Showing papers in "Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology in 1975"

Origin of Ross Island basanitoids and limitations upon the heterogeneity of mantle sources for alkali basalts and nephelinites

Abstract: Primary basanitoids from Ross Island, Antarctica have REE patterns and Pb isotope ratios similar to those for primary alkali basalts and nephelinites on ocean islands. The lead data from all volcanics on Ross Island have a spread of 4% in the 206/204 ratio and give a two-stage model lead age of 1500 m.y. The age is interpreted to be the time since the development of the chemical heterogeneity of the mantle source, presumably during an earlier melting process.

SP-Mylonites: Origin of some mylonites by superplastic flow

Abstract: Superplasticity in fine-grained materials is characterized by extensive grain boundary sliding. This phenomenon can take place only in special conditions. Six criteria are thus defined to determine when Superplasticity has been active. Applications of these criteria to several examples of mylonites are discussed and we conclude that superplasticity explains some types of mylonites and the tectonic banding that they exhibit.

Lead Isotope Relations in Oceanic Ridge Basalts from the Juan de Fuca-Gorda Ridge Area, N.E. Pacific Ocean

Abstract: Lead isotopic analyses of a suite of basaltic rocks from the Juan de Fuca-Gorda Ridge and nearby seamounts confirm an isotopically heterogeneous mantle known since 1966. The process of mixing during partial melting of a heterogeneous mantle necessarily produces linear data arrays that can be interpreted as secondary isochrons. Moreover, the position of the entire lead isotope array, with respect to the geochron, requires that U/Pb and Th/Pb values are progressively increased over the age of the earth. Partial melting theory also dictates analogous behavior for the other incompatible trace elements. This process explains not only the LIL element character of MOR basalts, but also duplicates the spread of radiogenic lead data collected from alkali-rich oceanic basalts. This dynamic, open-system model of lead isotopic and chemical evolution of the mantle is believed to be the direct result of tectonic flow and convective overturn within the mantle and is compatible with geophysical models of a dynamic earth.

Hydrothermal processes along mid-ocean ridges: An experimental investigation

Abstract: An experimental investigation of high-temperature seawater/basalt interactions has been conducted in order to better evaluate the geochemical and economic implications of hydrothermal circulation of seawater in the oceanic crust along active mid-ocean ridges. The results indicate that, as seawater reacts with basalt between 200 ° C and 500 ° C at 500–800 bars, the fluid tends to change from an oxygenated, slightly alkaline, Na+, Mg++, SO4 =, Cl− solution to a reducing, acidic, Na+, Ca++, Cl−, solution with Fe, Mn and Cu concentrations up to 1500, 190 and 0.3 ppm respectively. Silica concentrations in the fluid reach concentrations of 200–600 ppm; however, Al abundances remain very low (∼0.5 ppm). Gray and green smectites, anhydrite, albite, tremolite-actinolite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and hematite were the dominant alteration products formed. These data imply that large-scale circulation of seawater in the oceanic crust could account for the Al-deficient metalliferous sediments associated with mid-ocean ridges and could be important in the genesis of certain Fe-Cu sulfide ore deposists. The process could also affect the geochemical budgets of certain elements and exert substantial control of the steady-state composition of seawater by removing excess Na and Mg and adding Ca, Si, and H to the oceans.

Water content of a granite magma deduced from the sequence of crystallization determined experimentally with water-undersaturated conditions

