One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing rocks that formed at the lowest temperatures and pressures associated with regional metamorphism. Typical minerals in these facies include the zeolites, albite, and quartz.
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Different, but contemporaneous and juxtaposed, sedimentary rocks. Terrigenous facies are accumulations of particles eroded from older rocks and transported to the depositional site. Biogenic facies are accumulations of whole or fragmented shells and other hard parts of animals. Chemical facies result from precipitation of inorganic material from solution. The shapes and characteristics of facies may change as conditions change over time.
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One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing the rocks that formed under fairly low temperatures (480–660 °F, or 250–350 °C) and pressure conditions and usually produced by regional metamorphism. The minerals commonly found in such rocks include quartz, orthoclase, muscovite, chlorite, serpentine, talc, and epidote; carbonate minerals and amphibole (actinolite) may also be present.
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One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing rocks that formed under intense temperature-pressure conditions (higher than 950°F, or 500°C). The minerals found in the rocks of granulite facies include hornblende, pyroxene, biotite, garnet, calcium plagioclase, and quartz or olivine. Seealso amphibolite facies.
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One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing rocks whose peculiar mineralogy suggests that they formed under conditions of high pressure and relatively low temperature (generally less than about 662°F, or 350°C); such conditions are not typical of the normal geothermal gradient in the earth. The minerals that chiefly occur include soda amphibole (glaucophane), soda pyroxene (jadeite), garnet, lawsonite, and pumpellyite. Quartz, muscovite, chlorite, epidote, and plagioclase may also be present. Classic deposits occur in western California.
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One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, encompassing rocks that formed under conditions of moderate to high temperatures (950°F, or 500°C, maximum) and pressures. Less-intense temperatures and pressures form rocks of the epidote-amphibolite facies, and more-intense temperatures and pressures form rocks of the granulite facies. Amphibole, diopside, epidote, plagioclase, certain types of garnet, and wollastonite are minerals typically found in amphibolite facies rocks. They are widely distributed in Precambrian gneisses and probably formed in the deeper parts of folded mountain belts.
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