Trachyte

• IGNEOUS ROCKS

Trachyte is a extrusive igneous rock that light coloured is

composed mostly of alkali feldspar with minor amount of dark
coloured minerals such as biotite, amphibole, or pyroxene.
Trachyte is the volcanic equivalent of rock Syenite. Generally
trachytes show porphyritic texture in which abundant, large,
well-formed crystals (phenocrysts) of early generation are
embedded in a very fine-grained matrix (groundmass). The
phenocrysts are usually sanidine, a glassy potash feldspar
commonly rich in sodium, and may range up to two to five
centimetres (one to two inches) across; smaller phenocrysts of
other minerals may also occur. Rapid cooling and solidification
of trachytic lava produces the fine texture of the groundmass,
and cooling may be so rapid locally that small quantities of
glass are formed.

Trachyte is associated with other lavas in volcanic regions and

it have been formed by the crystallization and abstraction of
iron, magnesium, and calcium minerals from a parent basaltic
lava.

Volcanic Equivalent : Syenite

Group: volcanic.

Colour: variable but often light coloured, generally light

coloured phenocrysts.

Texture: Usually porphyritic (can be trachytic), sometimes

aphanitic.

Mineral Content: Orthoclase phenocrysts in a groundmass of

orthoclase with minor plagioclase,biotite,
hornblende, augite etc..

Silica (SiO 2) content – 60%-65%.

Trachytic Texture
Trachytic is an extruded rock texture composed of small
tabular crystals consisting of micoid microliths, in which the
mass of the soil contains a small amount of volcanic glass. The
microliths are parallel, creating flow lines around the lava flow
direction and flows. Trachytic texture occurs in alkaline rich
rocks; therefore, the vitreous mass of the rocks has a relatively
low viscosity.
Trachytic texture is especially characteristic of trachytes and
rocks similar to trachytes. Trachytic textures are often
attributed to flow orientation, however, there is little evidence
to support this. Macroscopic trachytic textures visible with the
naked eye are sometimes called trachytoid textures.

Classification
QAPF diagram as a means to visualize and memorize the
classification of igneous rocks based on their content of the
minerals quartz, alkali-feldspar, plagioclase, and foids.

Foid-bearing-trachyte appears in field 7′ in the QAPF Diagram

Chemical Composition of Trachyte

Chemically, trachyte contains 60 to 65% silica content; less
SiO2 than rhyolite and more (Na2O plus K2O) than dacite.
These chemical differences are consistent with the position of
trachyte in the TAS classification, and they account for the
feldspar-rich mineralogy of the rock type.

Formation of the Rock

Trachyte is probably a product of magmatic differentiation. Its
parent magma was perhaps basaltic but it evolved (its
composition became enriched in alkalies and silica) by the
removal of mafic minerals. It may be associated with phonolite,
latite, rhyolite, etc. which means that the same volcano has
extruded magmas with slightly different composition. Trachyte
is not necessarily volcanic in the strict sense. It may also form
underground but still relatively close to the surface because its
grain size is fine. Coarse-grained rocks with a trachytic
composition are know as syenites as said before. Magma with a
trachytic composition may also solidify as obsidian or pumice.
Where is It Located
Trachytes are well represented among the Cenozoic volcanic
rocks of Europe. In Britain they occur in Skye as lava flows and
as dikes or intrusions, but they are much more common on the
continent of Europe, as in the Rhine district and the Eifel, also
in Auvergne, Bohemia and the Euganean Hills. In the
neighborhood of Rome, Naples and the island of Ischia
trachytic lavas and tuffs are of common occurrence. Trachytes
are also found on the island of Pantelleria. In the United States,
trachytes crop out extensively in the Davis Mountains, Chisos
Mountains, and Big Bend Ranch State Park in the Big Bend
(Texas) region, as well as southern Nevada and South Dakota
(Black Hills). There is one known voluminous flow from Pu’u
Wa’awa’a on the north flank of Hualalai in Hawaii. In Iceland,
the Azores, Tenerife and Ascension there are recent trachytic
lavas, and rocks of this kind occur also in New South Wales
(Cambewarra Range), Queensland (Main Range), East Africa,
Madagascar, Yemen and in many other districts.

Uses of The Rock

• Decorative Aggregates, Flooring, Homes, Interior Decoration
• As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Paving Stone, Garden
Decoration, Office Buildings
• Curbing
• As Dimension Stone, Building houses or walls, Cement Manufacture,
Construction Aggregate, for Road Aggregate, Landscaping, Making
natural cement, Manufacture of Magnesium and Dolomite Refractories
• Artifacts, Monuments, Sculpture, Small Figurines
• Cemetery Markers, Creating Artwork
References
Bonewitz, R. (2012). Rocks and minerals. 2nd ed. London: DK
Publishing.

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, January 20). Trachyte.

In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:54, April 11,
2019,
from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trachyte&oldi
d=879352410