Mafic

Mafic minerals, Mafite (or dark minerals ) designate a collective term for minerals that are rich in iron and magnesium in a high degree. The names are based on Ma of magnesium and F of Ferrum (iron). Mafic minerals are mainly formations of igneous rocks.

The mafic minerals are occurring in the magmatic rocks: mica, amphibole, pyroxene, olivine, opaque minerals ( ore minerals ), epidote, garnets, melilite and the accessory minerals zircon, apatite, allanite, ( allanite ), titanite. Then there are the rare, also resulting magmatic carbonate minerals in the carbonatites and individual Foiditen.

However, the staining alone does not constitute sufficient identification feature, because depending on the proportion of magnesium and iron, different colorations arise. The more iron contained in the mineral, the darker and the lighter the more magnesium to transparency they are. Since they are relatively little quartz ( SiO2) ( the anhydride of silicic acid ) contain assigns to them also the basic minerals to. Although the formation of the feldspar ( Foide ) only in high SiO2 deficiency, they are not counted among the mafic, but to the felsic minerals.

Mafic minerals belong to the group of rock-forming minerals. Rocks with high proportions of mafic minerals ( high color index ) is called mafic rocks or basic rocks and rocks with very high proportions of mafic minerals ( about 90 %) than ultramafic rocks or ultrabasic rocks.