Graphic texture

Graphic granite, southwestern Kola Peninsula, Russia
Graphic texture. Photo: Eurico Zimbres
The feldspar is white and roughly 10 x 10 centimeters. Quartz are the little cuneiform and gray ones

Graphic texture is commonly created by exsolution and devitrification and immiscibility processes in igneous rocks. It is called 'graphic' because the exsolved or devitrified minerals form lines and shapes which are reminiscent of writing.

Trachyte is a volcanic rock which typically has graphic texture. Devitrified obsidian and other volcanic glasses typically develop graphic textures; peperite is a typical rock formed by this process.

Graphic granite is a leucocratic granitic rock consisting of alkali feldspar with exsolved quartz typically forming a distinctive repetitive pattern sometimes resembling cuneiform writing. Experiments have shown that graphic granite texture is derived from large single crystals of quartz and feldspar interleaving to create the cuneiform illusion.[1]

Exsolved magnetite has graphic texture, as do some exsolution textures of pyroxene, pyrite feldspar and rarely other minerals.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fen, Philip M., 1986, On the Origin of Graphic Granite, American Mineralogist, Vol. 71, pp. 325-330

External links

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