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Orthoclase, or orthoclase feldspar (endmember formula K Al Si 3 O 8), is an important tectosilicate mineral which forms igneous rock. The name is from the Ancient Greek for "straight fracture", because its two cleavage planes are at right angles to each other. It is a type of potassium feldspar, also known as K-feldspar.
Potassium feldspar refers to a number of minerals in the feldspar group that contain large amounts of potassium in the crystal lattice. Orthoclase (endmember formula K Al Si 3 O 8), an important tectosilicate mineral that forms igneous rock; Microcline, chemically the same as orthoclase, but with a different crystalline structure
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 ...
Sanidine is the high temperature form of potassium feldspar with a general formula K(AlSi 3 O 8). [2] Sanidine is found most typically in felsic volcanic rocks such as obsidian, rhyolite and trachyte. Sanidine crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system. Orthoclase is a monoclinic polymorph stable at lower temperatures.
Microcline may be chemically the same as monoclinic orthoclase, but because it belongs to the triclinic crystal system, the prism angle is slightly less than right angles; hence the name "microcline" from the Greek "small slope". It is a fully ordered triclinic modification of potassium feldspar and is dimorphous with orthoclase. Microcline is ...
Amazonite, also known as amazonstone, [4] is a green tectosilicate mineral, a variety of the potassium feldspar called microcline. [4] [5] [6] Its chemical formula is KAlSi 3 O 8, [1] [7] which is polymorphic to orthoclase.
Smoky quartz with spessartine on top of feldspar matrix, featuring different crystal habits (shapes) In mineralogy, crystal habit is the characteristic external shape of an individual crystal or aggregate of crystals. The habit of a crystal is dependent on its crystallographic form and growth conditions, which generally creates irregularities ...
Quartz crystal with chlorite inclusions from Minas Gerais, Brazil (size: 4.2 × 3.9 × 3.3 cm) Chlorite is a common mineral, found in metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks. It is an important rock-forming mineral in low- to medium-grade metamorphic rock formed by metamorphism of mafic or pelitic rock. [9]