Symplectite
![Scanning Electron Microscope interface image of a fayalite-pyroxene symplectite (at right) in a Martian meteorite](/Images/godic/202502/14/Symplectite4434.JPG")
A symplectite (or symplektite) is a material texture: a micrometre-scale or submicrometre-scale intergrowth of two or more crystals. Symplectites form from the breakdown of unstable phases, and may be composed of minerals, ceramics, or metals. Fundamentally, their formation is the result of slow grain-boundary diffusion relative to interface propagation rate.