Stop G: Wells Fargo 2 Plaza - Building Stone Walking Tour of Uptown Charlotte (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Stop G: Two Wells Fargo Plaza
301 South Tryon
The Two Wells Fargo building (Figure 21, formerly known as Wachovia 2) features a large plaza with outdoor seating and multiple water features. The plaza is often used for outdoor events and is a great place for a picnic lunch. Look inside the interior lobby for more examples of marble and travertine.
G1: Exterior cladding; bench walls and capstones surrounding plaza
This visually stunning rock tells a story of several major metamorphic events (Figure 22 & 23). The parent rock was likely a granite that was subjected to sufficiently
intense heat and pressure (amphibolite-grade metamorphism) to cause minerals of different compositions to segregate into corresponding light and dark bands clearly visible throughout the rock. This newly formed “gneiss” was then
subjected to even higher temperatures (upper granulite facies) which caused a
high level of partial melting and recrystallization of many minerals as
evidenced by the highly deformed thin bands of fine-grained mafic minerals and
regions of light-colored, mega-crystic plagioclase and orthoclase grains (light
peach and milky white in color). The final product is a migmatite. As the rock
began to cool, a third event injected molten magma into the migmatite which
crystalized into the light-colored, quartz-rich veins that cross-cut the
foliation.
G2: Fountain capstones
The dark stone benches and cladding material at the base of the Interstate Tower,
Two Wells Fargo Plaza, and in other
structures throughout the city, is often referred to as “black granite”. It actually is a gabbro containing a plagioclase feldspar known as labradorite which has a “labradoresence” or schiller effect, consisting of a stunning play of color and blue-green iridescence visible from certain angles (Figure 24-25). This optical phenomenon is the result of light refracting within lamellar intergrowths of Na-rich and Ca-rich lamellae within the crystal structure. The lamellae result from phase exsolution during cooling. The medium- to coarse-grained minerals visible throughout this rock are plagioclase (grey) pyroxenes (black) and possibly some olivine (green).
G3: Plaza pavers
Light colored pavers in the plaza are a locally quarried stone, the Mount Airy Granite (described in full in stop H1). The medium dark pavers are a granite similar
to those described at stop L4, and the dark pavers are a gabbro, both intrusive
igneous rocks formed from crystallization of magma deep within the earth’s crust.
301 South Tryon
The Two Wells Fargo building (Figure 21, formerly known as Wachovia 2) features a large plaza with outdoor seating and multiple water features. The plaza is often used for outdoor events and is a great place for a picnic lunch. Look inside the interior lobby for more examples of marble and travertine.
G1: Exterior cladding; bench walls and capstones surrounding plaza
This visually stunning rock tells a story of several major metamorphic events (Figure 22 & 23). The parent rock was likely a granite that was subjected to sufficiently
intense heat and pressure (amphibolite-grade metamorphism) to cause minerals of different compositions to segregate into corresponding light and dark bands clearly visible throughout the rock. This newly formed “gneiss” was then
subjected to even higher temperatures (upper granulite facies) which caused a
high level of partial melting and recrystallization of many minerals as
evidenced by the highly deformed thin bands of fine-grained mafic minerals and
regions of light-colored, mega-crystic plagioclase and orthoclase grains (light
peach and milky white in color). The final product is a migmatite. As the rock
began to cool, a third event injected molten magma into the migmatite which
crystalized into the light-colored, quartz-rich veins that cross-cut the
foliation.
G2: Fountain capstones
The dark stone benches and cladding material at the base of the Interstate Tower,
Two Wells Fargo Plaza, and in other
structures throughout the city, is often referred to as “black granite”. It actually is a gabbro containing a plagioclase feldspar known as labradorite which has a “labradoresence” or schiller effect, consisting of a stunning play of color and blue-green iridescence visible from certain angles (Figure 24-25). This optical phenomenon is the result of light refracting within lamellar intergrowths of Na-rich and Ca-rich lamellae within the crystal structure. The lamellae result from phase exsolution during cooling. The medium- to coarse-grained minerals visible throughout this rock are plagioclase (grey) pyroxenes (black) and possibly some olivine (green).
G3: Plaza pavers
Light colored pavers in the plaza are a locally quarried stone, the Mount Airy Granite (described in full in stop H1). The medium dark pavers are a granite similar
to those described at stop L4, and the dark pavers are a gabbro, both intrusive
igneous rocks formed from crystallization of magma deep within the earth’s crust.