Granite, Alkali Feldspar Granite, Granodiorite
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Transcript Granite, Alkali Feldspar Granite, Granodiorite
Intrusive Igneous Rocks, part 2
Granite, Alkali Feldspar Granite,
Granodiorite, Quartz Monzonite, and
Monzonite
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IUGS Intrusive Igneous Rock
Chart
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“Granite”
• Rocks in this lab are plutonic
They formed by very slow cooling and show
corresponding large crystals
Most of the rocks are medium to coarse grained
• These rocks are often collectively called “granite”
• When used in this sense, granite means any lightcolored, medium to coarse grained intrusive rock
containing quartz
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Granite Batholiths
• Granite batholiths are common and are often huge
• Examples include:
Sierra Nevada batholith
Idaho batholith (which extends into western Montana)
Coast Range Plutonic Complex of western British
Columbia
Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith of Alaska, among many
others
• All major batholith complexes are composite,
consisting of up to 100 or more discrete smaller
batholiths or stocks
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Geologic Environment and
Composition
• Major granitoid batholiths are found in a tectonic
environment similar to arc volcanic rocks
• However, they are restricted to continental crust
• When the underlying crust is basaltic (oceanic), the
plutons are more mafic, often dioritic
• When the underlying crust is thick and felsic
(continental), plutons are large and dominantly tonalite
to granodiorite to granite in composition
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Back Arc and Non-Arc
Environments
• Granitoid plutons also form in back-arc
environments such as the ash-flow-calderaring-dike complexes seen in the
southwestern United States
• Non-arc environments, such as the White
Mountain Magma Series of New
Hampshire, are also possible
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Time of emplacement
• Major batholith emplacement takes place over a
few tens of millions of years and is generally
temporally associated with folding (synorogenic)
• Regional metamorphism is commonly associated
with granitoid plutons, especially the major deepseated plutons
• Temporally, the more mafic batholiths are
generally earlier than the more felsic batholiths
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East vs. West
• Several major batholiths, including the SierraNevada and Idaho, are characteristically quartz
diorite or tonalite along their western boundaries,
with a rapid transition to granodiorite or granite in
the major part of the batholith and the eastern
boundary
• The western boundary rocks are also more mafic
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East vs. West Continued
• Western boundary rocks are emplaced in basaltic
to andesitic and related sedimentary rocks, or
rocks associated with oceanic to island-arc
environments
• The bulk of the batholith is more felsic, and is
emplaced in nonvolcanogenic rocks, primarily
metamorphosed shales and sandstones and
quartzofeldspathic basement rocks of old
continental crustal environments
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Quartz-Diorite Line
• J.G. Moore has suggested that a “quartz-diorite
line” exists in the batholiths of the Western U. S.
and Canada
Divides rocks of dominantly quartz diorite
composition on the oceanic side of the batholith from
the granodiorite to granite composition on the eastern
side of the batholith
The division is nearly complete in most
batholiths
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Granitic Magmas
• Granitic magmas often are formed by the
melting of sediments, and are quite felsic
• Granitic rock:
Essential minerals: quartz, K-spar, and
plagioclase feldspar, in varying proportions
Accessory minerals: Small amounts of biotite,
hornblende or other silicates may be present
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Pegmatite-Aplite Formation
• Granitic magmas are generally wet
• As crystallization proceeds, most of the water
remains in the magma
• Early formed minerals in the mafic branch of
Bowens reaction series are anhydrous
• The feldspar branches are also anhydrous
• Thus, much of the water in the original magma will
be concentrated in the “residual liquid”, the less than
10% or so of the liquid remaining after
crystallization nears completion
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Pegmatite Formation
• These very water-rich residual liquids are
much less viscous than the original magma
• Crystal size increases, often in the coarse to
