What type of rock is diabase?
Diabase is a fine-grained igneous rock that would have formed when molten rock material cooled rapidly on or near the surface of the Earth.
What is diabase igneous rock?
diabase, also called Dolerite, fine- to medium-grained, dark gray to black intrusive igneous rock. It is extremely hard and tough and is commonly quarried for crushed stone, under the name of trap.
What type of rock is formed by volcanic activity?
Igneous rocks form when magma (molten rock) cools and crystallizes, either at volcanoes on the surface of the Earth or while the melted rock is still inside the crust.
How is diabase rock formed?
Diabase is subsurface volcanic rock formed by injecting gabbroic magma or lava as shallow dykes and sills under the surface of Earth.
Is diabase a rock or a mineral?
Diabase is a common rock type. It occurs mostly in shallow intrusions (dikes and sills) of basaltic composition. It grades to basalt when it solidifies rapidly and to gabbro when more time is given to the crystals to grow. The term “microgabbro” is sometimes used to refer to such rocks.
What texture is diabase?
Diabase normally has a fine but visible texture of euhedral lath-shaped plagioclase crystals (62%) set in a finer matrix of clinopyroxene, typically augite (20–29%), with minor olivine (3% up to 12% in olivine diabase), magnetite (2%), and ilmenite (2%).
What is the difference between basalt and diabase?
Diabase is actually a variety of gabbro which consists mainly of labradorite feldspar, augite, magnetite, and olivine. Basalt is identical to diabase and gabbro, but is very fine-grained. Basalt is from a melt that cooled very rapidly- in other words, on the surface of the earth or in the ocean.
How strong is diabase?
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| Rock Type | Compressive Strength (Max MPa) | Tensile Strength (Max MPa) |
|---|---|---|
| Diabase | 350 | 35 |
| Gabbro | 300 | 30 |
| Basalt | 300 | 30 |
| Gneiss | 200 | 20 |
What are the four volcanic rocks?
The term igneous rocks is from the Greek word for fire. All volcano rocks are igneous rocks because they form from hot, molten rock that originated deep within the Earth at tectonic plate boundaries. There are four major groups of the igneous rocks: basalt, andesite, dacite and rhyolite.
Is volcanic rock the same as lava rock?
Lava is what we call the molten rock that flows from an active volcano, after it’s exposed to the air. Underground it is called magma. It’s volcanic rock, specifically, most landscaping lava rock is a type of rock called obsidian.
What is diabase rock used for?
Diabase is crushed and used as a construction aggregate for road beds, buildings, railroad beds (rail ballast), and within dams and levees. Diabase can be cut for use as headstones and memorials; the base of the Marine Corps War Memorial is made of black diabase “granite” (a commercial term, not actual granite).
What is diabase texture?
Diabase have a ophytic texture, with slender to broad plagioclase laths wrapped or molded by anhedral to subhedral pyroxene, tha larger plates of witch may also enclose the plagioclase.
What type of rock is didiabase?
Diabase is a common rock type. It occurs mostly in shallow intrusions (dikes and sills) of basaltic composition. It grades to basalt when it solidifies rapidly and to gabbro when more time is given to the crystals to grow. The term “microgabbro” is sometimes used to refer to such rocks.
1) Crushed Stone: Diabase is one of many types of “trap rock” used as crushed stone in the construction industry. These are durable rocks that have many uses. For most of these uses, the aggregate must meet certain specifications of abrasion resistance, weathering resistance, and crush resistance.
What is the size of the diabase?
This rock is approximately eight centimeters across. Diabase typically has a mineral composition that is dominated by the plagioclase feldspar known as labradorite (approximately 40% to 70% of the rock).
What is the difference between gabbro and diabase?
It is compositionally equivalent to gabbro and basalt but texturally between them. Diabase is a common rock type. It occurs mostly in shallow intrusions (dikes and sills) of basaltic composition. It grades to basalt when it solidifies rapidly and to gabbro when more time is given to the crystals to grow.