Information About

Hyaloclastite




Several minerals are found in hyaloclastite masses. Sideromelane is a Basalt glass rapidly quenched in water. It is transparent and pure, lacking the Iron Oxide Crystals dispersed in the more commonly occurring Tachylite . Fragments of these glasses are usually surrounded by a yellow waxy layer of Palagonite , formed by reaction of sideromelane with water.

Hyaloclastite ridges, formed by subglacial eruptions during the Ice Age , are a prominent landscape feature of Iceland .


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