TEM study of the transformation of augite to sodic pyroxene in eclogitized ferrogabbro

Transmission and analytical electron microscopy has been used to study relicts of augite that occur in various stages of transformation to sodic pyroxene. The augite relicts are characterized by a hatching produced by two sets of former 001 exsolution lamellae that possess high dislocation densities and were altered completely to sodic pyroxene, even where the augite matrix is still fresh. With further alteration, the sodic pyroxene in these 001 lamellae recrystallized and grew into the augite matrix, resulting in irregular lamellae that consist of subgrains having low dislocation densities. Needles and thin (100) lamellae of sodic pyroxene developed on the 001 lamellae. Alteration of the augite matrix proceeded by growth of areas with defects (dislocations, stacking faults). All sodic pyroxenes in these microstructures have the same orientation as the precursor augite, indicating a topotactic reaction mechanism. The reactions occurred at roughly constant Si and mainly involved replacement of Ca and Mg by Na and Al. Dislocations may have played a prominent role in the transformation by acting as diffusion pathways and by migrating into untransformed augite, leaving sodic pyroxene in their wake. At the grain boundaries of the augite, discrete grains of sodic pyroxene formed without any fixed orientation relation with the augite, consistent with a non-topotactic reaction. The predominance of the topotactic reaction inside the augite over the non-topotactic grain-boundary reaction is attributed to the scarcity of fluids during eclogite metamorphism.     

角闪石族和辉石族矿物的系统矿物学分类命名

角闪石族和辉石族矿物是链状硅酸盐矿物的重要组成部分,它们中的许多矿物种属于造岩矿物和/或工业矿物,具有重要的成因矿物研究意义和工业应用开发价值。国内学者对它们的分类命名和基本系统认识主要源自于王璞等(1984)编著的《系统矿物学》。随着科学技术发展和矿物学研究的不断深入,原有的矿物基础资料和分类命名都在不断更新与完善,迄今已有专业学术机构和学者在不同年代陆续发表了不同版本对该两类矿物的修订或修改意见,但一直没有统一整合,导致在涉及该两类矿物的应用研究中,在分类命名上与国际标准不统一。根据本课题组在国家公益性行业科研专项项目(新编《系统矿物学》)所承担的研究任务和当前国内外研究进展,本文系统归纳、梳理并综述了角闪石族和辉石族矿物的分类方案和命名原则,使分类命名统一标准、原则和认识并与国际接轨,这有利于该两类矿物的理论研究与开发应用,更好地支撑地质学及相关学科的研究与发展。     

Thermodynamic modelling of sodic pyroxene solid-solution and its application in a garnet-omphacite-kyanite-coesite geothermobarometer for UHP metamorphic rocks

A garnet-omphacite-kyanite-coesite geothermobarometer is constructed to estimate the peak metamorphic pressure of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) eclogites. For this we use a quaternary regular solution model for garnet, and propose a new model for sodic pyroxene that assumes double site solid-solution (Na,Ca)^M2(Al,Fe³⁺,Fe²⁺,Mg)^M1Si₂O₆, where cations in the M2- and the M1-sites mix randomly but with inter-site interactions, not only between nearest neighboring cations but also between next nearest neighboring cations. In the new model, overall excess interaction parameters are quantitatively deduced from the previous experimental data and critical temperature, and the activity of the jadeite component agrees reasonably with that based on the Landau theory. Furthermore, the relations of the calculated order parameter to temperature and composition are consistent with other experimental works. These facts support the usefulness of the new model. Application of our geothermobarometer to kyanite eclogite gave metamorphic conditions around 3.4 GPa and 800 ^∘C for both samples from the Dora Maira Massif, Western Alps, and from Rongcheng County, in the Su-Lu region of eastern China. Received: 30 December 1996 / Accepted: 25 August 1997     

Petrology of sapphirine granulite and associated sodic gneisses from the Indian Head Range, Newfoundland

