Quartzite facts for kids
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock. It is formed when sandstone is squeezed and heated under a chain of mountains.
Although pure quartzite is white, it usually occurs in shades of pink and red. This happens when it contains some iron oxide (Fe2O3). Other colours, such as yellow and orange, are due to other mineral impurities.
When sandstone is changed to quartzite, the individual quartz grains and cement material recrystallizes. Most of the original texture of the sandstone is destroyed by the metamorphism. Minor amounts of cementing materials, iron oxide, silica, carbonate and clay, often move when this is happening. It causes streaks and lens shapes to form in the quartzite.
Images for kids
-
Quartzite, containing darker bands of phengite and chlorite, from Maurienne Valley in the French Alps
-
Quartzite can have a grainy, glassy, sandpaper-like surface
-
Abandoned quartzite mine in Kakwa Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada
-
Quartzite biface hand axe from Stellenbosch, South Africa
-
Quartzite from Salangen, South Troms, Norway, showing elongate crystals associated with high strain regimes
-
Thin section of quartzite from Salangen, South Troms, Norway, showing elongate crystals associated with high strain regimes
See also
In Spanish: Cuarcita para niños
