The Colorado College Alpine Journal is a collection of climbing related stories and articles based on the experiences and adventures of Colorado College alumni and students. Contents for this issue include descriptions of climbs in North America, South America, Africa and Asia.
The Catalyst is the weekly student newspaper of Colorado College. This issue was published March 27, 2009.
WomynSpeak is a publication "dedicated to the free expression of Colorado College womyn created by the Feminist and Gender Studies interns."
The Monthly Rag, a publication of the Feminist and Gender Studies interns, is found affixed to toilet stall walls around the Colorado College campus.
The Monthly Rag, a publication of the Feminist and Gender Studies interns, is found affixed to toilet stall walls around the Colorado College campus.
Plagioclase and clinopyroxene form subhedral, unaltered grains amongst a background of finer-grained, intermingled iddingsite and zeolites. Iddingsite may be a pseudomorph after biotite. Described by Western Minerals Inc. as an 'interstitial ferrotholeiite, very highly fractionated…textures are similar to those associated with rapidly frozen or highly viscous melts.'
Plagioclase, the most abundant mineral in this thin section, grades smoothly in size from groundmass mircrolites to subhedral microphenocrysts. Tiny, equant opaques join the plag microlites in forming the groundmass. Clinopyroxene, the second most abundant mineral, is found as relatively euhedral microphenocrysts. Plucking of the pyroxenes is severe. A fiberous phase is frequently found infilling or perhaps pseudomorphing a rectangular phenocrystic phase.
Plagioclase and clinopyroxene form subhedral and anhedral grains, respectively, though unlike the other ferrotholeiites in this suite, both are cross-cut by or being pseudomorphed by iddingsite, a very dominant mineral in this thin section. Interstitial, undeformed quartz is found in the groundmass and inclusions of apatite crystals lend an almost graphic texture to this phase. Described by Western Minerals Inc. as an 'interstitial ferrotholeiite, very highly fractionated…textures are similar to those associated with rapidly frozen or highly viscous melts.'
Phenocrysts in this thin section are subhedral k-feldspar with strong Carlsbad twins, subhedral plagioclase, anhedral, granular quartz aggregates, and skeletal biotite with granular hematite rims. The groundmass is a granular, amorphous quartzofeldspathic mixture.
Phenocrystic phases in this thin section are subhedral plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene, found both as isolated crystals and as glomeroporphyroclasts. Some plagioclase phenocrysts have inclusions of equant pyroxenes and blebs of glass. Glass and plagioclase comprise the vesicular groundmass.
As is characteristic of a harzburgite, this sample is greater than 90% olivine, with a few large clinopyroxene grains, fracture-infilled serpentine, and occasional, moderately-sized rutile grains making up the remaining constituents of the rock. Serpentinization is minimal.
This thin section has a diabasic texture. While the plagioclase has remained relatively unaltered, clinopyroxene has been almost entirely pseudomorphed by serpentine. Anhedral clusters of calcite is found throughout.
Phenocrysts of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and iddingsite pseudomorphs after olivine–presumably–are surrounded by a groundmass of unoriented plagioclase microlites, glass, and localized calcite. Plucking of the phenocrysts is noticable and vesicles are present.
Most of this thin section is serpentine. Scattered throughout are optically-continuous, serpentine-framed fragments of olivine and somewhat larger, texturally-similar orthopyroxene fragments.
This vesicular basalt contains microphenocrysts of olivine and orthopyroxene, both of which are also lesser components of the groundmass which consists mainly of uniformly-sized plagioclase laths. The olivine phenocryst have weak reaction rims. Some plagioclase is zoned and sieved.
The least altered phase in this thin section is plagioclase, which forms roughly aligned, variably sized laths that make up both the groundmass, which is dominantly glass, and the phenocryst population. A second phenocryst, clinopyroxene, remains only as inclusions in the calcite pseudomorphs that replaced it. Vesicles, clays, and hematite pseudomorphs are abundant in this thin section.
Elongate plagioclase laths with interstitial clinopyroxene and minor interstitial hornblende and biotite. Classic diabasic texture. Said by Western Minerals Inc. to be the youngest dolerite body in the area and was emplaced at much deeper crustal levels than the gabbros.
Described by Western Minerals Inc. as 'porphyroblastic metasediments/hybrid rocks, interpreted by Eales and his coworkers as metamorphosed 'Red Beds' Formation sediments but conceivably magmatic in origin. The specimens illustrate the range in textures and compositions.' Texturally, this fine-grained thin section is an allotriomorphic, junky intergrowth of larger, roughly rectangular feldspars with granular calcite and chlorite. Opaques are abundant.
The groundmass of this microporphyritic basalt consists of glass and plagioclase microlites. Subhedral plagioclase phenocrysts are roughly aligned and some are concentrically zoned. Subhedral, plucked, clinopyroxene phenocrysts of variable size are less abundant than those of plagioclase.
Glaucophane, muscovite, sphene, and elongate aggregates of epidote-group minerals define the foliation in this thin section. Poikiloblastic garnet and omphacite grains contain inclusions which include glaucophane and rutile.
This inequigranular mosaic of pyroxenes and olivine is highly fractured. Subparallel swarms of high-density fractures are visible throughout and contain the highest concentrations of serpentine. The infilled minerals of one conspicuous vein have a nice comb texture.
But for the anhedral quartz microphenocryss in this vesicular rhyolite, the rest is a clay-altered glass.
Strongly aligned actinolite crystals define a strongly folded foliation with lenses of subparallel chlorite crystals.
This vesicular basalt contains microphenocrysts of olivine and orthopyroxene, both of which are also lesser components of the groundmass which consists mainly of uniformly-sized plagioclase laths. The olivine phenocryst have weak reaction rims. Some plagioclase is zoned and sieved.