Migmatitic granulites from the Indian Head Range (IHR) are dominated by granoblastic, Opx-bearing (quartz) dioritic gneiss with subordinate garnet+orthopyroxene+biotite+albite (±quartz±microcline±cordierite±sillimanite) gneiss and comparatively biotite-rich, sapphirine+cordierite+orthopyroxene+albite (±microcline±sillimanite±corundum) gneiss. The latter contains at least two generations of sapphirine and cordierite, one apparently predating migmatization, the other associated with or following this event. Mineral thermobarometers yield temperatures up to 800 °C at 8 kbar. The IHR granulites have very high δ¹⁸O values (+10.8 to +14.5) which most likely indicate a sedimentary precursor. Their REE and HFSE contents resemble the trace element signature of post-Archean Australian shale (PAAS). Lithological analogues from other Grenvillian inliers in western Newfoundland have similar oxygen isotopic and immobile-element signatures. They too are interpreted as metasedimentary rocks. The IHR rocks, however, have unusually sodic compositions (e.g., Na₂O/CaO and Na₂O/K₂O=2.1–22.5 and 0.93–13.8, respectively) and contain albite or sodic oligoclase despite their high metamorphic grade. The geochemical data indicate that these rocks were albitized prior to high-grade metamorphism. No counterpart of this event is recorded in granulites from the other inliers, indicating that the IHR may be highly allochthonous with respect to these other Grenvillian terranes.     

Staurolite and associated minerals from rare-metal granite pegmatites

Staurolite has been found in rare-metal granite pegmatites for the first time. The mineral is formed as a metastable phase oversaturated with silica and transformed into the common staurolite with emulsion disseminations of quartz. Staurolite selectively concentrates d elements of the Fe group (from V to Zn) and LREE (La-Eu).     

Niobian and zincian ilmenites in syenites from Cape Ashizuri, Southwest Japan

Summary Ilmenite in alkali feldspar quartz syenite from Cape Ashizuri contains up to 4.4 wt.% Nb₂O₅. Niobium substitutes for Ti in the octahedral site of the ilmenite structure. Substitution of Nb for Ti may involve a coupled exchange to maintain charge balance, and an exchange of 2Nb + 2Fe³⁺ = 3Ti + 2Fe²⁺ is advocated. An Fe-Ti oxide geothermometer obtained from mineral pairs of granular and lamellar intergrowths indicates a subsolidus re-equilibration temperature of 510–640 °C andfO₂ between the FMQ and MW-buffers, implying that it is very undersaturated with respect to water. On the other hand, Zn-ilmenite, containing up to 5.4 wt.% ZnO, occurs in miarolitic cavities in peralkaline rhyolite which cuts the quartz syenite. The Zn-ilmenite is one of the last crystalline phases of the Ashizuri magmatic activities under volatile-rich conditions. Nb-oxides, such as fergusonite, samarskite, columbite and a pyrochlore-like mineral, are Ta- and Mn-poor, which corresponds to those of less-fractionated rocks of anorogenic alkali granite and pegmatitic granite in the continental situation. Ta- and Mn-poor Nb-oxides in F- and Li-rich alkaline felsic magmas such as the Ashizuri syenites are unusual; this may be related to a rapid emplacement and cooling of mantle-derived small-volume magma in the island are situation.

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Nb- und Zn-Ilmenite in Syeniten von Cap Ashizuri, Südwest-Japan

