Inorganics

Id Identification Type Name Description Distinguishing Features Tags
13 Mineral Palagonite Yellow or yellowish brown, amorphous to weakly birefringent, heterogeneous material forming through low-temperature hydration and elemental alteration of basaltic volcanic glass. Further alteration of palagonite produces zeolite minerals and smectite clays.

Palagonitized grains may retain glass shard forms. Association with unaltered volcanic glass and other volcanigenic sediment components such as pyroxenes and plagioclase feldspar.
164 Lithofacies Peat Lithofacies referring to a sediment consisting of >80% authigenically produced organic matter.

High proportion of organic matter to mineral grains. Organic material may be coarsely fragmentary, or degraded.
organic-matter
fibrous
fragmentary
bryophyte
woody
52 Mineral Phillipsite Prismatic, very often as cruciform (cross-shaped) twins or rosettes, colorless with low-moderate relief and low-order birefringence. Phillipsite is a zeolite-family mineral typically formed through alteration of mafic volcanic rocks or tephras, and may be found in association with other zeolites, especially in saline lake or marine sediments. zeolite
111 Mineral Pirssonite Colorless, prismatic or tabular, with high-order birefringence and moderate relief. Pirssonite is a hydrous Mg-Ca carbonate mineral found in evaporative environments in association with other saline indicators.
54 Mineral Plagioclase Plagioclase is a term for feldspars in the Na-Ca solid solution series. Without twinning patterns, there is no way to tell a difference between Na-Ca feldspars and K-feldspars (microcline and orthoclase). lamellar-twinning
low-birefringence
silicate
149 Contaminant Polycarb Large Fragment contaminant
150 Contaminant Polycarb Small Fragment contaminant
5 Mineral Pyrite Opaque (black). Yellow in reflected light. Pleochroism and birefringence not applicable. Euhedral, framboidal, space-filling shapes. May coat or replace organic matter. Occurs in organic-rich or reduced sediments. Common in lacustrine, wetland, estuarine, and marine environments. Opaque
euhedral
Cubic
Octahedral
Framboidal
sulfide
138 Mineral Pyroxene A class of aluminosilicate minerals, many of them iron and/or magnesium-bearing, having wide distribution in igneous and metamorphic rocks and occurring commonly as minor but often prominent constituents in sedimentary environments. In smear slides, Mg-Fe pyroxenes are typically shades of green or brown (depending on mineral species) in plane-polarized light, often display moderate to strong pleochroism, and show moderate birefringence in cross-polarized light. Extinction can be either parallel (minerals in the orthopyroxene class) or inclined (clinopyroxene minerals). Pyroxene minerals have relatively high specific gravity, and will tend to concentrate with other heavy mineral species in winnowed or density-sorted depositional environments. silicate

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