Tinguaite

tinguaite, pale- to dark-green, very fine-grained igneous rock that may be considered the dike (tabular body injected in fissures) equivalent of phonolite. It contains alkali feldspar and nepheline, with aegirine or aegirine-augite. Tinguaite in which the amount of feldspathoid (nepheline) equals or is greater than that of feldspar has a characteristic texture: the light-coloured matrix (groundmass) is equigranular and sugary, with needles of aegirine between and randomly crossing the other constituents to give a feltlike appearance. Notable sites of occurrence for tinguaite include Rio de Janeiro, Braz.; Hedrum, Nor.; and the Bearpaw Mountains of Montana in the United States.