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Ultramafic rock. Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta -igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are composed of usually greater than 90% mafic minerals (dark colored, high magnesium and iron ...
Pyroxenite is an ultramafic igneous rock consisting essentially of minerals of the pyroxene group, such as augite, diopside, hypersthene, bronzite or enstatite. Pyroxenites are classified into clinopyroxenites, orthopyroxenites, and the websterites which contain both types of pyroxenes (see diagram below). Closely allied to this group are the ...
Igneous rock (igneous from Latin igneus 'fiery'), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in either a planet 's mantle or crust.
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. Common mafic rocks include basalt, diabase and gabbro. Mafic rocks often also contain calcium -rich varieties of plagioclase ...
Petrology. Gabbro is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) igneous rock that is relatively low in silica and rich in iron, magnesium, and calcium. Such rock is described as mafic. Gabbro is composed of pyroxene (mostly clinopyroxene) and calcium-rich plagioclase, with minor amounts of hornblende, olivine, orthopyroxene and accessory minerals. [4]
Group-I kimberlites are of CO 2-rich ultramafic potassic igneous rocks dominated by primary forsteritic olivine and carbonate minerals, with a trace-mineral assemblage of magnesian ilmenite, chromium pyrope, almandine-pyrope, chromium diopside (in some cases subcalcic), phlogopite, enstatite and of Ti-poor chromite. Group I kimberlites exhibit ...
Komatiite. Komatiite / koʊˈmɑːtiˌaɪt / is a type of ultramafic mantle -derived volcanic rock defined as having crystallised from a lava of at least 18 wt% magnesium oxide (MgO). [1] It is classified as a 'picritic rock'. Komatiites have low silicon, potassium and aluminium, and high to extremely high magnesium content.
Peridotite. Peridotite (US: / ˈpɛrɪdoʊˌtaɪt, pəˈrɪdə -/ PERR-ih-doh-tyte, pə-RID-ə-) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg 2+), reflecting the high proportions of ...