Somebody asked me recently what a rock looks like down a microscope, and so today's Friday Photo explores this. Below is an image of an igneous rock known as andesite, that forms when a certain type of lava soldifies, and some images of a felsic dyke (formed when acidic magma, the name for molten rock below ground or that has not been erupted, solidifies). Both of these rocks were found in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile.
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| CHILE: ANDESITE Andesite, seen under cross-polarised light (field of view = 4.4mm) (c) Geology for Global Development 2011 |
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| CHILE: FELSITIC DYKE Felsitic dyke material, seen under plane-polarised light (field of view = 4.4mm) (c) Geology for Global Development 2011 |
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| CHILE: FELSITIC DYKE Felsitic dyke material, seen under cross-polarised light (field of view = 4.4mm) (c) Geology for Global Development 2011 |
