![]() ![]() ![]() The opening photo in this chapter is a close-up picture of a different olivine basalt – one that contains lots of vesicles.Īlthough we all know a rock when we see one, rocks vary greatly. The green olivine crystals are quite easily seen, but the glass is not. Petrology is important because it tells us about Earth history, it is the key to discovery and development of mineral resources, and because fundamental principles and lessons learned from petrology have applications in modern industry.ġ.1 Rocks 1.1 Olivine basalt, Cedar Canyon, Utahįigure 1.1 shows a glass-containing olivine basalt.Rocks and minerals may change between being igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.We commonly divide rocks into three classes: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks.Petrologic research involves examination of rocks in outcrops and hand samples, examining rocks using a petrographic microscope, and sometimes geochemistry.Petrography, a subdiscipline of petrology, deals specifically with the description and classification of rocks.It is a hybrid science that involves aspects of chemistry, mineralogy, physics, geological mapping, and sometimes biology. Petrologic research involves both field studies and laboratory studies.Petrology is the branch of geology concerned with the compositions, structures, and origins of rocks.Rocks are solid masses of naturally occurring geological and related materials of many sorts.Hawaiian basalt containing olivine crystals
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