File:Sodalite-aegirine-albite Pegmatite, Ice River Complex BC.jpg
Here’s an unusual rock that represents a cavity-filling in a pegmatitic syenite. The syenite host rock is dominated by large, whitish albite crystals (= sodium plagioclase feldspar, NaAlSi3O8) (see left & right edges of photo). The cavity fill has nice, large, bluish sodalite crystals (= sodium chloro-aluminosilicate, Na8(AlSiO4)6Cl2)). Surrounding each sodalite is a radiating spray of very dark green needles of aegirine pyroxene (= sodium iron silicate, NaFeSi2O6).
The rock comes from southeastern British Columbia’s Ice River Complex. The Ice River is an 18-kilometer long, 29-square kilometer, backward J-shaped alkaline igneous intrusion emplaced in Cambro-Ordovician passive-margin limestones and shales.
Age: ~356 million years (Tournaisian Stage, Early Mississippian)Licensing
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by jsj1771 at https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/15003852812. It was reviewed on 24 August 2014 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |