Atlas of igneous rocks and their textures W.S. MacKenzie, C.H. Donaldson & C. Guilford4 Pyroxenite An sltrsmatc rock consisting mainly of pyeoxends) Possible accesory minerals nce olivine, spel, get Hombsnde, bot, Fespar, and nehlne. A rook son sistingor bh orthopyroxene andclitopyroxeneiskaown eaebsere. I segerine-aupts o nephelne preset term all pyroxene se “The sample ikstraed bere i, strictly speaking, webster and shows round. orthopyroxene crys ‘Reognized by thew fo st order colours and a amet SSructure, polly enclosed by a large zoned ino prone crystal showing blue and red interference cole fs A fe aes of Toe eli sce nthe vow i PPL ae tube plagioclase AL the bottom Ie isa hole inthe sie ‘Aslght ference in colors ofthe orthopyroxene crystals aie scent the PPL view and thins ey det stay Polarization in the photographic equipment Wobsterve from the Stillwater complex, Montana, USA ‘magnification «7, PPL and XPLUteabasic rocks ns Komatiite This has been define as a ultramafis volcanic rok with ‘more than 18° MgO, While the rock lacks plagioclase it isrich in magnesian olivine and clinopyroxene erytals set in devitrified plas. though theolivineisusallyal bt com: pletely serpentinized. ‘The term “spinfen textures” his ‘een used to describe parallel and radiate arrangements ‘of elongate olivines and pyroxenes common in komalites ‘These textures imply rapid erystallization from an ult sate Higui The photomicrographs were made from a large thin section (ISem by Gem) in which pretdomorphs afer olivine eryials are up to 10cm in lengths. In the PPL sew the long colourless shapes were originally ovines but are now completely replaced by serpentine. Ia thin section the ovine crystals appear to be acicular in habit ba in fact are eross sections of thinly tabular crystals stacked parallel to one another. The browa maternal (PPL. view) was mainly clinopyroxene and lass, thoush the slinopyroxene has been replaced by chlorite and tremolite ar tale, and the glass replaced by chlorite Komative from Muviro Tosnship, Ontario: magnification XS PPL and NPL