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Obsidian (/ ə b ˈ s ɪ d i. ən, ɒ b-/ əb-SID-ee-ən ob-) [5] is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock . [ 6 ]
Tachylite (/ ˈ t æ k ə l aɪ t / TAK-ə-lyte; also spelled tachylyte) is a form of basaltic volcanic glass. This glass is formed naturally by the rapid cooling of molten basalt. It is a type of mafic igneous rock that is decomposable by acids and readily fusible. [citation needed] The color is a black or dark-brown, and it has a greasy ...
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 ...
Magma rich in silica and poor in dissolved water is most easily cooled rapidly enough to form volcanic glass. As a result, rhyolite magmas, which are high in silica, can produce tephra composed entirely of volcanic glass and may also form glassy lava flows. [2] Ash-flow tuffs typically consist of countless microscopic shards of volcanic glass. [3]
Helenite, also known as Mount St. Helens obsidian, emerald obsidianite, and ruby obsidianite, is a glass made from the fused volcanic rock dust from Mount St. Helens and marketed as a gemstone. [1] [2] Helenite was first created accidentally after the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
Pele's hair, with a hand lens as scale Strands of Pele's hair under microscope view. Pele's hair (closest modern Hawaiian translation: "lauoho o Pele " [1]) is a volcanic glass formation produced from cooled lava stretched into thin strands, usually from lava fountains, lava cascades, or vigorous lava flows.
Scoria is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock formed by ejection from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains called clasts. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is typically dark in color (brown, black or purplish-red), and basaltic or andesitic in composition.
Obsidian projectile point.. Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy.