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Hornblende. Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. [6] It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rocks. The general formula is (Ca,Na)2−3(Mg,Fe,Al)5(Al,Si)8O22(OH,F)2.
Mafic rocks are primarily composed of biotite, hornblende, pyroxene and olivine. Generally, felsic rocks are light colored and mafic rocks are darker colored. [18] For textural classification, igneous rocks that have crystals large enough to be seen by the naked eye are called phaneritic; those with crystals too small to be seen are called ...
In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz. [1] It is contrasted with mafic rocks, which are richer in magnesium and iron. Felsic refers to silicate minerals, magma, and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium ...
In the mafic rocks labradorite, anorthite, and bytownite prevail, being rich in lime and poor in silica, potash, and soda. Augite is the most common ferromagnesian in mafic rocks, but biotite and hornblende are on the whole more frequent in felsic rocks. [37]
The series is divided into two branches, the continuous (felsic minerals: feldspars) and the discontinuous (mafic minerals).The minerals at the top of the illustration (given aside) are first to crystallize and so the temperature gradient can be read to be from high to low with the high-temperature minerals being on the top and the low-temperature ones on the bottom.
Diorite. Diorite (/ ˈdaɪ.əraɪt / DY-ə-ryte) [1][2] is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silica (mafic) gabbro and high-silica (felsic) granite.
The black crystal is garnet, the pink-orange-yellow colored strands are muscovite mica, and the brown crystals are biotite mica. The grey and white crystals are quartz and (limited) feldspar. Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture.
Appinites — often synonymously used for hornblende diorites — are a coeval rock suite of plutonic or subvolcanic igneous rocks with variable chemical compositions, covering ultramafic to felsic igneous rocks. They are characterized in all their lithologies by euhedral hornblende crystals as the dominant mafic mineral.