quartzite
Sign in to savethumb|Quartzite can have a grainy, glassy, sandpaper-like surface
AI overview
Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock that forms when sandstone is subjected to heat and pressure deep within the Earth. It's valued for construction and industrial uses because of its durability and resistance to weathering, and it often has a distinctive grainy or glassy surface texture.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Rock.name
- Quartzite
- Rock.type
- Metamorphic
- Rock.caption
- Quartzite, containing darker bands of phengite and chlorite, from Maurienne Valley in the French Alps
- Rock.composition
- Quartz
- Rock.image
- Quartzite Sollières.jpg
- Rock.protolith
- Quartz Sandstone
- Rock.fabric
- Non-foliated
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Characteristics and origin
- Occurrence
- North America
- Europe
- Elsewhere
- Uses
- Safety
- Etymology
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Quartzite can have a grainy, glassy, sandpaper-like surface
Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts, and hence quartzite is a metasandstone. Pure quartzite is usually white to grey, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink and red due to varying amounts of hematite. Other colors, such as yellow, green, blue and orange, are due to other minerals.