Reading a Ternary Diagram

And Creating Rock Names

Need to plot ternary data? A Free Plotting Program is available: TriPlot.
Power Point Presentation Animating How To Read A Ternary Diagram And
Applying It To Clastic Rock Classification And Identification.
This PP is one I use in my introductory general education and historical geology classes and is unmodified from
them. Anyone may use any of the slides for personal or educational purposes so long as the source is acknowledged.
Questions? Comments. Contact me at fichtels@jmu.edu.

Reading a Ternary Diagram

A ternary diagram is a triangle, with each of the three apexes representing a
composition, such as sandstone, shale, and limestone . For the moment they are
labeled A, B, and C. We are going to take the diagram apart to see how it works.
The drawing to the left has only the skeleton of the triangle present as we
concentrate on point A. Point A is at the top of the heavy vertical red line (arrow).
Along this line is indicated percent of A. A point plotted at the top of the vertical line
nearest Aindicates 100% A. A horizontal bar at the bottom of the line (farthest
from A) represents 0% of A. Any other percentage can be indicated by a line
appropriately located along the line between 0% and 100%, as shown by the numbers
off to the right.
The horizontal lines that represent various percents of A can be of any length since
they run parallel to the base line and remain the same distance from the bottom and
top of the triangle. The lines are projected out to the right of the red arrow line just as
far as where the imaginary side of the triangle will be, and their percentage
abundances written along the right side of the triangle. By doing this the right side of
the triangle becomes the scale for percent abundance of A.
To be complete the hoirizontal lines also extend to the left until they contact the
left side of the imaginary triangle, but no percent abundances are written there. In the
final ternary diagram the red vertical arrow is removed.
Point B is at the lower left apex of the triangle. We construct a percent abundance
scale for B by rotating the heavy red scale line 120 degrees counter clock wise so that
it runs from the right side of the triangle to the lower left corner. The right side of the
triangle now becomes the base line for the percent scale for B, and a series of red lines
have been drawn parallel to the triangle's right side to mark off the percentages. These
lines are projected out to the left and bottom sides of the triangle, and the percent
scale for B laid out along the left side.

Point C is at the lower right apex of the triangle. We construct the percent
abundance scale for C by rotating the heavy red scale line another 120 degrees so that
it runs from the left side of the triangle to the lower right corner, and the percent scale
lines and percent abundance numbers rotate with it.
The sum result is the ternary diagram to the right with all the scales present. Note
that the heavy red lines are not included in this final triangle. Also observe that the
ternary diagram is read counter clockwise.
So, some practice. Note the numbers 1 - 4 on the diagram. The composition for
each of these points is shown below. See if you agree.
1.
2.
3.
4.

60% A | 20% B | 20% C = 100%

25% A | 40% B | 35% C = 100%
10% A | 70% B | 20% C = 100%
0.0% A | 25% B | 75% C = 100%

However, in common use, ternary diagrams usually do not have the "A Scale", "B
Scale", "C Scale" on them. Also, even the percent numbers are absent. So, you must
learn to read these diagrams without all those aids.
So, determine the percent abundances for each of the following points.
5.
6.
7.
8.

? % A | ? % B | ? % C = 100%
? % A | ? % B | ? % C = 100%
? % A | ? % B | ? % C = 100%
? % A | ? % B | ? % C = 100%
Click Here For Answers:

Naming Rocks From the Ternary Diagram

One of the criteria of a good classification system is that rock names are logically
and consistently derived so that one may easily and accurately go back and forth from
diagram to rock name. We will later develop more sophisticated rock names, but let's
begin with the rocks developed in the simple ideal model.

Notice that the simple ideal model has three attractors - sandstone, shale, and
limestone. And, of course, a ternary diagram has three apexes. So, sandstone goes at
the top, shale in the lower left, and limestone in the lower right.
Samples 9, 10, and 11 are at the apexes of the triangle and so each of these are pure
end members, just as in the simple ideal model. However, any point that plots
anywhere on one of the side lines, or within the triangle represents a rock composed
of mixed end members.
That such mixed specimens exist should not be surprising, even from the model.
Observe in the drawing above that sandstone shades into shale, and shale shades into
limestone.
The question here is, how would we name such rocks if we wanted to give them
names? After all, saying something like "60% sand 30% shale, 10% limestone" for
every rock would get tedious, and we would have to visualize the ternary diagram and
plot the numbers to get a true sense of the rock.
But take a rock like 12. It has the following composition:
12. 60% Sandstone | 10% Shale | 30% Limestone = 100%