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In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals (spherulites) of the mineral cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern (snowflake obsidian). Obsidian may contain patterns of gas bubbles remaining from the lava flow, aligned along layers created as the molten rock was flowing before being ...
Apache tears are rounded pebbles of obsidian or "obsidianites" composed of black or dark-colored natural volcanic glass, usually of rhyolitic composition and bearing conchoidal fracture. Also known by the lithologic term marekanite , this variety of obsidian occurs as subrounded to subangular bodies up to about 2 in (51 mm) in diameter, often ...
Its outer shape is spherical or lenticular. They vary in size from very small up to twelve feet in diameter depending on the age of the magma chamber. These rocks are usually found within obsidian or rhyolite lava flows. [2] Lavas low in feldspar minerals may produce a version known as snowflake obsidian.
Most commonly, volcanic glass refers to obsidian, a rhyolitic glass with high silica (SiO 2) content. [7] Other types of volcanic glass include the following: Pumice, which is considered a glass because it has no crystal structure. Apache tears, a kind of nodular obsidian.
The following is a list of rock types recognized by geologists.There is no agreed number of specific types of rock. Any unique combination of chemical composition, mineralogy, grain size, texture, or other distinguishing characteristics can describe a rock type.
Spherulites in rhyolitic ash, Hailstone Trail, Echo Canyon, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona Spherulite markings on snowflake obsidian Photomicrograph of rhyolite, showing spherulitic texture (brown, between grey to white crystals) In petrology, spherulites (/ ˈ s f ɛr ʊ l aɪ t s, s f ɪər-/) are small, rounded bodies that commonly occur in ...
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Cristobalite occurs as white octahedra or spherulites in acidic volcanic rocks and in converted diatomaceous deposits in the Monterey Formation of the US state of California and similar areas. The micrometre-scale spheres that make up precious opal exhibit some X-ray diffraction patterns that are similar to that of cristobalite, but lack any ...