56 - Hornblende

Hello friends, 

Welcome to the Mineral Repository at the department of geology, Shivaji science college Nagpur.

I’m Hornblende, I am a member of Amphibole family, a common rock forming mineral found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Some might call me a chameleon or girgit to be more precise, with my color ranging from black to dark green, sometimes even brown. You’ll often find me hanging out with other minerals like quartz, feldspar, and mica, creating some pretty cool rocks like amphibolite and basalt. I’m known for my good looks under petrological microscope with my long, thin slender prismatic to bladed crystals forming in all sorts of interesting shapes. I sometimes appear diamond-shaped in cross-section and mostly as irregular grains or fibrous masses. Whether it’s in the depths of the earth’s crust or in the beauty of a polished rock. My two cleavage planes intersect at 56° and 124° angle and I have variety of names depending upon my birth place, my rarest variety contains less than 5% of iron oxide which is gray to white in color, and is named edenite. Oxyhornblende is a variety in which most of the iron has been oxidized to the ferric state and is also typically enriched in titanium found almost exclusively in volcanic rock and is sometimes called basaltic hornblende. I am used in road construction and in railroad industry. I’m always here, adding my unique flair to the world of geology. 

Thank you Visit again.