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In geology, macrocrystalline rocks have crystals large enough to easily be identified by sight with the naked eye. Macrocrystalline rocks can be further subdivided into fine-grained, medium-grained, large-grained, and coarse-grained rock, where fine-grained rocks have a grain size of less than 1 mm, medium-grained rocks have a grain size of 1 to 5 mm, large-grained rocks one of 5 to 10 mm, and ...
Nephelinite – Igneous rock made up almost entirely of nepheline and clinopyroxene – A silica-undersaturated plutonic rock with >90% nepheline; Norite – Mafic intrusive igneous rock – A hypersthene-bearing gabbro; Obsidian – Naturally occurring volcanic glass; Pegmatite – Igneous rock with very large interlocked crystals
Some rocks contain both microphenocrysts and megaphenocrysts. [2] In metamorphic rocks, crystals similar to phenocrysts are called porphyroblasts. Phenocrysts are more often found in the lighter (higher silica) igneous rocks such as felsites and andesites, although they occur throughout the igneous spectrum including in the ultramafics.
A similar type of crystal is a phenocryst, a large crystal in an igneous rock. Porphyroblasts are often confused with porphyroclasts, which can also be large outstanding crystals, but which are older than the matrix of the rock [citation needed].
Large crystals are favored. In normal igneous rocks, coarse texture is a result of slow cooling deep underground. [14] It is not clear if pegmatite forms by slow or rapid cooling. [15] In some studies, crystals in pegmatitic conditions have been recorded to grow at a rate ranging from 1 m to 10 m per day. [16]
Phaneritic (phaner = visible) textures are typical of intrusive igneous rocks, these rocks crystallized slowly below Earth's surface. As magma cools slowly the minerals have time to grow and form large crystals. The minerals in a phaneritic igneous rock are sufficiently large to see each individual crystal with the naked eye.
The large grain in the middle is of a much different size class than the small needle-like crystals around it. Scale box in millimeters. Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts.
The resulting rock is igneous in appearance but formed at a low temperature from a water-rich melt, with large crystals of the common minerals such as quartz and feldspar, but also with elevated concentrations of rare elements such as beryllium, lithium, or niobium, often forming their own minerals; this is called a pegmatite. The high water ...
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