Textures and structures

of igneous rocks

Crystal development
euhedral: grains bounded by its own
perfect to near-perfect crystal growth
faces
subhedral: partly bound by its own
growth faces, or growth faces only
moderately well developed
anhedral: irregular; little or no
evidence for its own growth faces

Euhedral crystals of garnet in a

metamorphic rock

Subhedral augite

Anhedral garnet grain and

biotite flakes in augite-biotite
granite

Crystalinity
Igneous rocks range in crystalinity from
entirely crystals to entirely glass.
Holocrystalline:
Rock
completely
composed of crystals (mineral grains).
Hypocrystalline: mostly crystals, but some
glass in the rock.
Hypohyaline: Mostly glass, but some
crystals in the rock.
Holohyaline: made completely of glass
(obsidian)

Grain size
aphanitic: grains too small to see without
a microscope, but rock isnt glassy
phaneritic: grains visible with the
unaided eye
fine grained: < 1 mm (average long dimension
of grains)
medium grained: 1 mm: 5 mm
coarse grained: 5 mm: 3 cm
very coarse grained = pegmatitic: > 3 cm

 Granular texture- A term equal to

phaneritic and used as follows:
equigranular: most of the grains
are approximately equal in size
Inequigranular:
grains
of
significantly different sizes
seriate: smooth variation in grain
size from small to large

 Porphyritic texture: Rock has two distinct

grain sizes. Large grains are phenocrysts
and small grains make up the matrix or
groundmass. Matrix may be phaneritic,
aphanitic or glassy
Vitrophyric- Special term used for porphyric
rocks with a glassy matrix.
Poikilitic : Special term for porphyritic rocks
containing phenocrysts with many smaller
mineral inclusions.
Ophitic : Special term used for porphyritic rocks
containing pyroxene (augite) phenocrysts with
randomly oriented grains of tabular plagioclase
feldspar

Exolution of gas
Magma is composed of melted minerals
and dissolved gas. Reduced confining
pressure allows magma/lava to boil.
This
boiling
causes
some
kind
of
vesiculation:
Vesicular texture- Gas caviitites make up
less than 50% of the rock. A vesicle is a
single gas cavity.
Pipe vesicles- Tube-like elongate vesicles
that result from rising gases

 Amygdular- Vesicles are infilled

with younger minerals. The filling is
called an Amygdule and is composed
of quartz, opal, chalcedony and or
zeolite minerals
Trachytic- Special flowage structure
involving small Alkali feldspar grains
in Syenetic rocks.
Diktyataxitic- Containing vesicles
into which microphenocrysts
protrude

Intergrowth textures
Graphic- an intergrowth of quartz and
K-feldspar in which the quartz forms a
crystallographically-controlled networks;
- the rock shows angular wedge-like
forms. Usually occurs with quartz in
microcline
Micrographic (granophyric)- graphic
but only visible in microscope

 Symplectite- A replacement texture

in which a mineral is replaced by an
intergrowth of one or more minerals.
Myrmekitic- Is defined by wormy
(rounded) intergrowths oquartzand Kfeldspar
inplagioclase
which
is
adjacent to K-feldspar. Probably forms
as a result of subsolidus exchange at
the
contact
of
K-feldspar
and
plagioclase

 Ophitic- hypidiomorphic granular with

euhedral plagioclase enclosed within
anhedral augite
Subophitic: like ophitic, but augites
only partly enclose the plagioclase
Intergranular:euhedral plagioclase
surrounded by finer grains of augite

Reaction textures
Poikitic-smaller grains of one mineral are
completely enclosed in large, optically
continuous grains of another mineral.
Corona- a crystal of one mineral is
surrounded by a rim, or mantle of one or
more crystals of another mineral.
Kelyphitic- a fine-grained, fibrous intergrowth
of multiple phases such as pyroxene, spinel
and amphibole, typically developed forming a
rim (or a corona) surrounding garnet.

 Sieve texture in corroded, partially resorbed

plagioclase corses.
It is thought that this texture may be formed in at least
two ways:
- If a plagioclase crystal is placed into a magma in
which it is not in equilibrium (by magma mixing), it
will become corroded, and melt will penetrate into
the crystal structure. The crystal may also become
rounded by partial resorption. New plagioclase of a
different composition will precipitate from the
magma and perhaps form a rim around the corroded
core.
-Alternatively, the same effects could possibly be
produced by volatile-loss from decompression as a
magma rises to shallower regions in the crust.

Sieve texture