Zusammenfassung Ilmenit in Alkalifeldspat-Quarz-Syenit von Cap Ashizuri enthält bis zu 4,4 Gew. % Nb₂O₅. Niob ersetzt Ti in der oktaedrischen Position der Ilmenit-Struktur. Substitution von Nb für Ti erfolgt über einen gekooppelten Austausch zum Erhalt der Ladungsgleichgewichte und hier wird der Austausch von 2Nb + 2Fe³⁺ = 3Ti + 2Fe²⁺ vorgeschlagen. Ein Fe-Ti-Oxid Geothermometer auf der Basis von Mineral-Paaren körniger und lamellarer Verwachsungen weist auf Subsolidus Re-Equilibrationstemperaturen von 510 bis 640 °C undfO₂ zwischen den QFM und MW-Puffern hin. Dies bedeutet Wasser-Untersättigung. Andererseits kommt Zn-Ilmenit mit bis zu 5,4 Gew.% ZnO in miarolitischen Hohlräumen in peralkalinem Rhyolit vor, der den Quarzsyenit durchschlägt. Der Zn-Ilmenit ist einer der am spätesten gebildeten kristallinen Phasen der magmatischen Aktivitäten von Ashizuri, bei Bedingungen, die an volatilen Phasen reich sind. Nb-Oxide, wie zum Beispiel Fergusonit, Samarskit, Columbit und ein Pyrochlor-ähnliches Mineral sind Ta- und Mn-arm; dies entspricht weniger fraktionierten Gesteinen aus dem Bildungsberich anorogener Alkali-Granite und pegmatitischer Granite in einer kontinentalen Situation. Ta- und Mn-arme Nb-Oxide in F- und Li-reichen alkalischen felsischen Magmen, wie die Ashizuri Syenite, sind ungewöhnlich; dies mag mit rascher Platznahme und Abkühlung von kleinen Volumina von Magmen, die aus dem Mantel stammen, in einer Inselbogen-Situation zusammenhängen.

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With 6 Figures     

Petrology and petrogenesis of carbonatitic rocks in syenites from central Anatolia,Turkey

The late Cretaceous A-type Karaçay?r pluton in Central Anatolia, Turkey, intrudes and entrains xenoliths of Palaeozoic limestone. Carbonatitic magmatic rocks within the syenite have been previously interpreted (Schuiling in Nature, 192:1280, 1961) to result from metasomatic alteration and syntectic melting of marble. Carbonatites and associated calcite-syenites exhibit mineralogical characteristics (Ab-rich plagioclase, Ba-rich K-feldspar, low-Mg# biotite) that are petrogenetically more evolved than the host syenitic suite. Geochemically, carbonate-rich magmatic rocks are greatly enriched in Sr, Ba, Th, and REE and have higher LREE/HREE ratios than either syenites or marbles. In terms of O-C-Sr-Pb isotope ratios, the carbonatite/calcite-syenite suite form a consistent and geochemically coherent group that is distinct from the marble country rock and xenolith population, but similar to some of the syenitic, and particularly the nepheline syenite components of the Karaçay?r pluton. Other silicate magmatic rocks are geochemically, isotopically, and geochronologically different, suggesting the pluton is composite. Overall, the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the carbonatites are incompatible with binary mixing of syenite and marble but are consistent with derivation of carbonatite from petrogenetically evolved foid syenite. Carbonate–silicate rock types have modal variations compatible with an origin by fractional crystallisation, rather than by liquid immiscibility.     

Mechanism of pyroxene and amphibole weathering—I. Experimental studies of iron-free minerals

The short term (2–40 days) dissolution of enstatite, diopside, and tremolite in aqueous solution at low temperatures (20–60°C) and pH 1–6 has been studied in the laboratory by means of chemical analyses of reacting solutions for Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Si(OH)₄ and by the use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for detecting changes in surface chemistry of the minerals. All three minerals were found to release silica at a constant rate (linear kinetics) providing that ultrafine particles, produced by grinding, were removed initially by HF treatment. All three also underwent incongruent dissolution with preferential release of Ca and/or Mg relative to Si from their outermost surfaces. The preferential release of Ca, but not Mg for diopside at pH 6 was found by both XPS and solution chemistry verifying the theoretical prediction of greater mobility of cations located in M₂ structural sites. Loss mainly from M₂ sites also explains the degree of preferential loss of Mg from enstatite at pH 6; similar structural arguments apply to the loss of Ca and Mg from the surface of tremolite. In the case of diopside and tremolite initial incongruency was followed by essentially congruent cation-plus-silica dissolution indicating rapid formation of a constant-thickness, cation-depleted surface layer. Cation depletion at elevated temperature and low pH (~ 1) for enstatite and diopside was much greater than at low temperature and neutral pH, and continued reaction resulted in the formation of a surface precipitate of pure silica as indicated by solubility calculations, XPS analyses, and scanning electron microscopy.From XPS results at pH 6, model calculations indicate a cation-depleted altered surface layer of only a few atoms thickness in all three minerals. Also, lack of shifts in XPS peak energies for Si, Ca, and Mg, along with undersaturation of solutions with respect to all known Mg and Ca silicate minerals, suggest that cation depletion results from the substitution of hydrogen ion for Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ in a modified silicate structure and not from the precipitation of a new, radically different surface phase. These results, combined with findings of high activation energies for dissolution, a non-linear dependence on a_H⁺ for silica release from enstatite and diopside, and the occurrence of etch pitting, all point to surface chemical reaction and not bulk diffusion (either in solution or through altered surface layers) as the rate controlling mechanism of iron-free pyroxene and amphibole dissolution at earth surface temperatures.     

