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Rocks
Qualities about igneous and metamorphic rocks and how to classify them.
24
Geology
Undergraduate 1
10/26/2011

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Term
Pegmatitic
Definition
Crystals larger than 1cm; slow cooling magma
Term
Phaneritic
Definition
Crystals about 1-10mm; slow cooling magma
Term
Porphyritic
Definition
Large and small crystals; change in rate of magma cooling
Term
Aphanitic
Definition
crystals too small to identify, even with a hand lens; rapid cooling of lava
Term
Glassy (igneous)
Definition
Rapid cooling and poor nucleation; ex. Obsedian
Term
Vesicular
Definition
Like meringue or kind of bubbly; rapid cooling of gas charged lava
Term
Pyroclastic or Fragmental
Definition
Particles emitted form volcanoes
Term
Quartz
Definition
Hard, transparent, gray, crystals with no cleavage
Term
Plagioclase Feldspar
Definition
Hard, opaque, usually pale gray to white crystals with cleavage, often striated
Term
Potassium Feldspar (K-Spar)
Definition
Hard, opaque, usually pastel orange, pink, or white crystals
Term
Muscovite Mica
Definition
Flat, pale brown, yellow, or colorless crystals that scratch easily and break into sheets
Term
Biotite Mica
Definition
Flat, glossy black crystals that scratch easily and break into sheets
Term
Amphibole
Definition
Hard, dark gray to black, brittle crystals with two cleavages that intersect at 56 and 124 degrees
Term
Pyroxene (Augite)
Definition
Hard, dark green to green-gray crystals with two cleavages that intersect at nearly right angles
Term
Olivine
Definition
Hard, transparent to opaque, pale yellow-green to dark green crystals with no cleavages
Term
Mafic Color Index
Definition
Shows the percentage of a rock's green, dark gray, and black mineral crystals.
Term
Foliated
Definition
Layered texture
Term
Slaty Rock Cleavage
Definition
Very flat foliation developed along flat, parallel, closely spaced, shear planes
Term
Phyllite Texture
Definition
Wavy and/or wrinkled foliation of fine-grained platy minerals that gives the rock a satiny or metallic luster.
Term
Schistosity
Definition
A scaly, glittery, layering of visible platy minerals and/or linear alignment of long prismatic crystals.
Term
Crystalline Texture
Definition
A medium to coarse grained aggregate of inter-grown, usually equal sized, visible crystals. Ex. Marble
Term
Microcrystalline Texture
Definition
A fine-grained aggregate of inter-grown microscopic crystals. Ex. Hornfels
Term
Sandy Texture
Definition
A medium to coarse grained aggregate of fused, sand sized grains that resemble sandstone. Ex. Quartzite
Term
Glassy Texture (metamorphic)
Definition
A homogeneous texture with no visible grains or other structures and breaks along glossy surfaces. Ex. Anthracite Coal
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