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Plagioclase displaying cleavage. (unknown scale) In volcanic rocks, fine-grained plagioclase can display a "microlitic" texture of many small crystals. Plagioclase (/ ˈ p l æ dʒ (i) ə ˌ k l eɪ s, ˈ p l eɪ dʒ-,-ˌ k l eɪ z / PLAJ-(ee)-ə-klayss, PLAYJ-, -klayz) [4] is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group.
Typically, the pure potassium endmember of orthoclase forms a solid solution with albite, the sodium endmember (NaAlSi 3 O 8) of plagioclase. While slowly cooling within the earth, sodium-rich albite lamellae form by exsolution, enriching the remaining orthoclase with potassium. The resulting intergrowth of the two feldspars is called perthite.
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 ...
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
1: olivine crystallizes; 2: olivine and pyroxene crystallize; 3: pyroxene and plagioclase crystallize; 4: plagioclase crystallizes. At the bottom of the magma reservoir, a cumulate rock forms. Fractional crystallization , or crystal fractionation , is one of the most important geochemical and physical processes operating within crust and mantle ...
Granite (/ ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t / GRAN-it) is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase.It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground.
The most common moonstone is of the orthoclase feldspar mineral adularia, named for an early mining site near Mt. Adular in Switzerland, now the town of St. Gotthard. [1] [better source needed] A solid solution of the plagioclase feldspar oligoclase +/− the potassium feldspar orthoclase also produces moonstone specimens.
Sericitic alteration or sericitization is a process of mineral alteration caused by hydrothermal fluids invading permeable country rock. Plagioclase feldspar within the rock is converted to sericite (sericite is not a mineral; it is a term that is used to describe any fine-grained white phyllosilicate when a distinction cannot be determined), which typically consists of fine-grained white mica ...