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28 results

Page 1 of 2

  • 2 - Microstructures of Sedimentary Rocks

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    19 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018, pp 7-27

  • Summary

    Photomicrographs of quartz sandstones and volcanic sandstones reflect variations in fragment shape and sorting, as well as maturity, provenance and contrasts between cement and matrix. Pyroclastic sediments and glass shard devitrification are also illustrated and discussed, as are the effects of diagenesis. The chapter concludes with biogenic and chemical sedimentary rocks.

  • 4 - Microstructures of Metamorphic Rocks

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    19 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018, pp 135-227

  • Summary

    Microstructures of metamorphic rocks reflect metamorphic reactions, as well as minimization of interfacial free energy, leading to the formation of polygonal aggregates, rounded inclusion shapes and idioblastic crystals, depending on the degree of crystal anisotropy and the effect of fluids. Microstructures of some slowly cooled mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks also show evidence of reduction of interfacial free energy, but this effect is minimal in granitoids. Symplectic intergrowths, including myrmekite, are useful for inferring some metamorphic reactions. Similar intergrowths occur in oxide and sulphide minerals. Microstructural evidence is important for inferring metamorphic reactions, but requires care in interpretation. Evidence of parent rock-types can be seen in less deformed metamorphic rocks. Many metamorphic minerals show compositional zoning, as revealed especially by X-ray composition images. Microstructures formed at highest metamorphic temperatures commonly show evidence of partial melting, producing migmatites, some with magmatic microstructures. Melting can also occur in some sulphide rocks.

  • 3 - Microstructures of Igneous Rocks

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    19 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018, pp 28-134

  • Summary

    The wide variety of crystal shapes and sizes in magmatic rocks reflect nucleation and growth in liquid, leading to the formation of euhedral phenocrysts, dendrites, spherulitic aggregates, orbicular structure, aligned crystals and megacrysts, all of which are discussed, with empahsis on interpretative problems. Also discussed are order of crystallization, crystal aggregation, enclaves, magma mixing, intergrowths, vesiculation, twinning and zoning.

  • 5 - Microstructures of Deformed Rocks

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    19 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018, pp 228-352

  • Summary

    Interpretation of the microstructures of deformed rocks requires basic understanding of brittle and ductile deformation processes, recovery and recrystallization, effects of metamorphic reactions and the origin of foliations (slaty cleavge, crenulation cleavage, genissic layering, mylonitic structures), as well as fluid transfer and vein formation. Relationships between inclusion-bearing porphyroblasts and matrix microstructures can yield information on the timing of growth of metamorphic minerals relative to foliation-forming deformation events, provided care is taken with interpretations. Deformation assists extraction of melt from partly melted rocks (migmatites), which is reflected in rock structures.

A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
  • 2nd edition
  • Ron H. Vernon
  • Published online:
    19 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018
  • A clear understanding of the processes responsible for observed rock microstructures is essential for making reliable petrogenetic interpretations, including inferences made from chemical and isotopic analyses of minerals. This volume presents a comprehensive survey of rock microstructures, emphasising basic concepts and the latest methods, while highlighting potential pitfalls in the interpretation of the origin of rock microstructure. Richly illustrated with over 250 colour photographs, including more than 10 percent new photomicrographs and several mesoscopic images, it demonstrates the basic processes responsible for the wide variety of microstructures in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. This second edition includes extensive updates to the coverage of igneous rocks as well as recent ideas on physical processes in migmatites and partial melting of sedimentary rocks. This practical guide will continue to be an invaluable resource to advanced students and early-career researchers of mineralogy, petrology and structural geology, as well as professional geologists and material scientists.

A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
  • Ron H. Vernon
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    07 October 2004
  • Rock microstructures provide clues for the interpretation of rock history. A good understanding of the physical or structural relationships of minerals and rocks is essential for making the most of more detailed chemical and isotopic analyses of minerals. Ron Vernon discusses the basic processes responsible for the wide variety of microstructures in igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic and deformed rocks, using high-quality colour illustrations. He discusses potential complications of interpretation, emphasizing pitfalls, and focussing on the latest techniques and approaches. Opaque minerals (sulphides and oxides) are referred to where appropriate. The comprehensive list of relevant references will be useful for advanced students wishing to delve more deeply into problems of rock microstructure. Senior undergraduate and graduate students of mineralogy, petrology and structural geology will find this book essential reading, and it will also be of interest to students of materials science.

  • 5 - Microstructures of deformed rocks

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    07 October 2004, pp 295-474

  • Summary

    Rocks are commonly subjected to tectonic deformation, with the result that they undergo a change of shape (strain), producing deformed rocks known as tectonites. Knopf (1931, p. 7) translated the original definition of tectonites (Sander, 1911, 1930) as ‘metamorphic rocks deformed by differential movements that integrate into the tectonic movement as a whole’. In this definition, the word ‘metamorphic’ should be extended to include deformed rocks that undergo only small degrees of alteration. This involves rocks that many people would call ‘diagenetic’ (Section 2.2.7), there being a gradation between ‘burial metamorphism’ and diagenesis (see, for example, Vernon, 1976). The type and amount of strain depend on both the local directed pressure (non-hydrostatic stress; deviatoric stress) and the mechanical properties of the rock. The detailed, quantitative study of strain is a complex topic that is outside the scope of this book.

    The aims of structural geology are to infer the deformation conditions from the structures in the rocks, observed both in the field and with the microscope, and to relate the deformation to the timing and nature of metamorphism. These can be difficult and complicated problems, and much has been written on them. Therefore, I will not try to be comprehensive, but will emphasize the more petrologically related aspects of deformation-related microstructures and the processes by which they are formed.

  • 1 - Background

  • Ron H. Vernon, Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Book:
    A Practical Guide to Rock Microstructure
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    07 October 2004, pp 1-12

  • Summary

    Introduction

    I wrote this book to help you to interpret what you see when you look at thin and polished sections of rocks with the microscope. I say ‘help’, rather than ‘teach’, because I don't want to give the impression that every microstructure you see can be easily and unambiguously interpreted in terms of processes that produced the rock. Many can, but in many other instances, conventional interpretations are ambiguous or poorly understood. So I intend the book to be only a guide, and I present alternative ideas where appropriate. A healthy scepticism should be maintained when interpreting rock microstructures yourself and also when reading the interpretations of others

    History of the examination of rocks with the microscope

    Rocks in natural outcrops, in samples knocked off these outcrops and in drill cores, are beautiful and instructive. We can see different minerals, and identify many of them with the aid of a hand lens. We can also see some of the more obvious structures in the rocks. However, cutting a slice (section) though a rock with a diamond-impregnated circular saw and polishing the sawn surface shows us the various minerals alongside each other, rather than piled confusingly all around each other. This reveals the structure even more clearly, as can be seen in the polished facing slabs on many buildings and bench tops.

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