12.001
FIELD TRIP 1: BUILDING BLOCKS OF BOSTON DUE: FRIDAY, MARCH 5
We observed several rocks on our field trip, and for this assignment we would like you to describe each of the
following:
1. Longmeadow arkose from Old South Church and Trinity Church
2. Roxbury conglomerate (puddingstone) from Old South Church
3. Carrara marble with stylolites
4. Deer Isle granite with rapakivi texture
5. Quincy granodiorite from St. Paul’s cathedral
6. Serpentine from the Bank of America
For each of the rocks, write briefly about each on the following:
List the textures, grain size and mineralogy.
Use your sketch and observations to make interpretations about the environment of crystallization,
deposition, and/or metamorphosis.
Explain why this particular rock was chosen as building material. Mechanical properties? Economic
reasons? Aesthetic considerations?
For serpentine, discuss its significance in carbon sequestration (hint: think about the reaction to form
sepentinite from olivine)
We would also like a rough sketch of one of the rocks listed above.
Due at the beginning of class.