Biaxiality in relation to visible twinning in experimentally deformed calcite

Moderate to strong biaxiality (2V = 10 °–45 °) in experimentally deformed calcite (in single crystals and in marble) is attributed to overlap between one or two thin {01¯12} twin lamellae and the enclosing host. A perfectly centered conoscopic figure (section normal to [0001]) is perceptibly asymmetric about the trace of the optic axial plane. This asymmetry is pronouned in thick sections (> 0.04 mm) and completely distrupts the biaxial configuration of the figure if the overlapping lamella exceeds about 0.0025 mm in thickness. In sections somewhat oblique to [0001] and cut at 20 ° or less to the plane of twinning the conoscopic figure may appear to be perfectly biaxial-expecially in thin sections ( 0.02 mm) enclosing thin ( 0.001 mm) but still visible twins.Similar values of 2V recorded for natural calcite likewise are attributed to twinning on a visible scale.