very coarse range
• Resulting rock is a pegmatite
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Enrichment in Pegmatites
• Residual liquids are always enriched in
water, and often in other substances
Volatile substances, including carbon dioxide,
sodium, and potassium may be enriched
Very large cations, such as uranium, barium,
lead, etc. may be enriched
Very small cations with low charge, such as
lithium (+1) or beryllium (+2) may also be
enriched
Rare earth elements may also be enriched
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Pegmatite Enrichment Continued
• These elements are usually difficult to
accommodate in the major minerals of granitic
rocks
• They may form their own, generally rare, minerals
in the last stages of crystallization
• Sometimes the large cations will be present in a
K-spar host
• The presence of these unusual ions may make the
pegmatites ores
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Aplite Formation
• As residual-liquids approach the surface,
they often experience a rapid loss of
volatiles
• This results from an encounter with a
fracture or fault directly connected to the
surface
• Volatiles, especially water, separate and
may form a gas phase
• Gas phase pushes the liquid rapidly upward
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Aplite Formation, Continued
• Loss of volatiles:
Greatly increases viscosity
Lowers the temperature of the liquid due to the heat of
vaporization of the gas phase
Results in rapid crystallization of a very fine-grained,
felsic rock known as aplite
• Aplites are usually associated with the margins of
pegmatite intrusions, especially pegmatite dikes
which intersect the surface
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Granite
• Intrusive igneous, plutonic.
• Medium to coarse-grained
• Essential Minerals quartz, alkali feldspar,
plagioclase feldspar
• Q = 20% to 60% quartz,
• P/A+P = 10 to 65%
• Accessory minerals biotite, hornblende or
other silicates
• Name: From the Latin granum, meaning
grain.
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Granite Mineralogy
• K-spar may be orthoclase and/or microcline
• Plagioclase is sodic, either oligoclase or
andesine
• Quartz is almost always anhedral in granites
• Quartz grains often contain inclusions
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K-spar, Quartz in Granite
• Two of the essential minerals of granite
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Orthoclase Photomicrographs
• (Upper) Photomicrograph of
orthoclase in x-nicols showing
the interference colors (firstorder gray) - width of the field
of view is 5.5mm
• Photomicrograph of orthoclase
in pp
• This example is very clouded
(clay alteration) rather than
colorless - the width of the field
of view is 5.5mm
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Microcline photomicrographs
• (Upper) Microcline in CN showing
the characteristic
tartan (gridiron)twinning, and low
interference colors - width of the
field of view is 5.5mm
• (Lower) Microcline in PP showing
its lack of color, although this
sample is extremely clouded (clay
alteration) - width of the field of
view is 5.5mm
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Apatite Photomicrograph
• Photomicrograph in PP
showing large apatite end
section (indicated by
arrows)
• Note: hexagonal shape
• Greenish-brown
•Apatite is almost always present in phenocryst is hornblende
most igneous and metamorphic • Width of view is 0.85mm
rocks, but in small amounts
•Look closely at feldspar crystals
on medium to high power to find
apatite
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Perthites in Granite
• Alkali feldspar is commonly microcline
perthite (mixture of microcline and
plagioclase)
• In some perthites, the albite and K-feldspar
are completely separated, possibly due to
recrystallization
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Mafic Minerals in Granite
• Biotite is usually brown or brownish green
and often contains inclusions
• Hornblende is dark green and pleochroitic
• Biotite may form a reaction rim around the
hornblende
• If pyroxene (diopside) is present,
hornblende may form a rim around the
pyroxene
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Other Accessory Minerals
in Granite
• Muscovite may be present, often as patches
around the biotite
• Apatite may be present
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Foliation in Granite
• Many granites show primary flow foliation,
due to movement of magma before and
during the crystallization process
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Granite
• Location : Antinouri
Lake, New Brunswick.
• K-fieldspar (pink),
plagioclase (white),
quartz(grey) and biotite
(black).
