24 October 2016
GIGAmacro views of komatiite
Posted by Callan Bentley
Erik Klemetti posted today at Eruptions about komatiite, which is apropos, considering I just finished imaging some samples of that ultramafic volcanic rock. Have a look at three samples from Barberton Greenstone Belt here, each from the 3.27 Ga Weltevreden Formation:
Link GigaPan by Callan Bentley
Link GigaPan by Callan Bentley
Link GigaPan by Callan Bentley
And, while we’re at it, here’s one from the Red Lake Greenstone Belt (~3.0 Ga) in northwestern Ontario (sample courtesy of McGill’s Christie Rowe):
Link GigaPan by Callan Bentley
Explore that spinifex texture to your heart’s content – jagged olivine ‘chandeliers’ hanging down off the roof of the flow into its interior.
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.