Merensky Reef, Bushveld Complex (combined)
Collection:
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope

Fact sheet

Merensky Reef, Bushveld Complex (combined)

This sample (0016IV) is a feldspathic pyroxenite from the Merensky Reef, a chromitite-sulphide mineralised portion of the ca. 2 Ga old Bushveld Complex, South Africa.

The microscope image includes high-spatial resolution elemental maps collected using a field-emission-gun scanning-electron microscopes (FEG-SEM) equipped with large area energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) detectors at the iCRAG SEM laboratory, Trinity College Dublin.

In this case, three elements are displayed on one x-ray map by assigning each element to one of the R,G,B channels of the colour image.

This sample was funded by Prof. Balz Kamber's MetalIntelligence EU training network grant.

About this collection

A group of iCRAG members (UCC, TCD, NUIG and UCD) in partnership with The Open University have created a new collection of Irish rocks and associated learning materials for the Virtual Microscope of Earth Sciences.

The project which is entitled 'The Geoscience e-Laboratory (GeoLab): Developing Digital Teaching and Learning Resources for the Virtual Microscope' seeks to develop open access teaching resources in the form of interactive exercises and assessment rubrics for the Virtual Microscope. Find out more about the project at the GeoLab website.

The Collection was created using funding from the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science at Trinity College, Dublin, and the National Forum Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund. One sample (Merensky Reef) showcasing x-ray element maps in addition to the usual PPL/XPL/REF images was funded by Prof. Balz Kamber's MetalIntelligence EU training network grant.

Sample details

Type
igneous
Category guide  
Category Guide
Title
Refers to any word or phrase that appears in the individual rock names. Names are generally descriptive; they allow users to search for broad terms like ‘granite’ as well as more specific names such as ‘breccia’. However, the adjacent descriptions of the specimens captures a wider range of general words and phrases and is a more powerful search tool.
Description
Refers to any word or phrase that appears anywhere in the descriptions of the specimens
Accessory minerals
Minerals that occur in very low abundance in a rock. They are usually not visible with the naked eye and contribute perhapssver, they often dominate the rare elements such as platinum group metals.
Rock-forming minerals
Minerals that make up the bulk of all rock samples and are also the ones used in rock classi?cation.
Timescale
Selecting one or more period, for example 'Jurassic'.
Theme
A term used to group together related samples that are not already gathered into a single Collection. For instance, there is a ‘SW England granites’ theme that includes such rock types as granite, hydrothermal breccia, skarn and vein samples.
Category
A general term used to label a rock sample. It is a useful way of grouping similar samples throughout a collection. Category names are often, but not exclusively, common rock names (e.g. granite, basalt, dolerite, gabbro, greisen, skarn, gneiss, amphibolite, limestone, sandstone).
Owner
The owner of the sample that appears in the collection. For example, NASA owns all the samples that appear in the Moon Rocks collection
We would like to thank the following for the use of this sample: