Accessories

As accessory minerals (Singular: Akzessorium ) or accompanying minerals is referred to, one or more minerals , the Nebengemengteile or "Übergemengteile" of a rock form. As a rule, the proportion of all accessories in the respective rock is less than one percent.

Accessories are often included in the description of rocks in order to enable differentiated identification. Occasionally, accessories give the rocks their names and are sometimes of economic importance.

Important accessories in igneous and metamorphic rocks include apatite , chromite , diamond , ilmenite , magnetite , monazite , titanite , xenotime and zircon . Zircon, tourmaline and rutile , for example, can be added as accessories in sediments .

literature

• Rudolf Graubner: Lexicon of geology, minerals and rocks . Emil Vollmer Verlag GmbH, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-87876-327-1 .

Web links

• Lexicon of Geosciences - Accessory Minerals
• G. Kloess: Introduction to Petrography / Petrology - Accessory Minerals ( Memento from December 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ; PDF; 1.06 MB)