Meta-Pelite Suite, Shelburne, Nova Scotia Western Minerals Supplementary Information
OCR PDF of supplemental information for the Meta-Pelite Suite, Shelburne, Nova Scotia collection. This file outlines the descriptions of every sample in suite as well as providing geologic context to the area and the suite itself.
1988
NS-suite
Siltstone with Pyrite Prophyroblasts
Macroscopic: Low-grade metamorphic (zeolite facies) black siltstone with idiomorphic pyrite porphyroblasts. Microscopic: Very fine grained quartz and muscovite with large pyrite phenocrysts. Thin section picture in XPL unless noted in the picture title. Thin sections are 3mm across.<br /><br />Idiomorphic: term used for igneous rock minerals which are bounded by crystals unusual the species
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-1
Slate
Macroscopic: Slate (low grade shale metamorphism) samples with visible thin black beds. Samples were found interbedded with siltstones represented by sample NS-1. High angle between bedding and cleavage. Microscopic: Very fine grained quartz, muscovite and biotite. Thin section picture in XPL unless otherwise noted in the picture title. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-2
Argillite with spessartine garnet
Macroscopic: Argillite bearing spessartine garnet formed through reaction with the surrounding rock during metamorphism. Microscopic: Abundant medium-sized garnet phenocrysts within a very fine grained matrix. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted i the picture title. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-3
Biotite-Muscovite Schist
Macroscopic: Biotite, muscovite schist. Parts of the outcrop are migmatic as a result of intrusion by various phases of the Port Mouton Pluton. Microscopic: Coarse grained biotite, muscovite and quartz. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.<br /><br />Migmatites: They are created when a metamorphic rock spartially melts, and then that melt recrystallizes. This creates a mixture of the unmelted metamorphic sections with the recrystallized section.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-4
Porphyroblastic staurolite-andalusite-garnet-biotite-plagioclase-cordierite schist
Macroscopic: Porphyroblastic staurolite, andalusite, cordierite, garnet, biotite, chlorite, muscovite schist. Cross bedding or graded bedding may be apparent in some samples. Mineral zone: staurolite-andalusite. Microscopic: Large garnet phenocrysts within a very fine grained matrix containing biotite. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-5
Porphyroblastic andalusite-cordierite-staurolite-biotite-garnet schist
Macroscopic: Mega-porphyroblastic andalusite, cordierite, staurolite, biotite, garnet schist. Relict bedding, cross bedding or graded bedding may be apparent in some samples. Mineral zone: staurolite-andalusite. Microscopic: Large garnet phenocrysts within a very fine grained matrix containing biotite. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-6
Garnet-bearing quartzite
Macroscopic: Grey garnet, biotite and chlorite bearing quartzite. Likely protolith is a low-Al quartz-rich sandstone bed. Microscopic: Abundant quartz crystals accompanied by chlorite and biotite. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-7
Garnet-biotite sericite schist
Macroscopic: Biotite, muscovite schist. The biotite has begun retrograding to chlorite. There is a mineral zone consisting of garnets present in the handsample. Microscopic: Abundant foliated biotite/sericite and quartz. Large amphibole phenocrysts present. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-8
Amphibole (actinolite) in epidote, chlorite, garnet calcsilicate rock
Macroscopic: Porphyroblastic amphibole in epidote, chlorite, and garnet calcsilicate rock. This sample represent the metamorphism of calcarious concretions in beds of quartzite to a schist. The formation this samples comes from has considerable mineralogical variation yielding some garnet rich and some epidote rich zones. The hand sample has a mineral zone consisting of garnets. Microscopic: Large amphibole phenocryst observed as well as quartz and chlorite. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-9
Staurolite-garnet-biotite schist
Macroscopic: Staurolite, garnet, biotite porphyroblastic, chlorite bearing, muscovite schist. Both garnets and staurolite are idiomorphic with the former highly poikiloblastic. The foliation in the schist bends around the porphyroblastic phases indicating the porphyroblasts were formed earlier during metamorphism. Microscopic: Both thin section pictures show the texture of the fine grained biotite around garnet and staurolite phenocrysts. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-10
Micaceous Schist
Macroscopic: Biotite, muscovite schist. This sample was a part of a roof pendant, or a piece of rock the surrounded a batholith. Likely part of the silimanite zone. Microscopic: This sample under thin section displays an almost entirely mica and quartz composition. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-11
Double Micaceous pinstriped gneiss
Macroscopic: Mesocratic fibrolitic double micaceous pinstripped gneiss. High reflectivity denotes a high concentration of foliated micas. Migmatized texture indicates of the rock indicates incipient melting. Microscopic: This sample contains irregularly shaped muscovite and silimanite which indicates that the muscovite was breaking down to form silimanite due the heat and pressure of metamorphism. Cordierite also present in thin section. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.<br /><br />Fibrolitic: Charaterzied by the presence of fibrolite (sillmanite)<br /><br />Mesocratic:<span class="ssens">having nearly equal dark and light mineral constituents</span>
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-12
Leucocratic biotite-silimanite gneiss
Macroscopic: Leucocratic biotite, muscovite, sillimanite gneiss. A banded gneiss characterized by leucocratic minerals. Microscopic: thin section shows an abundance of muscovite and quartz. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.<br /><br />Leucocratic: Having a light color
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-13
Andalusite-biotite-garnet schist
Macroscopic: Andalusite, biotite, garnet, muscovite, chlorite schist. Heavily weathered exterior due to divets and altered nature. High abundance of foliated mica. Microscopic: The andalusite, biotite, and garnet are porphyroblastic with andalusite highly poikiloblastic. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.<br /><br />pokiloblastic: texture of a <span>metamorphic rock in which small crystals of an original mineral occur within crystals of its metamorphic product.</span>
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-14
Chiastolite slate
Macroscopic: In this Chiastolite slate, the andalusite has retrograded to sericite. Microscopic: Strongly foliated sericite. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-15
Andalusite-biotite schist
Macroscopic: An andalusite, biotite schist with large and abundant garnet porphyroblasts. Low grade of metamorphism. Microscopic: Large andalusite and cordierite phenocrysts within very fine grained matrix. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-16
Biotite granite
Macroscopic: Grey massive biotite, muscovite granite. Overall white and grey color. Only slightly weathered. Microscopic: Abundant in alkali feldspar, plagoclase, quartz and mica. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-17
Garnet-muscovite bearing granitic pegmatite
Macroscopic: Garnet-muscovite bearing granitic pegmatite. Visible, green beryl may be present as beryl is often associated with pegmatites. The mineralogy is typical of sedimentary protolith granites which supports the hypothesis that the basement of the Maguma Terrane is pelitic. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-18
Kyanite-sillimanite-biotite-spinel-garnet schist
Macroscopic:This schist is lamprophyric, meaning it has a low silica content, thus little to no quartz. The sample comes from a large xenolith in the Popes Harbour dike. <br />Microscopic: Reaction textures are present in thin section. Thin section pictures in XPL unless otherwise noted in the title of the picuture. Thin sections are 3mm across.
N/A
Western Minerals, Inc.
NS-19