In situ differentiation and evolution of potassic syenites from Svidnya, Bulgaria

Potassic syenites from Svidnya, Bulgaria crop out as small isolated bodies as the primary for this intrusion liquid has basic to intermediate composition. The evolution in a closed magma chamber created plutonic rocks ranging from basic (melasyenite) to acid (granite) and from metaluminous to peralkaline. The most mafic varieties show cumulative textures typical for orthocumulates with cumulus phases clinopyroxene, biotite, apatite and potassium feldspar as gravitational settling is a viable process for separation of particles in the bottom parts of magma chamber. In the middle stratigraphic level of biggest body modal igneous layering with development of dark (clinopyroxene?+?amphibole) and light (potassium feldspar) laminas was observed. Oscillatory crystallization around eutectic point resulted in cyclic separation of mafic and felsic phases in repetitive layers. Fractionation of Ca- and Al-rich phases—clinopyroxene, biotie and potassium feldspar created peralkaline residual liquid strongly enriched in HFS elements.     

REE-, Zr-, and Th-rich titanite and associated accessory minerals from a kersantite in the Frankenwald, Germany

Summary The mineral chemistry of a Variscan lamprophyre (kersantite) from the Frankenwald, Germany, has been investigated by electron microprobe. This potassic, Si-saturated, mafic rock contains an assemblage of different generations of titanite and allanite-(Ce), Th-rich zircon, and metamict REE–Ti–Zr–Th silicates. The primary ferroan-ceroan titanite contains unusually high contents of REE₂O₃ (max. (ΣLa to Sm)+Y = 36.8 oxide wt.%), ZrO₂ (max. 5.4 wt.%), and ThO₂ (max. 3.1 wt.%). Its empirical formula averages to (Ca_0.31 La_0.17 Ce_0.30 Pr_0.03 Nd_0.08 Sm_0.01 Y_0.01 Fe²⁺_0.06 Th_0.02 Mn_0.01)_Σ1.00 (Ti_0.60 Fe²⁺_0.22 Al_0.06 Zr_0.07 Mg_0.04 Nb_0.01)_Σ1.00 O_1.00(Si_0.93 Al_0.07)_Σ1.00 O₄. Element correlations reveal operation of the complex substitution Ca²⁺+Ti⁴⁺+Th⁴⁺ ⇔ REE³⁺+Al³⁺+Zr⁴⁺. In comparison to allanite-(Ce), ferroan-ceroan titanite preferentially incorporated the LREE and Th. This finding is inconsistent with previous experimental studies and suggests that both minerals are not cogenetic. High Zr contents in titanite, usually known only from Si-undersaturated alkaline rocks, and the predominance of Fe²⁺ suggest that the ferroan-ceroan titanite crystallized from an alkali-rich, low-fO₂ residual melt.     

