Test #2 Flashcards
(141 cards)
Phaneritic
Rock grains are large enough to be seen with the naked eye
Aphanitic
Individual crystals can’t be seen with the naked eye
Glassy
Molten liquid quenched so quickly that crystals do not have time to form
Porphyritic
Large phenocrysts are visible in the crystal matrix (either phaneritic or aphanitic)
Pegmatite
Very large minerals that grow quickly out of residual melt
Nucleation
Initial formation of crystal nuclei (small cluster of compatible ions)
Must reach critical size before further growth can take place
Requires supersaturation or undercooling
Diffusion
Movement of ions though magma to surface of growing crystal (heat moves away from surface of growing crystal)
Why are crystal nuclei unstable?
Many have very high surface area / volume ration.
What is undercooling?
Cooling of a melt below the theoretically predicted (“true”) crystallization temperature of a mineral
What degree of undercooling (low, moderate, high) generally occurs during slow cooling? Rapid cooling? Extremely rapid cooling? What textures result?
Low degree of undercooling: moderate crystal growth, low nucleation, moderate diffusion. Produces a phaneritic texture. Slow cooling.
Moderate degree of undercooling: low crystal growth, high nucleation, low to moderate diffusion. Produces an aphanitic texture. Rapid cooling.
High degrees of undercooling: very low crystal growth, nucleation, and diffusion. Rock is quenced and very little, if any, crystals form. Produces a glassy rock, or holohyaline texture. Extremely rapid cooling.
What is the typical pattern of growth for chain silicates? Sheet silicates?
Chain silicates (such as pyroxenes) grow fastest along length of chains.
Sheet silicates (such as micas) grow along direction of silicate sheets.
How and why does the rate of growth differ on corners vs. edges vs. faces of growing crystals?
Corners > Edges > Sides
Volume of liquid available to growing crystal is greatest on corners, least on faces.
Poikilitic texture
Inclusions of one mineral within another
Ophitic texture
Special case of poikilitic texture, large pyroxene grain contains numerous plagioclase crystals
Subophitic
Plagioclase crystals are only partially enclosed in pyroxene.
What is compositional zoning and why does it occur?
Changes in mineral composition as crystal is growing
Common in solid solution minerals
Normal zoning
Occurs as predicted by phase diagram of solid solution mineral (changing composition with falling temperature)
Reverse zoning
Zoning that occurs opposite of what is predicted in phase diagram of solid solution minerals with falling temperature.
Oscillatory zoning
Alternating normal & reverse (most common in plagioclase)
Degree of Crystallization
Determined by rate of cooling
Holocrystalline
Entire rock composed of crystals
Hypocrystalline
Rock composed of both crystals and glass
Holohyaline
Rock is essentially all glass
Euhedral
Crystal is dominantly bounded by its crystal faces.
Rock is euhedral-granular or idiomorphic.



