#rocksarebeautiful

[luna-and-mars]

Agates from Brazil under a microscope (field of view around 2-3 mm).

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

Rocks are beautiful part 13/?

[luna-and-mars]

Andalusite in a lava from Lipari, Italy. Field of view ~2mm.

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

Rocks are beautiful (3/?)

[luna-and-mars]

A “rosette” of chloritoid in a schist from Hungary

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

rocks are beautiful part 11/?

[luna-and-mars]

Rotated garnet: in this incredible sample, inclusions within the garnet have preserved the deformation history of the rock (counter-clockwise rotation).

Garbenschiefer from the Tauern Window, Eastern Alps, Austria

Rocks are beautiful (15/?)

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

[luna-and-mars]

Myrmekites are vermicular (“wormy”) intergrowths of quartz and plagioclase feldspar found in metamorphic rocks.

Rocks are beautiful part 12/?

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

[luna-and-mars]

Granulite with cordierite and sillimanite - Kerala, India

Rocks are beautiful part 14/?

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

[luna-and-mars]

The incredible textures of metamorphic rocks under the microscope

Rocks are beautiful part 6/?

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)

Needles of sillimanite in cordierite

Euhedral garnet in biotite gneiss

Muscovite and quartz in phyllite - Eastern Alps

Albite-rich layer in graphitic schist - Eastern Alps, Italy

Crenulation of mica-rich layers in phyllite - Eastern Alps, Italy

Blueschist - Aosta Valley, Italy

Myrmekite (wormy intergrowth of quartz and plagioclase) in a metapelitic granulite - Antarctica

Sillimanite in schist

[luna-and-mars]

Alteration of cordierite by fluids along microfractures

Rocks are beautiful part 10/?

Source: Bernardo Cesare (micROCKscopica)