• Texture: phaneritic
• Photo: M.L. Bevier
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Granite Photomicrograph
• Field of view 4 mm., CN
• Microcline shows gridiron
twinning
• Clear (white), anhedral
mineral is quartz
• Partially altered, smaller
grains are plagioclase
• Bright mineral in the upper
right is biotite
• Typical mineral assemblage
in granites
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Alkali Feldspar Granite
•
•
•
•
•
Intrusive igneous, plutonic
Medium to coarse-grained
Q = 20% to 60% quartz,
P/(A+P) ratio < 10
Small amounts of biotite, hornblende or
other silicates
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Alkali Feldspar Granite
Mineralogy
• The plagioclase is often albite or sodic
oligoclase
• K-spars are strongly perthitic or anorthoclase
• Biotite, if present, is iron-rich
• Amphiboles include hastingsite, arfvedsonite,
or riebeckite
• Pyroxenes include aegirine-augite or aegirine
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Granodiorite
•
•
•
•
Intrusive igneous, plutonic.
Q = 20-60% quartz
P/(A+P) is between 65-90%
Accessory minerals hornblende or biotite
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Granodiorite Mineralogy
• The plagioclase is typically andesine or oligoclase,
often zoned
• Zoning may be oscillatory - thin shells with abrupt
borders, alternating in composition
• Plagioclase is euhedral to subhedral, rectangular in
form, with borders corroded by quartz and alkali
feldspar
• The alkali feldspar is often orthoclase or
orthoclase perthite, but may be microcline
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Granodiorite photo
• Location : Yosemite
National Park California
USA
• Photo: M.L. Bevier
• Mafic schlieren in the
Cathedral Peak
granodiorite, Cretaceous
Tuolumne Intrusive
Complex.
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Schlieren
• Tabular bodies, generally a few inches to tens
of feet long, that occur in plutonic rocks
• Same general mineralogy as the plutonic rocks
Because of differences in mineral ratios they are
darker or lighter
Boundaries with the rock tend to be transitional
• Some schlieren are modified inclusions, others
may be segregations of minerals
• Etymol: German for a flaw in glass due to a
zone of abnormal composition
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Granodiorite Hand Specimen
• Location : Tombstone
Plutonic Complex, Pukelman
Stock, Clear Creek District,
Yukon Territories
• Photo: James Lang
• K-feldspar megacrystic
granodiorite
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Granodiorite Photomicrograph
• Field of view 4 mm across.
• Highly twinned mineral is
plagioclase
• Clear, untwinned, white to
pale yellow mineral is quartz
• Orthoclase is the grain in the
upper left corner
• Hornblende grain (with high
relief) is in the upper right
corner.
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Mafic Mineralogy of
Granodiorite
• Hornblende is the most common mafic
mineral, followed by biotite
• Hornblende may occur in prisms or in
ragged plates
• Pyroxene is rare
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Monzonite
• Intrusive igneous, plutonic
• The feldspar in these rocks is between ⅓
and ⅔ microcline or orthoclase, with the
remainder being plagioclase
• P/(A+P) is 35-65
• Q = 0-5
• The name is for Monzoni in the Tyrolean
Alps
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Monzonite Mineralogy
• Plagioclase is sodic
• Zoning of the plagioclase is fairly common best developed when monzonite occurs in
stocks or on the borders of batholiths.
• Mafic minerals usually comprise 10-40% of the
rock and are generally biotite, hornblende,
and/or pyroxene (generally augite)
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Monzonite Photomicrograph
• Subhedral clinopyroxene,
anhedral biotite and
moderately sericitized
plagioclase form a nearly
equigranular texture
containing an interstitial
Location: Ann Property,
groundmass of K-Feldspar
near Lac La Hache, B.C.
and minor albite
• Opaques are magnetite
Photo: Robin Whiteaker • Field of view is 5 mm
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Quartz Monzonite
• Intrusive igneous, plutonic.
• The feldspar in these rocks is between ⅓
and ⅔ microcline or orthoclase, with the
remainder being plagioclase
• P/(A+P) is 35-65
• Q = 5-20 quartz.