Petrological and geochemical relationships between pyroxene megacrysts and associated alkali-basalts from Massif Central (France)

Major, trace element, and REE analyses, as well as Sr isotopic ratios, have been obtained on twelve clinopyene megacrysts and phenocrysts and their alkali-basalt hosts from the French Massif Central. Equilibrium between crystals and host was examined based on petrographic and geochemical data.Two types of pyroxenes are recognized: the acmite-bearing clinopyroxenes, rich in incompatible elements and the salitic clinopyroxenes, poor in incompatible elements. ⁸⁷Sr/ ⁸⁶Sr isotopic data reveal no significant difference between clinopyroxenes and host lavas: they are in apparent isotopic equilibrium. The Sr isotopic ratios of the two types of pyroxenes are also quite similar. However pyroxene crystals from the first group are not in equilibrium with their host; they have crystallized at high-pressure from differentiated alkali-lavas and have been incorporated in a more primitive magma. Pyroxene crystals from the second group are in apparent equilibrium with their host lava; they have crystallized at various pressures. For the latter, distribution coefficients are proposed for compatible elements, trace elements and REE.     

K-Ar and Rb-Sr Dating of blue amphiboles,micas, and associated minerals from the Western Alps

The results of 63 new radiometric K-Ar and Rb-Sr measurements on metamorphic minerals from the internal units of the Western Alps show Hercynian, Permian, as well as three Alpine age groups. The first of the Alpine ages cover the period between 78 and 100 m.y. and refer to high pressure parageneses. The second group comprises K-Ar 39 to 50 m.y. ages; these values are affected by some inherited argon, as indicated by Rb-Sr measurements which point to 35–36±4–5 m.y., i.e. similar to the culmination of the Lepontine crystallization. The final group includes 15 to 30 m.y. ages. It is not yet clear which geologic processes have led to this isotope re-equilibration. Large amounts of inherited argon have been found in Alpine metamorphic minerals of the basement rocks.     

A study by electron microscopy of gold and associated minerals from Round Mountain,Nevada

Details regarding the mineralization patterns of gold in epithermal systems are poorly understood. A refined understanding of gold microtextures, the interface between gold and associated minerals, and the role that nanoparticles play in gold mineralization could provide insight into the details of gold growth and may contain indicators of gold ore concentration mechanisms. Furthermore, a refined understanding of the interface also may explain variation in cyanide leaching extraction efficiency and may enable enhancement of recovery methods. Macrocrystalline gold samples from Round Mountain, Nevada were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. This study suggests that gold nanoparticles are common in Round Mountain gold and associated mineral phases, and may play an important role in the formation of macrocrystalline gold in this deposit. Microtopographic evidence indicates that the two dimensional nucleation and growth mechanism is dominant and nanotextural evidence suggests that nanoparticulate gold was the first stage of growth in the formation of these macrocrystalline samples that grew rapidly at high degrees of supersaturation. Results suggest that the interface between gold and quartz and other related minerals is far more complex than previously thought, and that textures present at the interface and in the bulk gold can help explain mineralization history and can also have implications for gold recovery efficiency for macrocrystalline bearing ore.     

Halogen-bearing minerals in syenites and high-grade marbles of Dronning Maud Land,Antarctica: monitors of fluid compositional changes during late-magmatic fluid-rock interaction processes

