TWINNING

RAHUL S

22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 1

• Twinning represents a symmetrical intergrowth of two or more crystal
segments of the same mineral. Because the segments are joined along a
surface, twinning can be considered a variety of planar structural defect.
• Twinning can take a variety of forms
• Twinning is not the same as the random intergrowth of mineral grains
and crystals that invariably takes place in rock and mineral deposits.
• In every case the two or more twin segments are related to each other by
a symmetry operation called a twin operation.
• There are three possible twin operations: reflection, rotation, and
inversion.
• The twin law that describes the twin operation includes specification of
the twin operation and identification of the crystallographic plane or axis
associated with the twinning.

22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 2

• Twinning by reflection produces two segments of crystals that are related
to each other by a mirror parallel to a crystallographic plane common to
both segments.
• The mirror plane is identified by its Miller index.
• It must not be a plane that is normally a mirror in the untwinned crystal.
• The twin law is usually expressed as “reflection on {hkl}” or “twins on
{hkl},” where {hkl} is the form symbol of the mirror plane.

22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 3

• Rotation produces two or more crystal segments related to each other by
rotation on a crystallographic axis common to all segments.
• Almost always the rotation is 2-fold (180°), although other rational rotations
are possible.
• The rotation responsible for the twinning must not duplicate a rotation axis
present in the untwinned crystal, although a twin axis may be parallel to a
symmetry axis if the rotation required for twinning is not the same as the
rotation required by the symmetry axis.
• For example, the [111] body diagonal through a cube is typically a 3-fold
rotation axis. Twinning by 2-fold rotation on [111] is possible because it does
not duplicate the 3-fold rotation.
• The twin law for a typical 180° rotation is usually expressed as “2-fold rotation
on [uvw],” where [uvw] is the crystallographic axis on which rotation occurs.
This may be short ened to “twinning on [uvw]” if 2-fold rotation is presumed. If
the twin axis is defined as being perpendicular to a spe cific crystal plane (hkl),
the twin law would be expressed as “2-fold rotation ⊥ (hkl).”
22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 4
• With inversion twinning, the two crystal segments are related to each other by inversion
through the center.
• In most cases, however, the processes of rotation or reflection can be used to express
the same twin.
• Although mathematically we describe the twin as formed by inversion, in many real
crystals the same twin relationship can also be described by:
• Rotation (twin axis)
• Reflection (twin plane)
• So, even if inversion is the theoretical operation, the visible geometry may look like a
rotation twin or reflection twin.
• n many crystal systems:
• An inversion operation can be geometrically equivalent to
• a 180° rotation
• or reflection across a plane
• So crystallographers prefer to describe the twin using:
• Twin axis (rotation)
• Twin plane (reflection)
• since these are easier to visualize.
22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 5
22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 6
• The surface along which two twin segments are joined is called the
composition surface.
• In some cases the composition surface is irregular and in others it follows
a rational crystallographic plane and can be indexed.
• If the composition surface is a smooth rational crystallographic plane, it
is called a composition plane and is identified with its Miller index (hkl).
• If the twinning is produced by reflection, the twin plane will be the
composition plane.
• Rotation twins may produce either a composition plane or an irregular
composition surface.
•

22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 7

• Twins may be characterized by whether the twin segments appear to be intergrown or not.
• Contact twins are joined on a rational composition plane, and the twin segments do not
appear to be intergrown.
• Contact twins may be produced by either reflection or rotation.
• Twin segments that appear to be intergrown are known as penetration twins and typically
have irregular composition surfaces.
• Penetration twins are usually produced by rotation.
• Simple twins are composed of just two twin segments.
• Multiple twins, however, are composed of three or more segments repeated by the same
twin law.
• If the twin segments are joined on successive parallel composition planes, the result is the
formation of polysynthetic twins
• Plagioclase is probably the most widely recognized mineral with polysynthetic twins.
• Plagioclase is triclinic, and twinning by reflection on {010} is repeated over and over,
producing thin lamellae in one orientation alternating with lamellae in the reflected
orientation.
• If the successive composition surfaces are not parallel, a cyclic twin may result.
• Recognition of twinning, as opposed to random inter growths of mineral grains and crystals, is
not always easy.
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• The mechanism by which a twin is produced include growth,
transformation, and deformation.
• Growth Twinning There are many examples of penetration twins and
contact twins that could have occurred only by growing that way.
• It is clear in many cases that the twinning was established at, or soon
after, the initiation of mineral growth because the twin segments are
continuous all the way to the center of crystals.
• The mechanisms that favor the growth of twinned crystals as opposed to
untwinned crystals are poorly under stood, but the systematic
development of twins in some minerals suggests that the twinned
geometry may represent a lower energy or kinetically favored
configuration.

22-02-2026 RAHUL S, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SNC VARKALA 10

• Transformation Twinning is produced as a consequence of a displacive polymorphic
transition. The mineral leucite (KAlSi2O6), which is common in certain K-rich mafic
lavas, displays transformation twinning.
• Leucite typically forms trapezohedral crystals and crystallizes with isometric symmetry
with a cubic unit cell under the conditions of growth in the lava.
• When the temperature drops below about 665°C, the structure undergoes a dis
placive polymorphic transition to tetragonal symmetry with a change in unit cell
dimensions.
• Because the three isometric a, b, and c axes are identical, there is an equal probability
that any one of them will become the c axis of the tetragonal unit cell (Figure 5.24b).
• If the entire crystal transforms to a single tetragonal orientation, the crystal would
change dimensions consistent with the new tetragonal unit cell.
• However, the crystal is constrained by the solid rock around it.
• To maintain the same external shape, different parts of the crystal convert to each of
the three possible tetragonal c axis orientations.
• The result is to form twin lamellae with each of the three different crystallographic
orientations so that the dimensional changes average out, and the macro scopic
shape of the crystal does not change.
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• Deformation twins can be produced in many minerals by the appropriate
application of shear stress.
• In response to the stress, the crystal lattice is distorted to a new
orientation by coordinated displacement along successive planes.
• The process is sometimes referred to as a glide, and the crystallographic
plane along which displacement occurs is a glide plane.
• Deformation twins are always mirror twins, and the glide plane is the
mirror.
• Calcite is particularly easy to twin by deformation; samples may readily
be twinned by the pressure of a knife blade on the edges of cleavage
rhombs. Calcite in deformed rocks typically displays twin lamellae
produced by glide on {102}.

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 REFERENCE
• NESSE
• DEXTER PERKINS

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