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Gneiss (/ n aɪ s / nice) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under pressures ranging from 2 to 15 kbar, sometimes even more, and temperatures over 300 °C (572 °F).
Morton gneiss, also known as rainbow gneiss, is an Archean-age gneiss found in the Minnesota River Valley of southwestern Minnesota, United States. It is one of the oldest stones on Earth, at about 3.5 billion years old. Along with the nearby Montevideo Gneiss, it is the oldest intact continental crust rock in the United States. [1]
All of these rocks show more-or-less metamorphism either of a thermal character or due to pressure and crushing. The granites pass into gneiss and granulite; the gabbros into flaser gabbro and amphibolite; the slates often contain andalusite or chiastolite, and show transitions to mica schists. At one time these rocks were regarded as Archean ...
Metamorphic rocks are one of the three great divisions of all rock types, and so there is a great variety of metamorphic rock types. In general, if the protolith of a metamorphic rock can be determined, the rock is described by adding the prefix meta- to the protolith rock name.
Outcrop of weathered Lewisian gneiss, 5 km NW of Lochinver. The Lewisian complex or Lewisian gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane and the North Atlantic Craton. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 ...
Schistosity is a thin layering of the rock produced by metamorphism (a foliation) that permits the rock to easily be split into flakes or slabs less than 5 to 10 millimeters (0.2 to 0.4 in) thick. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The mineral grains in a schist are typically from 0.25 to 2 millimeters (0.01 to 0.08 in) in size [ 6 ] and so are easily seen with a 10 ...
The Narryer Gneiss terrane is a geological complex in Western Australia that is composed of a tectonically interleaved and polydeformed mixture of granite, mafic intrusions and metasedimentary rocks in excess of 3.3 billion years old, with the majority of the Narryer Gneiss terrane in excess of 3.6 billion years old.
Quartz (SiO 2) is present as more than 20% of the total quartz-alkali feldspar-plagioclase-feldspathoid content of the rock. [1] [2] Amphiboles and biotite are common in lesser quantities, while accessory minerals include apatite, magnetite and zircon. [3] [4] In older references tonalite is sometimes used as a synonym for quartz diorite.