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| Ternary personality diagram of Dartmouth 2005 field camp ("The Stretch") members. |
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Ternary diagrams are frequently used by geologists to classify rocks. A ternary diagram is a triangle that has three end-member compositions A, B, and C at the points. Rocks identified using such a diagram are plotted in terms of their proportions of A, B, and C. Depending on where the rock falls on the diagram, it will have a certain name. Ternary diagrams are a little confusing, at first, if you've never seen one before. The best way to learn is through examples. After awhile, you'll develop an eye for reading ternary diagrams and will be able to easily estimate where a particular rock should plot.
