Thin section / cream and ruby minerals Curtain Panel byfacts&figuresdesigns

This fabric features a picture taken through a microscope (a photomicrograph) of a rock from Breuil in Valtournenche, Italy. Metamorphic petrologists reconstruct the history of rocks like this using clues embedded in mineral chemistry and textures. The pink mineral is piemontite while the lighter cream-colored background, or "matrix," is a mix of quartz and a mineral called phengite. This rock probably began on the seafloor, but it is now exposed in the mountains, more than 3400 m (11,100 ft) above sea level. This piece of the seafloor was most likely pushed down deep into the earth at a convergent plate boundary (where two tectonic plates move toward each other) to pressures more than 25,000 times those experienced at Earth’s surface and temperatures of 550 to 625°C. After experiencing high pressures and temperatures, the rock was later exhumed to the high elevations where it is now exposed. This photomicrograph was taken by Dr. Jane Selverstone, a metamorphic petrologist who has worked in the Alps for more than 30 years. More at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/523293983/photomicrograph-scarf-infinity-thin?ref=shop_home_active_6