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Wehrlite

Wehrlite is an ultramafic and ultrabasic rock that is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene. It is a subdivision of the peridotites.

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Wehrlite is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene. source ↗
Photomicrograph of a thin section of wehrlite, in cross-polarised light source ↗

Wehrlite is an ultramafic and ultrabasic rock that is a mixture of olivine and clinopyroxene. It is a subdivision of the peridotites.

The nomenclature allows up to a few percent of orthopyroxene. Accessory minerals include ilmenite, chromite, magnetite and an aluminium-bearing mineral (plagioclase, spinel or garnet).1

Wehrlites occur as mantle xenoliths and in ophiolites. Another occurrence is as cumulate in gabbro and norite layered intrusions.1 Some meteorites can also be classified as wehrlites (e.g. NWA 4797).2

Wehrlite is named after Alois Wehrle.3 He was born 1791 in Kroměříž, Czech Republic (then Kremsier in Mähren) and was a professor at the "Ungarische Bergakademie" (Hungarian Mining School) in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia (then Schemnitz, Kingdom of Hungary).4

References

References

  1. "Glossary: Wehrlite". Imperial College. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. "NWA 4797" (PDF). curator.jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. "Department of Mineralogy and Petrography". uni-miskolc.hu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. "ADB:Wehrle, Alois". WikiSource. Retrieved 12 January 2013.