Olivine
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University
of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Plane-Polarized Light
- Moderately high relief
- Clear, occasionally very light yellowish or greenish
- No cleavage
- Commonly rimmed with greenish alteration products (A)
- Internal fracturing of grains common (B)
- Never occurs with quartz
Crossed Polarizers
- Bright second-and third-order interference colors.
- Alteration products tend to have low interference colors.
Below is a typical view of olivine in plane polarized light. Note the high
relief and the low-relief alteration products between grains.
Same field in crossed polars, showing the "stained glass window"
appearance.
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Created 22 Sept 1997, Last Update 20 May 2002
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