P5 – Monzogabbro

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Rock
Macroscopic description:
Phaneritic rock made of randomly oriented large crystals. By naked eye, the rock appears
to be chiefly composed of feldspar (grains with a milky white aspect) and mafic minerals
(grains with a pale to dark green colour). The few small black grains with a sparkly effect

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are mica. The rock sample comes from the Mt Monzoni intrusion (see the P3 monzonite
for geological details).

Thin section description: 

The photomicrographs show a field chiefly made of colourless minerals with a dusty
aspect. These minerals are plagioclase (Pl) and alkali feldspar (Afs) slightly altered to
sericite. The distinction between Pl and Afs is not easy in the PPL view, but it can be
made in the XPL view because the Afs shows no multiple twinning, whereas most of the
Pl are multiple twinned (e.g., Pl (2)). Care must be taken not to confuse the (010) faces of
Pl with Afs faces. Indeed, the former show no twinning and these faces can be identified
in the XPL view only if they exhibit zoning (zoning is common in Pl mineral as it belongs
to a continuous solid solution series). The Pl (1) crystal is an example of (010) face that
also exhibits a discontinuous zoning.

The mafic minerals of the rock can be identified by the following characteristics: biotite
(Bt), pale to dark brown colours in the view under PPL; clinopyroxene (Cpx), easily
recognised in the XPL view when the crystals show high (blue second-order) interference
colours and/or twinning; amphibole (Amp), recognised in the PPL view for the pale green
colour. The black areas in the PPL view are occupied by opaque minerals (Opq).

thin section PPL thin section XPL

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Map

PPL

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XPL

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Info

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Place: Mt Monzoni (Dolomiti)

Classification: monzonite

Specimen n°: P5

Guarda anche:

DI-VC Monzodiorite

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S-B- syenite

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