Definition
Petrography is the description and systematic classification of rocks, mainly by the microscopic examination of thin sections.
Introduction
Petrographic analysis identifies the origin, whether igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, and the mineral content for the classification of the rock.
This usually comprises the description of the macroscopic aspects of the rock, such as fabric, color, grain size, and other relevant characteristics that may be visually observed in hand specimen or in outcrops, and chiefly the identification and description of microscopic characteristics of the studied material in thin sections such as mineral composition, texture, grain size, and evidence of alterations and/or deformation.
The results of petrographic analysis are an important tool for many branches of the geosciences by allowing the determination of the conditions of the formation of the rock, but, in engineering geology, the aim is on explaining the mechanical behavior and on...
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References
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de Frascá, M.H.B.O. (2017). Petrographic Analysis. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_218-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_218-1
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