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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.
The most common mineral assemblage of granulite facies consists of antiperthitic plagioclase, alkali feldspar containing up to 50% albite and Al 2 O 3-rich pyroxenes. Transition between amphibolite and granulite facies is defined by these reaction isograds: amphibole → pyroxene + H 2 O biotite → K-feldspar + garnet + orthopyroxene + H 2 O.
Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula Na Al Si 3 O 8. It is a tectosilicate. Its color is usually pure white, hence its name from Latin, albus. [5]
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 .
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 .
Feldspar (/ ˈ f ɛ l (d) ˌ s p ɑːr / FEL(D)-spar; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. [3] The most common members of the feldspar group are the plagioclase (sodium-calcium) feldspars and the alkali (potassium ...
Potassium feldspar is also noticeably more prevalent as the pluton gets thicker, suggesting that the pluton is zoned compositionally. [8] Overall, the granite is a porphyritic rock that is composed of plagioclase feldspar, quartz, and biotite, and contains large pink microcline chunks throughout the matrix. The microcline megacrysts appear as ...