Geology & Rocks
Pyroxene
Pyroxene is a group of black, iron-rich minerals that make up the main ingredient in the rock type gabbro and are also found in basalt and other dark igneous rock types.
Bronzite pyroxene from the Stillwater Complex (Neoarchean, 2.71 billion years), Montana, USA. Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pyroxene is a whole group of minerals. Most are black with a high content of iron. Gabbro consists, among other things, of a good deal of pyroxene, and it is also found in basalt and other dark igneous rock types.
Type of mineral
A silicate mineral with iron and magnesium as its main constituents. The pyroxene group includes several species with slightly different chemistry — augite, diopside, bronzite, jadeite — all of which share the same basic structure.
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Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.