Latite

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Latite
Volcanic rock
Latit - Boxberg, Hocheifel.jpg
Photomicrograph of thin section of latite (in plane polarised light) Latite nicol parallei.jpg
Photomicrograph of thin section of latite (in plane polarised light)
Photomicrograph of thin section of latite (in cross polarised light) Latite nicol incrociati.gif
Photomicrograph of thin section of latite (in cross polarised light)

Latite is an igneous, volcanic rock, with aphanitic-aphyric to aphyric-porphyritic texture. It is the volcanic equivalent of monzonite. Its mineral assemblage is usually alkali feldspar and plagioclase in approximately equal amounts. Quartz is less than five percent and is absent in a feldspathoid-bearing latite, and olivine is absent in a quartz-bearing latite. When quartz content is greater than five percent the rock is classified as quartz latite. [1] Biotite, hornblende, pyroxene and scarce olivine or quartz are common accessory minerals. Feldspathoid-bearing latite is sometimes referred to as tristanite. [2]

Rhomb porphyries are an unusual variety with gray-white porphyritic rhomb shaped phenocrysts embedded in a very fine grained red-brown matrix. The composition of rhomb porphyry places it in the trachyte - latite classification of the QAPF diagram.

Latite is found, for example, as lavas in Bulgaria [3] and as intrusive laccoliths and sills in South Dakota, USA. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabbro</span> Coarse-grained mafic intrusive rock

Gabbro is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is chemically equivalent to rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt. Much of the Earth's oceanic crust is made of gabbro, formed at mid-ocean ridges. Gabbro is also found as plutons associated with continental volcanism. Due to its variant nature, the term gabbro may be applied loosely to a wide range of intrusive rocks, many of which are merely "gabbroic". By rough analogy, gabbro is to basalt as granite is to rhyolite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trachyte</span> Extrusive igneous rock

Trachyte is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and alkali metals. It is the volcanic equivalent of syenite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonolite</span> Uncommon extrusive rock

Phonolite is an uncommon shallow intrusive or extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous rock trachyte that contains nepheline or leucite rather than quartz. It has an unusually high (12% or more) Na2O + K2O content, defining its position in the TAS classification of igneous rocks. Its coarse grained (phaneritic) intrusive equivalent is nepheline syenite. Phonolite is typically fine grained and compact. The name phonolite comes from the Ancient Greek meaning "sounding stone" due to the metallic sound it produces if an unfractured plate is hit; hence, the English name clinkstone is given as a synonym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tephrite</span> Igneous, volcanic rock

Tephrite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. Mineral content is usually abundant feldspathoids, plagioclase, and lesser alkali feldspar. Pyroxenes (clinopyroxenes) are common accessory minerals. Quartz and olivine are absent. Occurrences include leucite nepheline tephrite from Hamberg bei Neckarelz near Heidelberg, Germany, phonolite-tephrite at Monte Vulture, Basilicata, Italy and basanite–tephrite intrusions in Namibia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basanite</span> Type of volcanic rock

Basanite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is composed mostly of feldspathoids, pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase and forms from magma low in silica and enriched in alkali metal oxides that solidifies rapidly close to the Earth's surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porphyry (geology)</span> Textural form of igneous rock with large grained crystals in a fine matrix

Porphyry is any of various granites or igneous rocks with coarse-grained crystals such as feldspar or quartz dispersed in a fine-grained silicate-rich, generally aphanitic matrix or groundmass. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term porphyry usually refers to the purple-red form of this stone, valued for its appearance, but other colours of decorative porphyry are also used such as "green", "black" and "grey".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porphyritic</span> Igneous rock with large and small crystals

Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning all types of igneous rocks can display some degree of porphyritic texture. Most porphyritic rocks have bimodal size ranges, meaning the rock is composed of two distinct sizes of crystal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic rock</span> Rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano

Volcanic rocks are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and metamorphic rocks and constitute an important element of some sediments and sedimentary rocks. For these reasons, in geology, volcanics and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the term "volcanic" is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks. Volcanic rocks and sediment that form from magma erupted into the air are called "pyroclastics," and these are also technically sedimentary rocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nephelinite</span> Igneous rock made up almost entirely of nepheline and clinopyroxene

