#olviine

[earthstory]

bluemorphophoto This is what a thin slice of gabbro (a type volcanic rock) looks like under a polarising microscope. Many of the minerals that make up rocks have distinctive properties and these properties can help geologists identify the composition of rocks. When viewed in plane polarised light, many of the common minerals look colourless. However, in crossed polarised light, many minerals exhibit fantastic interference colours and unique properties. The black and white striped minerals here are plagioclase feldspar and they are exhibiting a property called lamellar twinning (the stripes). The bright blue and pink mineral is olivine. :) So much to discover. :)