Abstract: The sequence of crystallization in a biotite-granite from the Bohus batholith of Norway and Sweden, deduced from its texture, was magnetite, plagioclase, microcline, quartz, and finally biotite. Several sequences of crystallization were determined experimentally at 2 kb in the presence of varying only for H_2O contents below 1.2% by weight. The rock was fused to a homogeneous glass, and each experiment included samples of finely crushed rock and glass. The samples were reacted in Ag-Pd capsules with measured H_2O content in coldseal pressure vessels with NNO buffer. With excess H_2O (more than 6.5%) the crystallization interval extends from 865° C to 705° C. In the H_2O-deficient region, the solidus temperature remains unchanged as long as a trace of vapor is present, but the liquidus temperature increases as H_2O content decreases; with 0.8 % H_2O the liquidus temperature is 1125° C, the crystallization interval is 420° C, and a separate aqueous vapor phase is evolved only a few degrees above the solidus at 705° C. The biotite phase boundary increases slightly from 845° C with excess H_2O to 875° C with 1% H_2O, and it intersects the steep phase boundaries for quartz and feldspars; the sequence of crystallization changes at each intersection point. Similar diagrams at various pressures for related rock compositions involving muscovite, biotite and amphibole will provide grids useful in defining limits for the water content of granitic and dioritic magmas. Applications are considered for the Bohus batholith, other granitic rocks, and rhyolites. The Bohus magma could have been formed by crustal anatexis as a mobile assemblage of H_2O-undersaturated liquid and residual crystals with initial total H_2O content less than 1.2%, or it could have been derived by fractionation of a more basic parent with low H_2O content from mantle or subduction zone, but it could not have been derived from a primary andesite generated from mantle peridotite. We consider it unlikely that the H_2O content of large granitic magma bodies exceeds about 1.5% H_2O; these magmas are H_2O-undersaturated through most of their histories. Uprise and progressive crystallization of magma bodies produces H_2O-saturation around margins and in the upper regions of magma chambers. H_2O-saturated rhyolitic and dacitic magmas with phenocrysts can be tapped from the upper parts of the magma chambers.

The role of CO2 in the genesis of olivine melilitite

Abstract: The nature of the near-liquidus phases for a mantle-derived olivine melilitite composition have been determined at high pressure under dry conditions and with various water contents. Olivine and clinopyroxene occur on or near the liquidus and there are no conditions where orthopyroxene crystallizes in equilibrium with the olivine melilitite. We have determined the effect on the liquidus temperature and liquidus phases of substituting CO2 for H2O on a mole for mole basis at 30 kb, using olivine melilitite + 20 wt% H2O at $$X_{CO_2 } $$ = 0 and $$X_{CO_2 } $$ = (CO2)/(H2+CO2) (mole fraction) = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 (i.e. olivine melilitite + 38 wt% CO2). Experiments were buffered by the MH or NNO buffers. At 30 kb, CO2 is only slightly less soluble than water for $$X_{CO_2 } $$ <0.5 as judged by the slight increase in liquidus temperature on mole-for-mole substitution of CO2 for H2O and at 30 kb, 1200° C, $$X_{CO_2 } $$ = $$X_{H_2 O} $$ = 0.5 the olivine melilitite contains 8.8 wt% H2O and 21 wt% CO2 in solution. For $$X_{CO_2 } $$ →1 the CO2 saturated liquidus is depressed ∼70 ° C below the anhydrous liquidus and the magma dissolves approx. 17% CO2 at 30kb, 1400 ° C, $$X_{CO_2 } $$ → 1, $$X_{H_2 O} $$ → 0. Infrared spectra of quenched glasses have absorption bands characteristic of CO 3 = and OH- molecules and no evidence for HCO 3 - . The effect of CO 3 = molecules dissolved in the olivine melilitite at high pressure is to suppress the near-liquidus crystallization of olivine and clinopyroxene and bring orthopyroxene and garnet on to the liquidus. We infer that olivine melilitite magmas may be derived by equilibrium partial melting (<5%) of pyrolite at 30 kb, 1150–1200 ° C, provided that both H2O and CO2 are present in the source region in minor amounts. Preferred conditions are 0< $$X_{H_2 O} $$ <0.5, 0.5< $$X_{H_2 O} $$ <1, and at low oxygen fugacities (

