Types of Black Rocks
Andesite is a fine-grained rock that formed when the magma erupted onto the surface and crystallized quickly. Andesite and diorite have a composition that is intermediate between basalt and granite. This is because their parent magmas formed from the partial melting of a basaltic oceanic plate.
Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals. It most commonly forms as an extrusive rock, such as a lava flow, but can also form in small intrusive bodies, such as an igneous dike or a thin sill.
Dacite usually forms as an intrusive rock such as a dike or sill. Examples of this type of dacite outcrop are found in northwestern Montana and northeastern Bulgaria. Nevertheless, because of the moderately high silica content, dacitic magma is quite viscous and therefore prone to explosive eruption.
Diorite is the name used for a group of coarse-grained igneous rocks with a composition between that of granite and basalt. It usually occurs as large intrusions, dikes, and sills within continental crust.
Gabbro is a coarse-grained, dark-colored, intrusive igneous rock. It is usually black or dark green in color and composed mainly of the minerals plagioclase and augite. It is the most abundant rock in the deep oceanic crust. Gabbro has a variety of uses in the construction industry.
Granite is a plutonic rock in which quartz makes up between 10 and 50 percent of the felsic components and alkali feldspar accounts for 65 to 90 percent of the total feldspar content. Applying this definition requires the mineral identification and quantification abilities of a competent geologist.
The limestone that makes up these cave formations is known as "travertine" and is a chemical sedimentary rock. A rock known as "tufa" is a limestone formed by evaporation at a hot spring, lake shore, or other area.
Ruby in Marble: Marble is often the host rock for corundum, spinel, and other gem minerals. This specimen is a piece of white marble with a large red ruby crystal from Afghanistan. Specimen is about 1 1/4 inches across (about 3 centimeters).
Black is the most common color of obsidian. However, it can also be brown, tan, or green. Rarely, obsidian can be blue, red, orange, or yellow. The colors are thought to be caused mainly by trace elements or inclusions. Occasionally two colors of obsidian will be swirled together in a single specimen.
Pegmatite is a very coarse-grained igneous rock. Simple pegmatites are composed of large crystals of ordinary minerals. Here is a sample of alkali feldspar granite pegmatite from Northern Norway which is composed of alkali feldspar (pink), quartz (gray) and biotite (black).
Quartzite is a nonfoliated metamorphic rock composed almost entirely of quartz. It forms when a quartz-rich sandstone is altered by the heat, pressure, and chemical activity of metamorphism. These conditions recrystallize the sand grains and the silica cement that binds them together. The result is a network of interlocking quartz grains of incredible strength.
What is Sandstone? Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed of sand-size grains of mineral, rock, or organic material. It also contains a cementing material that binds the sand grains together and may contain a matrix of silt- or clay-size particles that occupy the spaces between the sand grains.
Slate is a rock that has many natural color variations including gray, blue, greenish-grey, dark red, black, tan and even purplish-gray. References to the color “slate” most likely mean a medium-dark grey with blue undertones, because this is the most common color variation of slate rock.