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A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than 1 cm (0.4 in) and sometimes greater than 1 meter (3 ft). Most pegmatites are composed of quartz , feldspar , and mica , having a similar silicic composition to granite .
The Kimberley diamonds were originally found in weathered kimberlite, which was colored yellow by limonite, and so was called "yellow ground". Deeper workings encountered less altered rock, serpentinized kimberlite, which miners call "blue ground". Yellow ground kimberlite is easy to break apart and was the first source of diamonds to be mined.
Extrusive igneous rock is made from lava released by volcanoes Sample of basalt (an extrusive igneous rock), found in Massachusetts. Extrusive igneous rock, also known as volcanic rock, is formed by the cooling of molten magma on the earth's surface. The magma, which is brought to the surface through fissures or volcanic eruptions, rapidly ...
Peridotite (US: / ˈ p ɛ r ɪ d oʊ ˌ t aɪ t, p ə ˈ r ɪ d ə-/ 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.
Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color. Peridot can be found in mafic and ultramafic rocks occurring in lava and peridotite xenoliths of the mantle. The gem occurs in silica-deficient rocks such as volcanic basalt and pallasitic meteorites.
Smaller deposits are found in South America (Brazil and Bolivia), Portugal, Romania, Burma and Russia. Hackmanite is found principally in Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Greenland. Euhedral, transparent crystals are found in northern Namibia and in the lavas of Vesuvius, Italy. Sodalitite is a type of extrusive igneous rock rich in sodalite. [16]
Ijolite – Igneous rock consisting essentially of nepheline and augite; Jadeitite – Metamorphic rock found in blueschist-grade metamorphic terranes; Jasperoid – A hematite-silica metasomatite analogous to a skarn; Kenyte – Type of igneous rock - A variety of phonolite, first found on Mount Kenya
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.