Skip to main content

Story: Rock and mineral names

Dunite under the microscope

Image
Dunite under the microscope

A thin section (a 10-millimetre-wide microscope slice) of dunite from Dun reveals the beautiful coloration, under polarised light, of interlocking grains of olivine. The small black grains are chromite, which is opaque under the microscope.

Using this item

GNS Science

by Nick Mortimer

Permission of GNS Science must be obtained before any use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Simon Nathan, Rock and mineral names – Rocks named in New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/9076/dunite-under-the-microscope (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Simon Nathan, published 2 March 2009.