Iâve come across a historical footnote on the English language and I thought everyone would get a kick out of it. Up until about 2 hundred years ago, there was a 27th letter in the English language. This letter is still in common use today and I would bet that you have used it recently. But this letter is no longer considered a letter; it is now regarded either an abbreviation or punctuation. Iâm talking about the (&) ampersand.
Gneiss is a medium to coarse-grained, irregularly banded rock with only poorly developed cleavage. The light and dark bands (gneissic banding) are alternations of felsic vs. mafic layers. Slate is a product of low grade metamorphism (not terribly great burial temperatures and pressures are required).
Gneiss is a high grade metamorphic rock. This means that gneiss has been subjected to more heat and pressure than schist. Gneiss is coarser than schist and has distinct banding. This banding has alternating layers that are composed of different minerals.The minerals that compose gneiss are the same as granite.chist is a medium grade metamorphic rock. This means that it has been subjected to more heat and pressure than slate, which is a low grade metamorphic rock. As you can see in the photo above schist is a more coarse grained rock. The individual grains of minerals can be seen by the naked eye.