According to the accessory mineral, the following varieties may be distinguished; chloritic-quartzite, micaceous-quartzite, feldspathic-quartzite, etc.
Quartzites are common in the New England, the Piedmont Plateau, and Lake Superior metamorphic regions, and also in many western localities.
[Schist]
[Pl. 65]
Schist is a loosely used term, but is used here in its structural sense. It includes those metamorphic rocks which are foliated or composed of thin scaly layers, all more or less alike. The principle minerals are recognizable with the naked eye. In general schists lack feldspar, but there are some special cases in which it may be present. Quartz is an abundant component of schists; and with it there will be one or more minerals of the following groups: mica, chlorite, talc, amphibole or pyroxene. Frequently there are also accessory minerals present, like garnet, staurolite, tourmaline, pyrite, magnetite, etc.
All schists have the schistose structure, and split in one direction with a more or less smooth, though often irregular, surface. At right angles to this surface they break with greater or less difficulty and with a frayed edge. As they get coarser, the schists may grade into gneisses, losing their scaly structure: while on the other side, as the constituent minerals become finer and so small as to be difficult of recognition, schists may grade into slates.
The varieties of schist are based on the mineral associated with the quartz; as mica-schist, chlorite-schist, hornblende-schist, talc-schist, etc.
The color also is due to the constituent minerals other than quartz and ranges widely, mica-schists being white to brown or nearly black, chlorite-schists some shade of green, hornblende-schists from dark green to black, talc-schists white, pale-green, yellowish or gray, etc.
Schists are found all over the same regions as gneisses and quartzites, i.e., New England (especially good exposures of schist being seen about New York City), the Lake Superior region, Rocky Mountains, etc. Beside these regions where it occurs native, there are boulders of schist all over the glaciated areas of eastern and northern United States.
[Slate]
Slate is a metamorphic rock which will split into thin or thick sheets, and is composed of grains so fine as to be indistinguishable to the unaided eye. The cleavage is the result of pressure during metamorphism, and has nothing to do with the bedding or stratification of the sedimentary rock from which it was derived. The original bedding planes may appear as streaks, often more or less plicated, and running at any angle with the cleavage. If these bedding streaks are abundant or very marked, they may make a slate unsuitable for commercial uses. The slaty cleavage may be very perfect and smooth so that the rock splits into fine sheets, in which case it is often used for roofing slate; but by far the greater part of the slates have a cleavage which is not smooth or perfect enough so that they can be so used. Slates are the metamorphic equivalents of shales and muds, and represent the effect of great pressure but with less heat than is associated with schists or phyllite, and consequently with less alteration of the original mineral grains.