Minerals in rock thin

sections
Rock thin sections
 Rock thin sections are slices of rock glued onto microscope slides
and polished until they are about 30μm thick (about the thickness
of human hair).

Polarising light microscope

 The microscope used to study minerals in rock thin sections.
 The main feature of a polarizing light microscope is that it has two
polarising filters called the polariser and analyser.
 The polariser (mounted below the thin section) is adjusted so that
the light passing through it only vibrates in the E-W plane. The
analyser (mounted above the thin section) only allows light to
vibrate in the N-S direction.
Minerals in rock thin sections
 Optical properties of minerals can be observed in either plane polarised light
(using only the polariser) or under crossed polars (using both polarising filters).
The main optical properties are shown in the table below:

In plane polarised light (PPL) Under crossed polars (XPL)

 Colour/Pleochroism  Birefringence* & interference colour*

 Shape/habit  Extinction angle
 Relief  Twinning
 Cleavage
 Fracture

Table: Diagnostic properties of minerals viewed with the polarising light microscope
*Birefringence
The difference between refractive indices shown by an anisotropic mineral. It varies with orientation.
The maximum birefringence is a characteristic of different minerals.
n.b. Anisotropic minerals are all minerals except those of the cubic crystal system.

*Interference colour
The colour of anisotropic minerals seen in
XPL. This colour depends on the
birefringence of the mineral (radiating lines)
and thickness of the section (horizontal lines)
- as shown on the Michel-Lévy colour chart.
This chart helps you to identify a mineral.
E.g., quartz has a birefringence of +0.009
and at 30 microns thick has a grey
interference colour. If the quartz is a little
thicker than 30 microns, then its interference
colour becomes yellow. This property of
quartz is used to check the thickness of a
thin section.
 ‘Polarising light microscope’ shows the
Minerals in rock thin main parts of the type of microscope used
to study minerals in rock thin sections.
sections Find out more about the optical properties
of minerals in rock thin sections by visiting
the GeoHubLiverpool website where there
are video clips showing the optical
properties of minerals in six rock thin
sections. The thin sections covering a range
of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary
rocks were chosen to show the diagnostic
properties of 10 of the main rock-forming
minerals as seen under a polarising light
microscope.