Meta-sedimentary rocks including marbles and calcsilicates in Central Dronning Maud Land (CDML) in East Antarctica experienced a Pan-African granulite facies metamorphism with peak metamorphic conditions around 830 ± 20 °C at 6.8 ± 0.5 kbar which was accompanied by the post-kinematic intrusion of huge amounts of syenitic (charnockitic) magmas at 4.5 ± 0.7 kbar. The marbles and calcsilicates may represent meta-evaporites as indicated by the occurrence of metamorphic gypsum/anhydrite and Cl-rich scapolite that formed in the presence of saline fluids with X _NaCl in the range 0.15–0.27. The marbles and calcsilicates bear biotite, tremolite and/or hornblende and humite group minerals (clinohumite, chondrodite and humite) which are inferred to have crystallized at about 650 °C and 4.5 kbar. The syenitic intrusives contain late-magmatic biotite and amphibole (formed between 750 and 800 °C) as well as relictic magmatic fayalite, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. Two syenite and two calcsilicate samples contain fluorite. Corona textures in the marbles and calcsilicates suggest very low fluid-rock ratios during the formation of the retrograde (650 °C) assemblages. Biotite in all but two syenite samples crystallized at log(f _{H 2 O}/f _HF) ratios of 2.9 ± 0.4, while in the calcsilicates, both biotite and humite group minerals indicate generally higher log(f _{H 2 O}/f _HF) values of up to 5.2. A few samples, though, overlap with the syenite values. Log(f _{H 2 O}/f _HCl) derived from biotite covers the range 0.5–2.6 in all rock types. Within a single sample, the calculated values for both parameters vary typically by 0.1 to 0.8 log units. Water and halogen acid fugacities calculated from biotite-olivine/orthopyroxene-feldspar-quartz equilibria and the above fugacity ratios are 1510–2790 bars for H₂O, 1.3–5.3 bars for HF and 7–600 bars for HCl. The results are interpreted to reflect the reaction of relatively homogeneous magmatic fluids [in terms of log(f _{H 2 O} /f _HF)] derived from the late-magmatic stages of the syenites with both earlier crystallized, still hotter parts of the syenites and with adjacent country rocks during down-temperature fluid flow. Fluorine is successively removed from the fluid and incorporated into F-bearing minerals (close to the syenite into metamorphic fluorite). In the course of this process log(f _{H 2 O} /f _HF) increases significantly. Chlorine preferably partitions into the fluid and hence log(f _{H 2 O} /f _HCl) does not change markedly during fluid-rock interaction. Received: 28 November 1997 / Accepted: 27 April 1998     

Petrology of lawsonite-, pumpellyite- and sodic amphibole-bearing metabasites from north-east Oman

The assemblages chlorite-pumpellyite-lawsonite-albite-quartz, chlorite-lawsonite-quartz-epidote and chlorite-epidote-albite-quartz occur in metabasaltic blocks and veins in a metamorphosed tectonic mélange in the structurally highest unit of the autochthonous and parautochthonous section underlying the Semail ophiolite in Saih Hatat, north-east Oman. The pre-Permian basement of this section contains mafic units characterized by the assemblage crossite-epidote-chlorite-quartz-albite /el actinolite. These assemblages indicate a down-section increase in metamorphic grade from 'lawsonite-albite facies' conditions in the mélange to 'epidote-blueschist' facies conditions in the basement.
Application of empirically and experimentally based thermobarometers as well as petrogenetic grids calculated for a model basaltic system indicates that the P-T conditions of metamorphism ranged from 3 to 6 kbar and 250 to 300 C for the mélange and P > 6.8 kbar, T > 310 C for the basement units. Textural relations interpreted in the context of petrogenetic grids indicate that these units followed clockwise P-T paths of evolution. The estimated P-T conditions and down-section increase in metamorphic grade in central, western and northern Saih Hatat are consistent with the hypothesis relating metamorphism to the Late Cretaceous tectonic loading of the continental margin by an ophiolite slab < 18 km in thickness. These results contrast with field and petrological observations documented for blueschists and eclogites exposed along the eastern coast of Saih Hatat which may have formed at an earlier stage in response to an Early Cretaceous collisional event.     

Na,K, P and Ti in garnet,pyroxene and olivine from peridotite and eclogite xenoliths from African kimberlites

