Pelite in the context of Siltstone

In geology, cyclothems are alternating stratigraphic sequences of marine and non-marine sediments, sometimes interbedded with coal seams. The cyclothems consist of repeated sequences, each typically several meters thick, of sandstone resting upon an erosion surface, passing upwards to pelites (finer-grained than sandstone) and topped by coal.

Historically, the term was defined by the European coal geologists who worked in coal basins formed during the Carboniferous and earliest Permian periods. Depositional sequences have been thoroughly studied by oil geologists using geophysical profiles of continental and marine basins. A general theory of basin-scale deposition has been formalized under the name of sequence stratigraphy.

Leucogranite is a light-colored, granitic, igneous rock containing almost no dark minerals.

Leucogranites have been reported from a variety of orogenies involving continental collisions. Examples include the Black Hills (Trans-Hudson orogeny of Proterozoic age), the Blue Ridge basement complex (Grenville orogeny of Proterozoic age), the Paleozoic Appalachian orogeny in Maine, and the currently active Himalayan orogeny. The leucogranite magmas are interpreted to have been derived by partial melting of pelitic rocks in the upper portions of thickened crust. These melts result following deformation and metamorphism, but the heat source is uncertain. Shear-heating associated with large shear zones in the crust has been proposed as the mechanism.

Lutite is old terminology, which is not widely used, by Earth scientists in field descriptions for fine-grained, sedimentary rocks, which are composed of silt-size sediment, clay-size sediment, or a mixture of both. When mixed with water lutites often disintegrate into mud. Because this is a field term, there is a lack of any precise definition for it based upon specific grain-size characteristics. Lutites include a variety of fine-grained sedimentary rocks, including calcisiltite, calcilutite, claystone, mudstone, shale, and siltstone. It is equivalent to the term mudstone and the Greek-derived term pelite. Lutite was first used in 1904 by Grabau, who derived it from lutum, the Latin word for mud. He also proposed a number of prefixes to be used with and attached to "lutite" in order to designate various types of lutites. None of these prefixes are used by Earth scientists nowadays.

Pettijohn gives the following descriptive terms based on grain size, avoiding the use of terms such as "clay" or "argillaceous" which carry an implication of chemical composition:

A porphyroblast is a large mineral crystal in a metamorphic rock which has grown within the finer grained matrix. Porphyroblasts are commonly euhedral crystals, but can also be partly to completely irregular in shape.

The most common porphyroblasts in metapelites (metamorphosed mudstones and siltstones) are garnets and staurolites, which stand out in well-foliated metapelites (such as schists) against the platy mica matrix.

The Bolivian tin belt (Spanish: Cinturón estanifero boliviano, provincia estannifera boliviana) is a mineral-rich region in the Cordillera Oriental of Bolivia. Being a metallogenetic province the Bolivian tin belt is rich in tin, tungsten, silver and base metals. The Bolivian tin belt follows the same bend as the Bolivian orocline. The mineralizations of the belt were formed episodically beginning in the Triassic and with the youngest known mineralizations dating to the Miocene.

The mineral enrichment is a result of fluids expelled from peraluminous magmas. Peraluminous magmas in turn results from the partial melting (anatexis) of metasedimentary rock and gneiss in the continental crust. Analysis of trace elements in the igneous rocks formed by this magma suggests that some of its material derives from melting of a pelitic rock of Lower Paleozoic age. Besides crustal components magmas did also involve sources in the mantle. The formation of these magmas is thus a form of crustal recycling.