micROCKScopica - Symplectite in Granulite
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micROCKScopica - Symplectite in Granulite

by Bernardo Cesare, Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Polarized light photomicrograph of a thin section of granulite from Manitoba, Canada.
The subject is an intricate "symplectic" intergrowth of pyroxene (pink and blue) and plagioclase (light gray) in a mafic granulite from N. Manitoba, Canada. The coherent distribution of colors, indicating optical continuity, shows that this pattern is actually provided by a few crystal of pyroxene and one of plagioclase intimately compenetrated. These minerals formed by replacement of a preexisting crystal of garnet. (Sample courtesy of Martha Growdon, Indiana University.)

Finalist in the EGU Photo Competition 2014