Wehrlite

{{short description|Ultramafic rock}}

{{For|the Bi2Te3 mineral|Tellurobismuthite}}

{{Expand German|Wehrlit|date=November 2015}}

File:Peridotite Olivine-Orthopyroxene-Clinopyroxene Wehrlite highlighted.svg

File:Wherlite.JPG of a thin section of wehrlite, in cross-polarised light]]

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).{{cite web|title=Glossary: Wehrlite|url=https://www2.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?gID=00000000094|publisher=Imperial College|accessdate=12 January 2013}}

Wehrlites occur as mantle xenoliths and in ophiolites. Another occurrence is as cumulate in gabbro and norite layered intrusions. Some meteorites can also be classified as wehrlites (e.g. NWA 4797).{{cite web|title=NWA 4797|url=http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/mmc/nwa4797.pdf|publisher=curator.jsc.nasa.gov|accessdate=12 January 2013}}

Wehrlite is named after Alois Wehrle.{{cite web|title=Department of Mineralogy and Petrography|url=http://fold32.ftt.uni-miskolc.hu/~intezet/index.php/en/department-of-mineralogy-and-petrology|publisher=uni-miskolc.hu|accessdate=12 January 2013}} 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).{{cite web|title=ADB:Wehrle, Alois|url=http://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=ADB:Wehrle,_Alois&oldid=1686501|publisher=WikiSource|accessdate=12 January 2013}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Rock type}}

{{Igneous-rock-stub}}

{{geochem-stub}}

Category:Ultramafic rocks