Definition
Schist is a medium grade metamorphic rock with medium to large, flat, sheet like grains in a preferred orientation
Lherzolite is a type of ultramafic igneous rock which contains essential olivine and clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene in equal proportions
Discoverer
Unknown
Unknown
Etymology
From French schiste, Greek skhistos i.e. split
From the Lherz Massif, an alpine peridotite complex, at Étang de Lers, near Massat in the French Pyrenees; Lherz is the archaic spelling of this location
Class
Metamorphic Rocks
Igneous Rocks
Sub-Class
Durable Rock, Medium Hardness Rock
Durable Rock, Hard Rock
Group
Not Applicable
Plutonic
Other Categories
Coarse Grained Rock, Fine Grained Rock, Medium Grained Rock, Opaque Rock
Fine Grained Rock, Opaque Rock
Texture
Foliated, Platy
Grenue
Color
Black, Blue, Brown, Dark Brown, Green, Grey, Silver
Black, Dark Greenish - Grey, Green, Pink, Purple
Durability
Durable
Durable
Appearance
Layered and Shiny
Glassy, Vesicular and Foilated
Interior Uses
Decorative Aggregates, Floor Tiles, Interior Decoration
Decorative Aggregates, Entryways, Homes, Interior Decoration
Exterior Uses
Garden Decoration, Paving Stone
As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Office Buildings
Other Architectural Uses
Not Yet Used
Curbing
Construction Industry
As Dimension Stone, Building houses or walls, Cement Manufacture, for Road Aggregate, Roadstone
Landscaping, Manufacture of Magnesium and Dolomite Refractories, Used for flooring, stair treads, borders and window sills.
Medical Industry
Not Yet Used
Not Yet Used
Antiquity Uses
Artifacts
Artifacts, Sculpture
Commercial Uses
Used in aquariums, Writing Slates
As armour rock for sea walls, Source of Magnesia (MgO), Used in aquariums
Types
Mica Schists, Calc-Silicate Schists, Graphite Schists, Blueschists, Whiteschists, Greenschists, Hornblende Schist, Talc Schist, Chlorite Schist, Garnet Schist, Glaucophane schist.
Garnet Lherzolite
Features
Easily splits into thin plates, Smooth to touch
Host Rock for Lead
Archaeological Significance
Monuments
Not Yet Used
Not Yet Used
Famous Monuments
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Sculpture
Not Yet Used
Used
Famous Sculptures
Not Applicable
Data Not Available
Pictographs
Used
Not Used
Petroglyphs
Used
Not Used
Figurines
Not Yet Used
Used
Formation
Schist formed by dynamic metamorphism at high temperatures and pressures that aligns the grains of mica, hornblende and other elongated minerals into thin layers.
Lherzolite is a fine-grained, hard rock which is a type of metasomatite, essentially altered basalt. It forms with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive rocks.
Mineral Content
Alusite, Amphibole, Biotite, Chlorite, Epidote, Feldspar, Garnet, Graphite, Hornblade, Kyanite, Micas, Muscovite or Illite, Porphyroblasts, Quartz, Sillimanite, Staurolite, Talc
Harzburgite, Olivine, Pyroxene, Pyrrhotite
Compound Content
CaO, Carbon Dioxide, MgO
CaO, Cr, Chromium(III) Oxide, MgO
Types of Metamorphism
Not Applicable
Cataclastic Metamorphism, Contact Metamorphism
Types of Weathering
Biological Weathering, Chemical Weathering, Mechanical Weathering
Biological Weathering, Chemical Weathering, Mechanical Weathering
Types of Erosion
Chemical Erosion, Coastal Erosion, Glacier Erosion
Chemical Erosion, Water Erosion, Wind Erosion
Grain Size
Medium to Fine Coarse Grained
Fine Grained
Fracture
Conchoidal
Conchoidal
Porosity
Highly Porous
Less Porous
Luster
Shiny
Subvitreous to Dull
Compressive Strength
Not Available
Specific Gravity
2.5-2.9
2.86
Transparency
Opaque
Opaque
Density
2.8-2.9 g/cm3
2.8-2.9 g/cm3
Specific Heat Capacity
Not Available
Resistance
Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant, Water Resistant
Heat Resistant, Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant, Wear Resistant
Deposits in Eastern Continents
Asia
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam
Russia, South Korea
Africa
Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa
Western Africa
Europe
Austria, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
United Kingdom
Others
Not Yet Found
Not Yet Found
Deposits in Western Continents
North America
Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, USA
USA
South America
Brazil, Colombia, Guyana
Not Yet Found
Deposits in Oceania Continent
Australia
New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland
Central Australia, Western Australia