🪨 LithoClade: Rocks & Minerals
Choose your play mode, then select a geological broad group (Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic, or Minerals).
Granite
Felsic Phaneritic Plutonic Rock
Choose the closest Petrogenetic Rock Classification: how did this rock form?
About Petrogenetic Rock Classification & Dana / Strunz Mineralogy
Just as biologists classify organisms by evolutionary common ancestry in PhyloClade, geologists classify rocks by petrogenesis (the physical and chemical origin of the rock) and classify minerals by dominant anion chemistry and crystal lattice structure (the Dana and Strunz systems). LithoClade features 124 verified rock and mineral specimens across 4 broad groups and 27 diagnostic subgroups.
1. Igneous Rocks (7 Subgroups): Classified on a two-axis matrix of cooling rate (intrusive phaneritic plutons vs. extrusive aphanitic lavas, volcanic glass, and pyroclastic tephra) and silica (SiO₂) melt chemistry governed by Bowen's Reaction Series—spanning Felsic Plutonic (Granitoids), Felsic Volcanic & Glassy, Intermediate (Diorite–Andesite), Mafic Plutonic (Gabbroids), Mafic Volcanic (Basaltoids), Ultramafic & Mantle peridotites, and Pyroclastic Tuffs.
2. Sedimentary Rocks (6 Subgroups): Divided between detrital clastic rocks sorted on the Wentworth Grain-Size Scale—Coarse Clastic Rudites (>2 mm conglomerates and breccias), Medium Clastic Sandstones (0.0625–2 mm arenites and arkose), and Fine Clastic Mudrocks & Shales (<0.0625 mm)—and chemical/biogenic precipitates including Carbonates (Limestones & Dolostone), Evaporites (halite, gypsum, sylvite), and Siliceous, Iron & Organic deposits (chert, banded iron formation, coal).
3. Metamorphic Rocks (6 Subgroups): Organized by directed tectonic stress (foliated vs. non-foliated granoblastic fabrics) and pressure–temperature (P–T) metamorphic facies—progressing from Low-Grade Foliated (Slate & Phyllite) through Medium-Grade Schists and High-Grade Gneiss & Migmatite, alongside Non-Foliated Contact rocks (marble, quartzite, hornfels), High-Pressure Subduction blueschists and eclogites, and Hydrothermal & Fault Zone serpentinites and mylonites.
4. Minerals (8 Major Dana / Strunz Chemical Groups): Organized by the dominant negatively charged anion group in the crystal lattice—Silicates ((SiO₄)⁴⁻ tetrahedra), Carbonates ((CO₃)²⁻), Oxides & Hydroxides (O²⁻ / OH⁻), Sulfides (S²⁻), Sulfates ((SO₄)²⁻), Halides (F⁻, Cl⁻), Phosphates & Vanadates ((PO₄)³⁻ / (VO₄)³⁻), and Native Elements. Explore all 27 subgroups in the Geology Rock & Mineral ID Guide & Field Compendium.