Petrology

Branch of geology that studies the formation, composition, distribution and structure of rocks / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Petrology (from Ancient Greek πέτρος (pétros) 'rock', and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together because both make heavy use of chemistry, chemical methods, and phase diagrams. Sedimentary petrology is commonly taught together with stratigraphy because it deals with the processes that form sedimentary rock.[1] Modern sedimentary petrology is making increasing use of chemisty.

LvMS-Lvm.jpg
A thin section of a volcanic sand grain seen under the microscope, with plane-polarized light in the upper picture, and cross-polarized light in the lower picture. Scale box is 0.25 mm.