Quaternary acid magma in New Zealand

Abstract: The voluminous Pleistocene—Recent Taupo rhyolites typically contain phenocrysts of plagioclase (oligoclase-labradorite), quartz, titanomagnetite, ilmenite, and ferromagnesian silicates. Ferromagnesian assemblages correlate with well defined Fe-Ti oxide equilibration temperature ranges and allow the rhyolites to be subdivided as follows: (1) Cummingtonite (c)—calcic hornblende (hb)—orthopyroxene (opx); 725–755°C, (2) Hb-opx, 750–825°C, (3) Biotite-hb-(c-opx), 720–765°C, (4) Opx-clinopyroxene (cpx), 860–915°C, (5) Fe olivine-opx-cpx, one sample with temperature of 900°C. Plagioclase and orthopyroxene phenocryst compositions typically exhibit a range of composition up to ∼20 mol.%. Calculated average phenocryst equilibration pressures (P total) range between 0.5–4.9 kb, and average 2.2 kb (∼7–8 km depth), indicating upper crustal crystallization. These calculations are very sensitive to variations in phenocryst composition. Calculated $$/_{{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}}} $$ for the amphibole and biotite-bearing rhyolites indicate phenocryst equilibration under $$P_{{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}}} \simeq P_{{\text{total}}} $$ , with $$X_{{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}}} $$ ∼0.17–0.24 (5–8 wt. %). The precipitation of cummingtonite is thus temperature dependent, the upper limit being close to 760°C. Eruptive mechanisms of the lavas, pumices, and ash-flow deposits are evidently not primarily controlled by temperature, P total, $$P_{{\text{H}}_2 {\text{O}}} $$ , or crystal content of the magmas, and explanations must lie in kinetic and fluid dynamic behavior of the magmas. For the Taupo rhyolites, it is suggested that the critical size of a magma body (i.e. Rayleigh number) is a controlling factor in that it will influence the convective regime; fully turbulent convection is deduced to have occurred within the larger magma bodies. One consequence is intense vesiculation, prior to eruption, within the uppermost zones of these magma chambers, and the voluminous pumice deposits are believed to emanate from such chambers. Oscillatory compositional zoning within pyroxene phenocrysts is consistent with magma convection.

The orthoenstatite to clinoenstatite transformation by shearing and reversion by annealing: Mechanism and potential applications

Abstract: Clinoenstatite (CE) was produced by deforming single-crystal specimens of ortho-enstatite (OE) in several different sorta of experiments. Examination with light and trans-mission electron microscopes shows that the transformation is coherent and involves a macroscopic shear on (100) [001] through an angle of 12.8±1.3 °, in good agreement with the theoretically expected value of 13.3 °, and that the transformation is accomplished by glide on (100) of partial dislocations with b= 0.83[001]. Structural analysis provides further insight into the transformation mechanism. Reversion occurs in specimens annealed under a variety of conditions, and thin lamellae of CE in unconstrained, low-strain specimens recover their original shape during transformation back to OE. Our experiments and thermodynamic estimates both suggest that the equilibrium transition temperature is raised roughly 300 ° C per kilobar of shear stress on (100) [001]. This provides the basis of a method by which it may be possible to determine the magnitude as well as the orientation of the principal stresses that produce CE in nature during deformation of enstatite-bearing rocks.

Tectonic deformation and recrystallisation of oligoclase

Abstract: Naturally deformed and partially recrystallised oligoclase porphyroclasts were studied in a high voltage electron microscope. The oligoclases had a highly deformed outer mantle zone, which contained high densities of dislocations and albite and pericline deformation twins, and less deformed cores containing fewer dislocations and albite twins but no pericline deformation twins. There was little evidence for recovery; apparently the internal strain energy due to deformation was relieved by recrystallisation. Strain free nuclei developed in areas with the highest defect densities. The resultant new grains had a lower anorthite content than their parents. It is suggested that the recrystallisation processes were aided by strain enhanced diffusion.

Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Melts of Andesite, Tholeiite, and Olivine Nephelinite Composition to 30 kbar Pressure

Abstract: Carbon dioxide solubilities in H2O-free hydrous silicate melts of natural andesite (CA), tholeiite (K 1921), and olivine nephelinite (OM1) compositions have been determined employing carbon-14 beta-track mapping techniques. The CO2 solubility increases with increasing pressure, temperature, and degree of silica-undersaturation of the silicate melt. At 1650° C, CO2 solubility in CA increases from 1.48±0.05 wt % at 15 kbar to 1.95±0.03 wt % at 30 kbar. The respective solubilities in OM1 are 3.41±0.08 wt % and 7.11±0.10 wt %. The CO2 solubility in K1921 is intermediate between those of CA and OM1 compositions. At lower temperatures, the CO2 contents of these silicate melts are lower, and the pressure dependence of the solubility is less pronounced. The presence of H2O also affects the CO2 solubility (20–30% more CO2 dissolves in hydrous than in H2O-free silicate melts); the solubility curves pass through an isothermal, isobaric maximum at an intermediate CO2/(CO2+H2O) composition of the volatile phase. Under conditions within the upper mantle where carbonate minerals are not stable and CO2 and H2O are present a vapor phase must exist. Because the solubility of CO2 in silicate melts is lower than that of H2O, volatiles must fractionate between the melt and vapor during partial melting of peridotite. Initial low-temperature melts will be more H2O-rich than later high-temperature melts, provided vapor is present during the melting. Published phase equilibrium data indicate that the compositional sequence of melts from peridotite +H2O+CO2 parent will be andesite-tholeiite-nephelinite with increasing temperature at a pressure of about 20 kbar. Examples of this sequence may be found in the Lesser Antilles and in the Indonesian Island Arcs.

Contact Metamorphosed Dunite-Harzburgite Complex in the Chugoku District, Western Japan

Abstract: The Tari-Misaka ultramafic complex, which is emplaced into the Paleozoic sediments and thermally metamorphosed by two younger granitic masses, is divided into four zones on the basis of the mineral assemblage They are, in order of increasing metamorphic grade: Zone I antigorite-olivine-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene Zone II olivine-talc Zone III olivine-anthophyllite Zone IV olivine-orthopyroxene Strongly serpentinized clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite in Zone I is similar to ordinary Alpine-type harzburgite In Zonne II, two kinds of olivine are recognized One is Mg-rich olivine (Fo93 to Fo97) with opaque inclusions and is probably a recrystallization product of serpentine with talc The other is Fe-rich olivine (Fo88 to Fo93) free of opaque inclusions and is probably a relic of the primary peridotite Olivine in Zone III and Zone IV is also relatively Mg-rich (Fo91 to Fo95) Chromitite in Zone IV commonly has an assemblage, olivine+cordierite+Mg-Al spinel (Mg/Mg+Fe2+, more than 09) Enstatite is rare and coexists with less magnesian Mg-Al spinel (Mg/Mg+Fe2+, less than 09) Petrological and mineralogical characters of the ultramafic rocks can be well explained by thermal metamorphism of strongly serpentinized peridotite by granitic intrusion Metamorphic zones are consistent with the experimental results in the system MgO-SiO2-H2O The assemblage olivine+cordierite indicates that the metamorphism occurred at relatively low pressures (<3kb)

Petrology of rodingites from the equatorial Mid-Atlantic fracture zones and their geotectonic significance

Abstract: Rodingites were dredged from fracture zones of the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge along with serpentinized ultramafics, and fresh and metamorphosed basalts and gabbroids. These rodingites were generated by a metasomatic process at low temperature involving an enrichment in lime and water, and a loss of silica and alkalis. The parent rocks were gabbronorites which intruded ultramafic material as it ascended from the upper mantle to its present location in the upper oceanic crust. The gabbronorites were probably altered to rodingites while they were still in the lower oceanic crust. Since the rodingitization process appears to be concomitant, complementary and simultaneous with the serpentinization of the host ultramafic rocks, we infer that the serpentinization process also took place in the deeper part of the oceanic crust. These two simultaneous metasomatic processes thus predate the major phase of tectonic events which uplifted these blocks as cold, solid diapiric emplacements of ultramafic material and accompanying rodingites to their present positions along lines of weakness expressed as fracture zones.

Diffusion coronas around quartz xenocrysts in andesite and basalt from Tertiary volcanic region in northeastern Shikoku, Japan

Abstract: Coronas around quartz xenocrysts in andesite and basalt from Tertiary volcanics in northeastern Shikoku, Japan, have been described. The coronas are composed mainly of Ca-rich clinopyroxene and glass. Compositional profiles across the corona glass show monotonous variation of major elements except for alkalis. Preliminary experiment on the reaction between basaltic melt and quartz has shown that alkalis diffused against their concentration gradients. This particular feature of alkali enrichment in corona glass is explained by a diffusion model, in which non-ideality of alkalis in silicate melt is assumed. Preferred crystallization of Ca-rich clinopyroxene in coronas of orthopyroxene andesite is discussed using a chemical potential diagram in the system SiO2-CaO-RO (RO=MgO+FeO), and it is suggested that higher (Na+K)/Al ratio of the corona glass, which increases the effective CaO concentration and thus increases the μ CaO/μ RO, is responsible for the preferred crystallization of Ca-rich clinopyroxene.

Metabasalts from the Troodos Massif, Cyprus: Genetic Implication Deduced from Petrography and Trace Element Geochemistry

Abstract: A wide variety of data support the contention that the Troodos massif, Cyprus is a fragment of oceanic lithosphere formed at a constructive margin some 85 m.y. ago. However, Troodos rocks differ significantly in major and trace element content and mineral parageneses from those formed at present day active constructive margins. It is here argued that the geochemical and petrographic characteristics of the massif are compatible with its formation at the axis of a slow spreading ridge within a small, marginal ocean basin.

Curved branching crystals and differentiation in comb-layered rocks

Abstract: An investigation is conducted concerning two common features of comb layered rocks. Attention is given to the curvature of oriented, elongate, branching crystals and the tendency to form highly differentiated layers. Crystallization studies of plagioclase show that some degree of supercooling is necessary to produce the skeletal, curved, and branching plagioclase crystal morphologies found in comb-layered rocks and that curved crystals can be grown without the presence of a directed stress.

Geochemical controls on a calcite precipitating spring

Abstract: A small spring fed stream was found to precipitate calcite by mainly inorganic processes and in a nonuniform manner. The spring water originated by rainwater falling in a 0.8 km2 basin, infiltrating, and dissolving calcite and dolomite followed by dissolution of gypsum or anhydrite. The Ca2+/Mg2+ indicates that calcite is probably precipitated in the subsurface from a supersaturated solution. This water emerges from the spring still about 5 times supersaturated with respect to calcite and continues calcite precipitation. When 10 times supersaturation is reached, due to CO2 degassing the precipitation is more rapid. The calcite accumulation from the stream with a flow of 5 l/s is calculated to be 12600 kg/yr with the highest rates in areas where CO2 degassing is the greatest. The non-equilibrium, as shown by the high calcite supersaturation, is also reflected in a variable partitioning pattern for Sr2+ between the water and calcite.

Rare earth element concentrations in a suite of basanitoids and alkali olivine basalts from Grenada, Lesser Antilles

Abstract: A suite of basanitoids and alkali olivine basalts from Grenada, Lesser Antilles were analyzed for rare earth elements. The REE concentrations of these rocks are characterized by a small variation in the heavy REE (7 to 9 times chondrite) and a large variation in the light REE (17 to 93 times chondrite). Among the possible mechanisms to account for the REE variations, fractional crystallization processes at low and high pressures, and partial melting processes (both batch melting and fractional melting) were examined, using the partition relationships of REE among silicate minerals and melts. It is suggested that the observed REE variations are best explained by variable degrees of batch partial melting, in which garnet is present as one of the solid phases through 2 to 17% melting of a garnet lherzolite parent rock.

Age and origin of the Nigerian mesozoic granites: A Rb-Sr isotopic study

Abstract: Sixty-four Rb-Sr and two K-Ar isotopic measurements from seven ring complexes in central Nigeria provide evidence for a systematic age trend along a 200 km zone ranging from 174±5 m.y. in the north to 154±4 m.y. in the south. A peak of anorogenic magmatism occurred in the Jos Plateau region about 164±4 m.y. ago. Although a small syenitetrachyte complex at Zaranda, near Bauchi, gives an age of 190±15 m.y., unpublished ages of 290–330 m.y. for the southern Niger ring complexes confirm the existence of an overall southerly decreasing age trend in the Niger-Nigeria province of West Africa.

Rare earth elements in alpine peridotites

Abstract: The samples from alpine peridotite massifs (Beni Bouchera, Lherz and the Alps) have been analyzed for rare earth elements. The peridotites as a whole are characterized by various degrees of light REE depletion (Ce varies from 1.2 to 0.02 times chondrite) and a small variation in heavy REE (Yb varies about a factor of 2, from 1.3 to 2.2 times chondrite). They show a restricted and regular distribution in a Ce-Yb diagram, giving two types of linear trends for individual massifs (trend A for the Alps and Lizard; trend B for Beni Bouchera and Lherz, branching from trend A). The model calculations of partial melting based on the partition relations of REE among silicate minerals and melts suggest that trend A could represent a series of residua left after partial melting of garnet peridotite despite the fact that there is no garnet observed in the peridotites studied here. It is suggested that trend A would represent a melting event which predated the emplacement of the massifs and occurred at higher pressure (in the presence of garnet) than expected from the present mineralogy. The calculations also suggest that trend B could represent a partial melting event at lower pressures than trend A after the massifs uplifted into spinel peridotite field. It is also suggested that the REE concentrations of the mantle could be estimated as 2–2.5 times chondrite.

Contributions to the mineral chemistry of Hawaiian rocks: IV. Pyroxenes in rocks from Haleakala and West Maui volcanoes, Maui, Hawaii

Abstract: Phenocryst and groundmass pyroxenes in 24 rocks of the tholeiitic, alkalic, and nephelinic suites from Haleakala and West Maui volcanoes, Maui, Hawaii, were analyzed quantitatively by electron microprobe. Results and conclusions: i) Tholeiites contain augite, pigeonite, and bronzite; alkalic rocks contain salite, augite, and ferroaugite; and nephelinic rocks have salite, sometimes of Wo>50 mole %. ii) The three suites can be distinguished by Ca contents of pyroxenes: High-Ca pyroxenes of tholeiitic rocks have Wo30–40; those of alkalic rocks have Wo38–48; and those of the nephelinic rocks have Wo47–51; i.e. Wo in clinopyroxene increases from tholeiitic, to alkalic, to nephelinic suites, iii). In the alkalic suite, rock types can be distinguished on the basis of clinopyroxene composition: Alkalic olivine and alkalic basalts have Wo38–45, hawaiites and mugearites have Wo45–48. Trachytes can be distinguished from both groups by higher Fe (Fs22–30) and Ca contents (Wo43–47). iv) Pyroxenes in tholeiitic rocks show higher intrarock variability (e.g. Fs12Wo40-Fs37Wo30) than those of the alkalic and nephelinic suites, v) Na2O bulk-rock content affects Na2O content of the precipitating high-Ca pyroxene; e.g. Na2O in groundmass pyroxene increases from tholeiitic, to alkalic (mafic members only), to nephelinic suites; a similar relationship is present within the differentiated alkalic suite, vi) In tholeiites, changes in groundmass high-Ca pyroxene compositions are related to changes in bulk rock compositions, e.g. FeO/FeO+MgO+CaO in clinopyroxene increases as this ratio increases in the bulk rock; this is not true for alkalic and nephelinic rocks, vii) In groundmass high-Ca pyroxene, Al2O3, Na20, and TiO2 contents increase and MnO content decreases with increasing Wo content from tholeiitic, to alkalic (mafic members only), to nephelinic suites, viii) Groundmass high-Ca pyroxenes are richer in MnO and Na2O and poorer in Cr2O3 compared to coexisting phenocrysts. High-Ca pyroxene phenocrysts in nephelinic rocks and in one mugearite are depleted in SiO2 and enriched in Al2O3 relative to coexisting groundmass clinopyroxene, indicating increased SiO2 activity during crystallization. Some tholeiites show the reverse; this Si—Al relationship is not clear in other samples.

