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Micrographic differs from graphic granite in being so much finer-grained that the texture can only be seen in a petrographic thin section with a microscope. The feldspar is usually orthoclase , but can also be albite , oligoclase or microcline .
Plagioclase displaying cleavage. (unknown scale) In volcanic rocks, fine-grained plagioclase can display a "microlitic" texture of many small crystals. Plagioclase (/ ˈ p l æ dʒ (i) ə ˌ k l eɪ s, ˈ p l eɪ dʒ-,-ˌ k l eɪ z / PLAJ-(ee)-ə-klayss, PLAYJ-, -klayz) [4] is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group.
Bytownite is a calcium rich member of the plagioclase solid solution series of feldspar minerals with composition between anorthite and labradorite.It is usually defined as having between 70 and 90%An (formula: (Ca 0.7−0.9 Na 0.3−0.1)[Al(Al,Si)Si 2 O 8]).
Since they are primarily composed of plagioclase feldspar, most of Proterozoic anorthosites appear, in outcrop, to be grey or bluish. Individual plagioclase crystals may be black, white, blue, or grey, and may exhibit an iridescence known as labradorescence on fresh surfaces. The feldspar variety labradorite is commonly present in anorthosites.
A poikilitic texture is most easily observed in petrographic thin sections. In some rocks there seems to be little tendency for the minerals to envelop one another. This is true of many gabbros, aplites and granites. The grains then lie side by side, with the faces of the latter moulded on or adapted to the more perfect crystalline outlines of ...
Quartz (SiO 2) is present as more than 20% of the total quartz-alkali feldspar-plagioclase-feldspathoid content of the rock. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Amphiboles and biotite are common in lesser quantities, while accessory minerals include apatite , magnetite and zircon .
As a consequence Ca gets released in plagioclase which in turn can now react upon K-feldspar to form myrmekite. Basically this process is very similar to the Ca-metasomatism on K-feldspar described above except for the Na-fluids acting as a trigger. An example is the Velay granite in the northeastern Massif Central in France. [3]
QAPF diagram for volcanic rock with quartz latite field highlighted in yellow. Quartz latite is the fine-grained equivalent of a quartz monzonite, containing approximately equal amounts of plagioclase and alkali feldspar and between 5% and 20% quartz and with plagioclase making up 35% to 65% of its total feldspar content.