Ulvöspinel from xenoliths of contact-altered volcanic and volcanosedimentary rocks in nepheline syenites of the Khibiny and Lovozero plutons

Ulvöspinel is a typical accessory mineral of xenoliths of volcanic and volcanosedimentary rocks in alkaline syenites of the Khibiny and Lovozero plutons. Ulvöspinel forms homogeneous Cr- and V-rich grains in slightly altered olivine basalts, basaltic tuffs, and tuffites and is enriched in Mn and Si in the course of contact-metasomatic alteration of these rocks. The strongly reduced conditions of contact metamorphism controlled by ascending flows of hydrocarbon gases and hydrogen sulfide gave rise to the subsolidus decomposition of primary ulvöspinel and Ti-high magnetite with the formation of ilmenite lamellae and then, with decreasing redox potential, of the second-generation latticed ulvöspinel lamellae.