Primary basalts and magma genesis: II. Snake River Plain, Idaho, U.S.A.

Abstract: The Pliocene-Holocene lavas of the Snake River Plain, Idaho, U.S.A., have a bimodal composition range, consisting predominantly of basalts (olivine-tholeiites), with subordinate intercalated tholeiitic andesites but with very few analyses falling between these groups. The more-magnesian of the tholeiitic andesites contain more total Fe, alkalis, TiO2 and P2O5 but less SiO2 than the less-magnesian basalts. Derivation of the tholeiitic andesites from the basalts by low-pressure fractional crystallization or by major-element crustal contamination does not seem possible, although some minor-element exchange with ancient crust apparently has occurred. Two lavas, representative of the least-magnesian basalts and the most-magnesian tholeiitic andesites, respectively, have been subjected to anhydrous experimental studies within their melting ranges at pressures up to 35kb. Both appear to show four-phase points on their liquidi at about 8kb and these are thought to have genetic significance. Microprobe analyses of the interstitial glasses in partially-crystalline runs on the basalt between 8 and 12kb show that these reproduce all the characteristic features of the Snake River Plain most-magnesian tholeiitic andesites, notably their reduced Si-saturation. The compositions of the most Mg-rich Snake River Plain basalts are such that they may perhaps be primary magmas, produced by partial fusion of a relatively Fe-rich spinel-lherzolite upper mantle at 50 to 60km depth; a proposal which accords well with the geophysics of this currently-active region. Partial crystallization of batches of this magma, delayed during ascent within the crust at depths of about 30 km, is thought to have given rise to the tholeiitic andesites.

The transformation of amorphous silica to crystalline silica under hydrothermal conditions

Abstract: Hydrothermal syntheses were made mainly in the binary system SiO2-H2O in a temperature range between 300 ° C and 500 ° C and pressures from 0.2 kbar up to 4.0 kbar with various starting materials. In this way the transformation behavior of different amorphous silicas via cristobalite and keatite to quartz were observed. This behavior depends mainly on the parameters: pressure, temperature, run duration and state of the starting material. Four reaction paths have been observed: in most experiments the complete reaction sequence “amorphous silica→cristobalite→keatite→quartz” took place. Less often the reactions: “amorphous silica→cristobalite→quartz” and: “amorphous silica→keatite→quarts” were observed. Very few samples were found with a direct transition of amorphous silica into quartz at high pressures. A kinetic model is given in form of a pressure-temperature-time diagram of the system SiO2-H2O under hydrothermal conditions.

A cordierite-bearing granite suite from the New England Batholith, N.S.W., Australia

Abstract: A suite of cordierite-bearing biotite-muscovite intrusive granites in the New England Batholith, New South Wales, outcrops over 3400 sq km and is the largest reported occurrence of granites of this type. Compositionally the granites are close to the low temperature minimum and display only limited chemical variation. The corundum-normative nature of the granites suggests a pelitic sedimentary parentage. Cordierite with an average 100 Mg/ Mg + Fe of 55 occurs as large tabular crystals and is considered to be a refractory phase brought up from the zone of partial melting. The presence of cordierite and the absence of garnet in these granites suggests a partial melting at a pressure maximum of 6 kb, equivalent to 22 km depth.

Micropores in plagioclase

Abstract: Plagioclase feldspar is often surprisingly porous on a small scale. Pores range in size from less than 1 μm to about 40 μm, and occupy up to 2.3 % by volume. In general, the highest plagioclase porosities occur in rocks which would have had a comparatively “wet” history: normal granites and pegmatites. Rocks which were drier—gabbro, a diabase and an exceptionally dry granite—have much lower plagioclase porosities, as do two lowgrade metamorphic samples. It is suggested that the nearly equant pores represent sites of former fluid inclusions, while the planar cavities of cracklike cross-section may be partially annealed fractures formed early in the history of the rock.

