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Diorite is an intrusive igneous rock composed principally of the silicate minerals plagioclase feldspar (typically andesine), biotite, hornblende, and sometimes pyroxene. The chemical composition of diorite is intermediate, between that of mafic gabbro and felsic granite.
Diabase (/ ˈ d aɪ. ə ˌ b eɪ s /), also called dolerite (/ ˈ d ɒ l. ə ˌ r aɪ t /) or microgabbro, [1] is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained to aphanitic chilled margins which may ...
Diorite – Igneous rock type Napoleonite, also known as corsite – Variety of diorite with orbicular structure; Dunite – Ultramafic and ultrabasic rock from Earth's mantle which is made of the mineral olivine; Essexite – Igneous rock type; Foidolite – Igneous rock rich in feldspathoid minerals; Gabbro – Coarse-grained mafic intrusive rock
For example, Coastal Batholith of Peru consists of 7–16% gabbro and diorite, 48–60% tonalite (including trondhjemite), and 20–30% granodiorite, with 1–4% granite. [22] These TTG rocks in continental arc batholiths may partially originate from the magma differentiation (i.e. fractional crystallisation ) of the subduction induced mantle ...
Gabbro is distinguished from diorite by an anorthite content of greater than 50% of its plagioclase and from anorthosite by a mafic mineral content greater than 10%. Geologists use rigorous quantitative definitions to classify coarse-grained igneous rocks, based on the mineral content of the rock.
These rocks (diorite, andesite) are typically darker in colour than felsic rocks and somewhat more dense. Mafic rocks have a relatively low silica content and are composed mostly of pyroxenes, olivines and calcic plagioclase. These rocks (basalt, gabbro) are usually dark coloured, and have a higher density than felsic rocks.
Examples of phaneritic igneous rocks are gabbro, diorite, and granite. Porphyritic textures develop when conditions during the cooling of magma change relatively quickly. The earlier formed minerals will have formed slowly and remain as large crystals, whereas, sudden cooling causes the rapid crystallization of the remainder of the melt into a ...
Basalt. A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron.Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite.