A beautiful view of a modern hardground in thin-section.  The platy orange, pinkish and brown grains are the mineral biotite (a mica), the gray and white angular grains are quartz, and the tan irregular grains are recrystallized shells and cements.  Sampled dredged from about 650 meters in the Strait of Messina between the Italian mainland and Sicily.  Collected by Agostina Vertino.