Thermal history of impact melt rocks in the Fennoscandian shield

Abstract: Shock-melted rocks from the Fennoscandian shield commonly contain fragments of quartz which appear to represent paramorphs of quartz after lechatelierite and, therefore indicate very high melt temperatures, at or above 1700 °C.

Rare earth element geochemistry of the Fen alkaline complex, Norway

Abstract: Determination of rare earth element (REE) abundances in rocks of the Fen complex has shown that within rocks of the first magmatic series REE abundances increase in the order urtite

Instability of sapphirine at high pressures

Abstract: The stability field of Mg-sapphirines is limited at high pressures through the solid-solid breakdown reaction sapphirine⇌pyrope = corundum+spinel, the univariant curve originating from an invariant point located at 22 kb, 880°C to 30 kb, 1350°C. Under water pressures less than 22 kb sapphirines exhibit the same low-temperature breakdown into the assemblage chlorite+corundum+spinel as determined by Seifert (1974) between 1 kb and 7 kb thus resulting in one continuous univariant lower stability limit extending from 1 kb, about 650°C through 10 kb, 770°C to the invariant point at 22 kb, 880°C. If $$P_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{0}}} < P_{{\text{total}}} $$ , the stability field of sapphirine will expand towards lower temperatures. The occurrence of sapphirine in mantle depths requires rather aluminous bulk compositions, high geothermal gradients and/or $$P_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{0}}} < P_{{\text{total}}} $$ , with total pressures not exceeding 30 kb. Thus sapphirine is probably not a stable phase in the lower portions of lithospheric plates and the underlying asthenosphere.

Diffusion processes in resorbed garnets

Abstract: Mn- (and Ca-) enriched border fringes around resorbed garnets, and Mn-enriched zones along cracks in resorbed garnets and along intergranular boundaries in resorbed sievegarnets, indicate a limited diffusion of Mn (and some Ca) into the garnet structure.

Ultramafic inclusions and high pressure megacrysts from a nephelinite sill, Nandewar Mountains, north-eastern New South Wales, and their bearing on the origin of certain ultramafic inclusions in alkaline volcanic rocks

Abstract: Ultramafic inclusions and megacrysts are unusually abundant in a nephelinite sill in the Nandewar Mountains in north-eastern New South Wales. The inclusions are divisible into a Cr-diopside group and a Ti-augite group, the former being dominated by Cr-spinel Iherzolites of restricted modal composition, the latter by olivine and titaniferous Al-rich clinopyroxene assemblages which vary widely in their modal proportions. The principal megacryst species are olivine and black, titaniferous Al-rich clinopyroxene; additional but comparatively rare megacrysts include titanphlogopite, kaersutitic amphibole, and deep green, relatively Fe-rich clinopyroxene. The Cr-spinel Iherzolites conform closely in mineralogy and chemistry with the spinel lherzolites which dominate upper mantle xenolith assemblages in alkaline mafic volcanic rocks from other provinces. Megacrysts and Ti-augite inclusion mineral assemblages are consistently more Fe-rich than analogous phases in the Cr-diopside xenoliths and also display more extensive cryptic variation.

A study of the formation and history of a piece of continental crust by 87 Rb- 87 Sr method: The case of the French oriental Pyrénées

Abstract: Rb-Sr whole rock data for gneisses and granites from the oriental Pyrenees yield cadomian ages for the basement gneisses and hercynian ages for the granites. Granites occur in two generations. An alkaline granite dated at 335±15 m.y. is syn.—or slightly post-tectonic, and a later calcalkaline granite dated at 275±12 m.y, is clearly intrusive and marks the end of hercynian tectono-metamorphism. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the granites put limits on the proportion of juvenile contribution from the mantle to their formation. Petrogenetic models are tested using Rb and Sr as tracers.