Sillimanite



A photomicrograph of needlelike crystals of sillimanite within the gneiss specimen shown in photo SIL6a. In addition to the sillimanite crystal in the center of the image, note the spray of smaller crystals farther up, with their right ends embedded in pink garnet and their left ends embedded in quartz.

Field of view: The horizontal width is 2 mm.

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Tiny (1-3 mm), slender, prismatic sillimanite crystals, grains of pink almandine in a pale gray, quartz-oligoclase-almandine gneiss

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Identifier: SIL6b
Locality: 1500 level, central gneiss zone, Sterling mine, Ogdensburg
Specimen size: 14.5 x 11 x 6.5 cm
Photo credit: Vandall T. King