Quartzite

Quartzite

Swan Peak Ordovician quartzite, just north of Tony Grove Lake, Utah

The quartzite of the Prospect Mountain Formation on top of Wheeler Peak, Nevada

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock. It is formed when sandstone is squeezed and heated under a chain of mountains.

Although pure quartzite is white, it usually occurs in shades of pink and red. This happens when it contains some iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). Other colours, such as yellow and orange, are due to other mineral impurities.

When sandstone is changed to quartzite, the individual quartz grains and cement material recrystallizes. Most of the original texture of the sandstone is destroyed by the metamorphism. Minor amounts of cementing materials, iron oxide, silica, carbonate and clay, often move when this is happening. It causes streaks and lens shapes to form in the quartzite.

Quartzite Media

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  Quartzite can have a grainy, glassy, sandpaper-like surface

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  Quartzite statue of Egyptian Pharaoh, 14th century BCE

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  Abandoned quartzite mine in Kakwa Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

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  Quartzite biface hand axe from Stellenbosch, South Africa