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Kōrero: 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.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

GNS Science

by Nick Mortimer

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

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

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

He kōrero nā Simon Nathan, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.