Optical Mineralogy in a Nutshell

Use of the petrographic microscope in three easy lessons

Part III
Slides borrowed/adapted from Jane Selverstone (University of New Mexico) and John Winter (Whitman College)

Some review
Optical mineral properties ONLY visible in PPL: Color not an interference color! (for that, see below) Pleochroism is there a color change while rotating stage? Relief low, intermediate, high, very high? Optical mineral properties visible in PPL or XPL: Cleavage number and orientation of cleavage planes (may need higher magnification and at different grains) Habit characteristic form of mineral (sometimes better in XPL) Optical mineral properties ONLY visible in XPL: Birefringence use highest order interference color to describe Twinning type of twinning, orientation Extinction angle parallel or inclined? Angle? Isotropic vs. anisotropic minerals 100% extinct in XPL? Today well break down anisotropic minerals into uniaxial or biaxial

Some generalizations and vocabulary

All isometric minerals (e.g., garnet) and glass are isotropic they cannot reorient light. These minerals are always black in crossed polars.
All other minerals are anisotropic they are all capable of reorienting light. All anisotropic minerals contain one or two special directions (the optic axes) that do not reorient light.
Minerals with one special direction are called uniaxial Minerals with two special directions are called biaxial

Uniaxial and biaxial minerals can be subdivided into optically positive and optically negative, depending on the orientation of fast and slow rays relative to the xtl axes

All anisotropic minerals can resolve light into two plane polarized components that travel at different velocities and vibrate in planes that are perpendicular to one another
fast ray slow ray mineral grain When light gets split: -velocity changes -rays get bent (refracted) -2 new vibration directions -usually see new colors

Some light is now able to pass through the upper polarizer

plane polarized light

lower polarizer

Calcite experiment and double refraction

O E

Fig 6-8 Bloss, Optical Crystallography, MSA Fig 6-7 Bloss, Optical Crystallography, MSA

Weve talked about minerals as magicians now lets prove it!

calcite

calcite ordinary ray, w (stays stationary)

extraordinary ray, e (rotates)

How light behaves depends on crystal structure

(there is a reason you took mineralogy!)

Isotropic

Isometric
All crystallographic axes are equal

Uniaxial Biaxial

Hexagonal, trigonal, tetragonal

All axes c are equal but c is unique

Orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic

All axes are unequal

Lets use all of this information to help us identify minerals

Simple guide to interference figures

Get a good interference figure; Distinguish uniaxial and biaxial figures; Determine optic sign; and Estimate 2V

1) Choose a grain showing the lowest interference colors 2) Move to the high-powered objective lens and refocus 3) Open the sub-stage diaphragm as wide as possible 4) Insert the condenser lens 5) Cross the polars 6) Insert the Bertrand lens

Use of interference figures, continued

You will see a very small, circular field of view with one or more black isogyres -- rotate stage and watch isogyre(s)

or

uniaxial
If uniaxial, isogyres define cross; arms remain N-S/E-W as stage is rotated

biaxial
If biaxial, isogyres define curve that rotates with stage, or cross that breaks up as stage is rotated

Use of interference figures, continued

Now determine the optic sign of the mineral: 1. Rotate stage until isogyre is concave to NE (if biaxial) 2. Insert gypsum accessory plate 3. Note color in NE, immediately adjacent to isogyre - Blue = (+) Yellow = (-) uniaxial (+)

biaxial

(+)

Without plate

Gypsum plate inserted

Remember determining optic sign last week with the gypsum plate?
blue in NE = (+)

Gypsum plate has constant D of 530 nm = 1st-order pink Isogyres = black: D=0 Background = gray: D=100 Add or subtract 530 nm: 530+100=630 nm = blue = (+) 530-100=430 nm = yellowish = (-) Addition = slow + slow Subtraction = slow + fast

Time for some new tricks: the optical indicatrix

Thought experiment: Consider an isotropic mineral (e.g., garnet) Imagine point source of light at garnet center; turn light on for fixed amount of time, then map out distance traveled by light in that time

What geometric shape is defined by mapped light rays?

Isotropic indicatrix

Soccer ball (or an orange)

Light travels the same distance in all directions; n is same everywhere, thus d = nhi-nlo = 0 = black

anisotropic minerals - uniaxial indicatrix

c-axis

c-axis

calcite quartz

Lets perform the same thought experiment

Uniaxial indicatrix
c-axis c-axis

tangerine = uniaxial (-) Spaghetti squash = uniaxial (+)

calcite

quartz

Uniaxial ellipsoid and conventions:

Fig 6-11 Bloss, Optical Crystallography, MSA

(-) crystal: w>e oblate

(+) crystal: e>w prolate

Propagate light along the c-axis, note what happens to it in plane of thin section

nw

n
w

nw - nw = 0

therefore, d=0: grain stays black

(same as the isotropic case)

Now propagate light perpendicular to c-axis

ne - nw > 0

therefore, d > 0 n W
w w

ne

Grain changes color upon rotation. Grain will go black whenever indicatrix axis is E-W or N-S

This orientation will show the maximum d of the mineral

ne S

anisotropic minerals - biaxial indicatrix

clinopyroxene

feldspar

Now things get a lot more complicated

Biaxial indicatrix
(triaxial ellipsoid)
2Vz

The potato!

There are 2 different ways to cut this and get a circle

Alas, the potato (indicatrix) can have any orientation within a biaxial mineral olivine augite

 but there are a few generalizations that we can make The potato has 3 perpendicular principal axes of different length thus, we need 3 different RIs to describe a biaxial mineral X direction = na (lowest) Y direction = nb (intermed; radius of circ. section) Z direction = ng (highest) Orthorhombic: axes of indicatrix coincide w/ xtl axes Monoclinic: Y axis coincides w/ one xtl axis Triclinic: none of the indicatrix axes coincide w/ xtl axes

2V: a diagnostic property of biaxial minerals

When 2V is acute about Z: (+) When 2V is acute about X: (-)

When 2V=90, sign is

indeterminate When 2V=0, mineral is uniaxial

2V is measured using an interference figure More in a few minutes

How interference figures work (uniaxial example)

Converging lenses force light rays to follow different paths through the indicatrix
N-S polarizer Sample

Bertrand lens

What do we see??

(looking down OA)

substage condensor

Effects of multiple cuts thru indicatrix

Biaxial interference figures

There are lots of types of biaxial figures well concentrate on only two 1. Optic axis figure - pick a grain that stays dark on rotation
Will see one curved isogyre determine sign w/ gyps

(+)

(-)

determine 2V from curvature of isogyre 90 60 40

See Nesse p. 103

Estimating 2V

OAP

Fig 11-5A Bloss, Optical Crystallography, MSA

Biaxial interference figures

2. Bxa figure (acute bisectrix) - obtained when you are looking straight down between the two O.A.s. Hard to find, but look for a grain with intermediate d.

Use this figure to get sign and 2V:

(+)

2V=20

2V=40

2V=60
See Nesse p. 101

Quick review:
Indicatrix gives us a way to relate optical phenomena to crystallographic orientation, and to explain differences between grains of the same mineral in thin section hi d

lo d

Isotropic? Uniaxial? Biaxial? Sign? 2V? All of these help us to uniquely identify unknown minerals.