Update: I was wrong about the whole 'igneous rocks are boring' thing

For years I just saw them as big gray lumps, nothing special. The tip-off was a trip to the Sierra Nevada last fall where a guide pointed out the different minerals in a single granite boulder. He showed me the pink feldspar, the clear quartz, and the black biotite, all telling a story about how the magma cooled. I'd been looking at the rock, not the crystals inside it. Now I can't stop seeing the details. Anyone else have a rock type they used to totally write off?

3 comments

3 Comments

hayes.tara2mo ago

Oh man, my friend had that with sandstone.

henryreed2mo ago

Sandstone's actually a sedimentary rock lol

bettykim2mo ago

I get what you mean about looking at the rock and not the crystals. I did the same thing with slate for the longest time. I just saw it as a flat, dark roof tile or chalkboard. Then someone made me look at the way it splits into these perfect, thin sheets, and it clicked. It's not just a gray slab, it's got that whole layered, flaky thing going on. Totally changed it for me.