Nephelinite is a fine-grained or aphanitic igneous rock made up almost entirely of nepheline and clinopyroxene. If olivine is present, the rock may be classified as an olivine nephelinite. Nephelinite is dark in color and may resemble basalt in hand specimen. However, basalt consists mostly of clinopyroxene (augite) and calcic plagioclase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepheline syenite</span> Holocrystalline plutonic rock

Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varieties are also known. Phonolite is the fine-grained extrusive equivalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diorite</span> Igneous rock type

Diorite is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silica (mafic) gabbro and high-silica (felsic) granite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenocryst</span> Crystal larger than the rock grains that surround it in an igneous rock

A phenocryst is an early forming, relatively large and usually conspicuous crystal distinctly larger than the grains of the rock groundmass of an igneous rock. Such rocks that have a distinct difference in the size of the crystals are called porphyries, and the adjective porphyritic is used to describe them. Phenocrysts often have euhedral forms, either due to early growth within a magma, or by post-emplacement recrystallization. Normally the term phenocryst is not used unless the crystals are directly observable, which is sometimes stated as greater than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) in diameter. Phenocrysts below this level, but still larger than the groundmass crystals, are termed microphenocrysts. Very large phenocrysts are termed megaphenocrysts. Some rocks contain both microphenocrysts and megaphenocrysts. In metamorphic rocks, crystals similar to phenocrysts are called porphyroblasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quartz monzonite</span> Type of igneous rock

Quartz monzonite is an intrusive, felsic, igneous rock that has an approximately equal proportion of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars. It is typically a light colored phaneritic (coarse-grained) to porphyritic granitic rock. The plagioclase is typically intermediate to sodic in composition, andesine to oligoclase. Quartz is present in significant amounts. Biotite and/or hornblende constitute the dark minerals. Because of its coloring, it is often confused with granite, but whereas granite contains more than 20% quartz, quartz monzonite is only 5–20% quartz. Rock with less than five percent quartz is classified as monzonite. A rock with more alkali feldspar is a syenite whereas one with more plagioclase is a quartz diorite. The fine grained volcanic rock equivalent of quartz monzonite is quartz latite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intrusive rock</span> Magmatic rock formed below the surface

Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form intrusions, such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamprophyre</span> Ultrapotassic igneous rocks

Lamprophyres are uncommon, small-volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks, and small intrusions. They are alkaline silica-undersaturated mafic or ultramafic rocks with high magnesium oxide, >3% potassium oxide, high sodium oxide, and high nickel and chromium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QAPF diagram</span> Classification system for igneous rocks

A QAPF diagram is a doubled-triangle plot diagram used to classify intrusive igneous rocks based on their mineralogy. The acronym QAPF stands for "Quartz, Alkali feldspar, Plagioclase, Feldspathoid (Foid)", which are the four mineral groups used for classification in a QAPF diagram. The percentages (ratios) of the Q, A, P and F groups are normalized, i.e., recalculated so that their sum is 100%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monzonite</span> Igneous intrusive rock with low quartz and equal plagioclase and alkali feldspar

Monzonite is an igneous intrusive rock, formed by slow cooling of underground magma that has a moderate silica content and is enriched in alkali metal oxides. Monzonite is composed mostly of plagioclase and alkali feldspar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igneous rock</span> Rock formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava

Igneous rock, or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trachybasalt</span> Volcanic rock

Trachybasalt is a volcanic rock with a composition between trachyte and basalt. It resembles basalt but has a high content of alkali metal oxides. Minerals in trachybasalt include alkali feldspar, calcic plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and likely very small amounts of leucite or analcime.

References

  1. Classification of Igneous Rocks Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Philpotts, Anthony R.; Ague, Jay J. (2009). Principles of igneous and metamorphic petrology (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 140-141. ISBN   9780521880060.
  3. Georgiev, V.; Milovanov, P. (2001). "Volcanism in the Momchilgrad Volcanotectonic Depression". Comptes rendus de l'Académie bulgare des Sciences. 54 (3): 63–66. Bibcode:2001CRABS..54c..63G. Retrieved on 5 July 2015.
  4. "Latitic Intrusive Rocks". USGS . Retrieved 5 July 2015.