Electron microprobe analyses sensitive to 20ppmw (2σ) were made for Na, P, K and Ti in garnet, pyroxenes and olivine from peridotite and eclogite xenoliths from African kimberlites and volcanic rocks in Tanzania. Average concentrations (ppmw) in peridotite (mostly garnet lherzolite) are: Na₂O gt 340 ol 90 opx 1070 cpx 2.1 (wt.%); P₂O₅ gt 460 ol 130 opx 50 cpx 350; K₂O gt <20 ol <20 opx 30 cpx 170; TiO₂ gt 1470 ol 130 opx 480 cpx 1630. For eclogites and a cpx megacryst with gt inclusions: Na₂O gt 610 cpx 4.3 (wt.%); P₂O₅ gt 530 cpx 300; K₂O gt <20 cpx 370; TiO₂ gt 1990 cpx 1980.In garnet, Na can be explained by coupled substitution with P and Ti, and there is no need to invoke six-coordinated silicon. The Na distribution between garnet and clinopyroxene correlates with the Fe/Mg distribution for both eclogites and peridotites, and for the peridotites correlates with estimates of pressure and temperature from pyroxene composition. When calibrated experimentally, the Na distribution may be a useful indicator of physical conditions at depths for which the Fe/Mg distribution is insensitive; furthermore the Na distribution may be less sensitive to oxidation state.     

Feldspar microtextures and multistage thermal history of syenites from the Coldwell Complex,Ontario

Optical and TEM (transmission electron microscopy) observations of perthites from augite syenites in the Coldwell Complex (Ontario) reveal a complex set of microtextures that outline a multistage thermal history. Regular microtextures (linear or braid texture, straincontrolled, coherent intergrowths) show a progressive evolution from the margin of the intrusion inwards with lamellar spacings in the range 40–100 nm. The textures evolve in a manner similar to those for the Klokken intrusion and reflect differences in cooling rates and bulk composition. Superimposed upon the regular microtexture are 10 m scale compositional fluctuations which we call ripples. The boundary relationships and bulk composition of ripples, which are themselves Ab-rich and Or-rich linear coherent cryptoperthites, suggest that they formed by coarsening during a phase of high-temperature (530°C) fluid-feldspar interaction. This was followed by a return to coherent exsolution in which fluid was not involved. Coarse, irregular, patch microperthite cross-cuts all other microtextures. These final deuteric intergrowths are believed to result from a further low-temperature (< 380° C) fluid-feldspar interaction and are associated with subgrain formation and the presence of micropores. The outermost syenite sample, against a gabbro ring structure, has distinctive, modified microtextures, indicating that the gabbro is, at least in part, a later intrusion. Our findings show that TEM work on alkali feldspar microtextures can identify discrete thermal events in the cooling history of igneous plutons and illustrates the potential of such microtextures for establishing the relative ages of intrusive rocks.     

Intergrowth of pyroxene and pyroxenoid; chain periodicity faults in pyroxene

Intergrowth of clinopyroxenes (augite, A) and pyroxenoids (Fe-rhodonite and pyroxferroite, Pxo) was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The following orientation relationship was found: (001)_Pxo is parallel to \((1\mathop {\bar 1}\limits^ + \bar 1)_{\text{A}}\) and \([1\bar 10]_{Pxo}\) is parallel to [011]_A. This relationship can be explained by similarities of the structures of clinopyroxenes and pyroxenoids. It contradicts a suggestion based on structural arguments of Koto et al. (1976). Chain periodicity faults parallel to \((1\mathop {\bar 1}\limits^ + \bar 1)\) are also observed in pure clinopyroxenes.     

Petrological and geochemical characteristics of Marunthurkota syenites from the Kerala khondalite belt,southern India

This note reports new occurrences of syenite bodies around Marunthurkota area from the Kerala khondalite belt (KKB). Petrological and geochemical studies suggest that the syenites have a pronounced A-type affinity, metaluminous characteristics with high concentrations of alkalies, Rb, Sr, Zr, and high K₂O/Na₂O ratio. Miaskitic nature (agpaitic index<1) of syenite suggest involvement of CO₂ related phase in their genesis. The petrological characteristics signify crystallization of the rock at shallow levels within the crust. Geochemistry favours mantle origin of the magma and enrichment of Ba and Sr are indicative of involvement of carbonatite melt in the source region. The study envisages the presence of a juvenile CO₂ enriched upper mantle below the southern Indian continental crust during the Pan-African time.