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Story: Rock and mineral names

Greywacke under the microscope

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Greywacke under the microscope

This is a thin section (a microscope slice, 3 millimetres wide) of greywacke – an assortment of angular grains in a fine-grained clay. The clear grains are mainly quartz, while many of the cloudy grains are feldspar.

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GNS Science

by Nick Mortimer

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How to cite this page

Simon Nathan, Rock and mineral names – Local names, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/9065/greywacke-under-the-microscope (accessed 16 June 2026).

Story by Simon Nathan, published 2 March 2009.