Schist
Rock
About it
Medium to coarse rock with platy minerals such as mica, chlorite, or talc lined up, so it sparkles and splits into flaky slabs. Its name is Greek for split; the bedrock of Manhattan is schist.
- Type
- Rock (metamorphic)
- Group
- Metamorphic (foliated)
- Specific gravity
- 2.4–2.9
- Lustre
- pearly
- Colours
- silver, grey, green, brown, black
- Transparency
- opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- splits along foliation (schistosity)
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.