• An alternative name is adamellite
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Quartz Monzonite Mineralogy
• Plagioclase is sodic
• The mafic minerals are generally biotite,
hornblende, and/or pyroxene (generally
augite)
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Quartz Monzonite
Photomicrograph
• Location : Crested Butte,
Colorado (Crested Butte
quartz monzonite porphyry. )
• Photo M.L. Bevier
• Biotite phenocrysts
• Resorbed quartz crystals.
• Width of view is 3.2mm
• Texture: porphyro - aphanitic.
• Upper photo, CN; lower, PP
44
Quartz Monzonite
Photomicrograph
• Quartz monzonite is a rather
abundant rock type in many
orogenic areas
• Albite twinned plagiocase
• Bright white perthite
• Clear quartz
• Minor biotite.
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Pegmatite
• Intrusive igneous, hypabyssal and
diaschistic
• An exceptionally coarse grained rock,
generally of granitic composition
• Grain size is often very uneven
• The name is from the Greek pegma,
meaning framework
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Diaschistic
• Said of the rock of a minor intrusion that
consists of a differentiate, i.e. its
composition is not the same as that of the
parent magma
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Pegmatite Mineralogy
• Composition is quite variable
• May consist exclusively of quartz and K-spar, or
may include many accessory minerals
• Possible accessory minerals include rare minerals
with the following ions: beryllium, boron,
chlorine, fluorine, lithium, molybdenum, niobium,
phosphorous, sulfur, tantalum, tin, tungsten,
uranium, zirconium, and the rare earth elements
48
Alternative Pegmatite
Composition
• Although generally of granitic composition,
pegmatite facies of many other plutonic
rocks are known
• The name of the other rock type is than used
as an adjective, i.e. ijolite pegmatite
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Pegmatite Occurrence
• Found in tabular dikes, lenses, or veins
• Pegmatites commonly form at the margins
of batholiths and represent the last, most
hydrous portions of the magma to
crystallize
• Pegmatites may grade rapidly into aplites if
the volatiles are lost
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Pegmatite and Aplite Photo
• Location : Phuket,
Thailand
• Photo: Fletcher and
Baylis
• Pegmatite and aplite
dikes in granite
51
Pegmatite in Gneiss
• Location : Painted
Wall, Black Canyon of
the Gunnison River,
Colorado
• Photo: M.L. Bevier
• Pegmatites intruding
Precambrian gneiss
• This location will be visited on SFC 2012
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Aplite
• Intrusive igneous, hypabyssal and
diaschistic
• Light-colored hypabyssal igneous rock
characterized by fine, anhedral grains
• Colors include white, cream, yellow,
reddish, or gray
• Term is derived from a Greek haploos,
simple, referring to the simple composition.
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Aplite Composition
• The term "aplite' used without modifier,
generally means a rock similar in
composition to granite, with the essential
minerals being quartz, K-feldspar, and sodic
plagioclase
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Aplite Composition, Continued
• However, the term "aplite" is sometimes
used to represent fine-grained igneous rocks
phases whose composition ranges from
granitic to gabbroic
• Rock names are usually used as adjectives,
i.e. gabbroic aplite
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Aplite Photo
• The thin pink (aplite) dike cuts
across or intrudes the other two
rocks, hence it is the youngest of
the three units present
• The black (basaltic) rocks are
also dikes, intruding the granite,
which must then be the oldest
unit
Location : Pender
• The evidence for this is given by
Harbour, Southwest BC
a small inclusion of the granite
Photo: C.A. Giovanella
enclosed in the basalt, visible
just below the cord at left portion
of photo.
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Association with Pegmatite
• Aplites are often associated with
pegmatites, either as border zones around
the pegmatite, or as aplitic dikes.
• Aplites form by the rapid loss of volatiles
from a late-stage water-rich magma
• Loss of volatiles causes a rapid
crystallization into many small crystals
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