioriteUSGOV.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Saperaud
Image:QAPFdiorite.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:QAPFdiorite.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Theklan
Image:Diorite.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Diorite.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors: User:Siim
Image:Diorite Vase Neqada II Predynastic Ancient Egypt Field Museum.jpg Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Diorite_Vase_Neqada_II_Predynastic_Ancient_Egypt_Field_Museum.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors:
User:Madman2001
Image:GabbroRockCreek1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GabbroRockCreek1.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Wilson44691
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Image:Gabbro pmg ss 2006.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gabbro_pmg_ss_2006.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: User:Siim
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File:IndianGranite.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:IndianGranite.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Photograph taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department of
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File:various granites.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Various_granites.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cameronchase19, Jstuby
File:Granite Yosemite P1160483.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Granite_Yosemite_P1160483.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
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File:GraniteElephant.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:GraniteElephant.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Photograph taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department
of Geology, The College of Wooster).
File:granite for temple.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Granite_for_temple.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cdc, Darwinek, Hobbes2k, Sfan00 IMG, 5
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Teidepumice.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Teidepumice.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: User MPF on en.wikipedia
File:Pumice stone detail444.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pumice_stone_detail444.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Benjamint444
File:BishopTuff.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BishopTuff.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Qfl247 (talk). Original
uploader was Qfl247 at en.wikipedia
File:Pumice on 20 dollars.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pumice_on_20_dollars.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
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file:Allandale Rhyolite lyttleton new zealand.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Allandale_Rhyolite_lyttleton_new_zealand.jpg License: unknown Contributors: File:Scoria Macro Digon3.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Scoria_Macro_Digon3.jpg License: unknown Contributors: Jonathan Zander (Digon3)"
File:Ahu Tahai.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ahu_Tahai.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: User:BjarteSorensen
File:Scoria AmsterdamIsland 5.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Scoria_AmsterdamIsland_5.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0
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File:Multi-coloured scoria in the Tarawera rift.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Multi-coloured_scoria_in_the_Tarawera_rift.jpg License: Creative Commons
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License

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