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TONALITE

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 1 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TONALITE , in See also:

petrology, a See also:rock of the See also:diorite class, first described from See also:Monte Adamello near Tonale in the Eastern See also:Alps. It may be described as a See also:quartz-diorite containing See also:biotite and See also:hornblende in nearly equal proportions. The See also:principal See also:felspar is See also:plagioclase, but See also:orthoclase occurs also, usually in small amount. Those varieties which are See also:rich in orthoclase, in addition to plagioclase, have been called quartz-monzonites or adamellites, but a better See also:term is grano-diorite, which has been very generally adopted in See also:America for rocks which are intermediate in See also:character between the granites and the diorites. The hornblende of the diorites is See also:green, sometimes with a tinge of See also:brown; the biotite is always brown and strongly pleochroic. Often these two minerals are clustered together irregularly or in parallel growths. They have generally a fairly strong tendency to idiomorphism, but may sometimes enclose plagioclase felspar in ophitic manner. Both of them decompose to See also:chlorite, See also:epidote and See also:carbonates. The plagioclase felspar, which may See also:form more than one-See also:half of the rock, is See also:andesine or See also:oligoclase; See also:simple crystals are rare, the See also:majority being complex growths with centres of felspar rich in See also:lime, while in the See also:external zones the proportion of soda felspar increases greatly. The inner portions have often well-defined, but very irregular, boundaries, and are sometimes sponge-like, with the cayities filled up with a later, more See also:acid, See also:deposit. This seems to indicate that growth has taken See also:place in stages, alternating with periods when the crystallized felspar was eroded or partly dissolved. The orthoclase sometimes forms irregular plates enclosing individuals of plagioclase.

Quartz occurs both in irregular simple grains and as micropegmatite. Occasionally See also:

pale green See also:pyroxene is visible in the centre of crystals of dark green hornblende. The See also:accessory minerals See also:apatite, See also:magnetite and See also:zircon are always See also:present, and very See also:common also are orthite in See also:coffee-coloured zonal prisms practically always encircled by yellow epidote, and reddish-brown crystals of See also:sphene, simple or twinned. In external See also:appearance the tonalites are very like the granites but usually darker in See also:colour. Tonalite-porphyrites often accompany them, having the same See also:composition but with phenocrysts of felspar, quartz, hornblende and biotite in a See also:fine-grained ground-See also:mass. See also:Veins and threads of fine See also:grey rock, mainly composed of quartz and felspar, often intersect tonalite-masses and have been called tonalite-aplites, seeing that they See also:bear the same relations to aplites as the aplites do to the granites. They contain more soda-lime felspar than the normal aplites. Towards their margins the larger alpine masses of tonalite often assume banded or gneissic facies, due apparently to See also:movement during intrusion.

End of Article: TONALITE

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