Inclusions and the color of obsidian
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Authors
Camargo, Andres
Menon, Sarath
Luhrs, Claudia
Mariella, Raymond Jr.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2016
Date
Publisher
Microscopy Society of America
Language
Abstract
Obsidian is a volcanic glass formed by the rapid quenching of the lava, is chemically similar to rhyolite
or granite, and is composed mainly of silica with many other elements present in various oxide or silicate
forms. Obsidian appears in a wide variety of colors though the jet-black variety is the most common. The
color of obsidian depends on the wide variety of crystalline inclusions present in the glass with magnetite
and some others providing a jet-black color [1, 2]. When crushed into fine powder, the black obsidian
appears nearly transparent white or with a slight gray tinge. This effect maybe due to the separation of the
larger inclusions from the glassy powder produced when a piece of obsidian is crushed. Thus, when
analyzing obsidian specimens, characterization of the inclusions in them is of prime importance.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1431927616009910
Series/Report No
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
DTRA
Funder
HDTRA-1514534
Format
2 p.
Citation
Andres Camargo, Sarath Menon, Claudia Luhrs, Raymond Mariella, Jr., "Inclusions and the color of obsidian," Microscopy Microanalysis, v.33, Supp. 3, (2016), pp. 1814-1815
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.