Diabase
Rock
Also called Dolerite and Trap rock
About it
Dark, medium-grained rock with the makeup of basalt, cooled in dykes and sills, with lath-shaped plagioclase among pyroxene. The Palisades of the Hudson River are diabase; it is crushed as trap rock.
- Type
- Rock (igneous)
- Group
- Igneous (dyke or sill)
- Specific gravity
- 2.8–3.1
- Colours
- dark grey, black, greenish black
- Transparency
- opaque
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.