桂北四堡群中科马提岩系及其成因类型

桂北四堡群中许多镁铁质—超镁铁质岩体,实际上是火山岩或次火山岩。有的还具有科马提岩岩流的结构分层,其堆积带上部橄榄石和辉石晶体间隙中充填有基质物质。这些基质中发育了典型的橄榄石鬣刺结构。科马提岩与其伴生玄武岩属具成因联系的同一演化系列。在微量元素及REE特征上,区内科马提岩具有较好的Ⅱ类科马提岩属性,它们系亏损地幔经较小程度部分熔融产生。     

Crystallochemistry and origin of pyroxenes in komatiites

We present a detailed mineralogical and major- and trace-element study of pyroxenes in two Archean komatiitic flows in Alexo, Canada. The pyroxenes in spinifex-textured lavas commonly are zoned with cores of magnesian pigeonite and rims of augite. Concentrations of incompatible trace elements are low in pigeonite and jump to higher values in the augite mantles, a variation that can be modelled using accepted partition coefficients and assuming crystallization from komatiitic liquids. Crystallization sequences are very different in different parts of both flows. In the flow top, the sequence is olivine followed by augite: deeper in the spinifex sequence, pigeonite crystallizes after olivine, followed by augite; in lower cumulates, orthopyroxene or augite accompany olivine. In spinifex lavas, pigeonite crystallizes sooner than would be predicted on the basis of equilibrium phase relations. We propose that contrasting crystallization sequences depend on the position in the flow and on the conditions of crystal growth. In the flowtop, rapid cooling causes quench crystallization. Deeper in the spinifex layer, constrained growth in a thermal gradient, perhaps augmented by Soret differentiation, accounts for the early crystallization of pigeonite. The cumulus minerals represent a near-equilibrium assemblage. Augites in Al-undepleted Archean komatiites in various localities in Canada and Zimbabwe have high moderate to high Wo contents but their Mg# (Mg/(Mg + Fe) are lower than in augites in komatiites from Barberton, South Africa. We attribute the combination of high Wo and high Mg# in Barberton rocks to the unusually high CaO/Al₂O₃ of these Al-depleted komatiites.     

非均匀温度场中熔体结晶作用与科马提岩结构成因

具有重要岩石学和构造学意义的科马提岩，最吸引人同时又最令人困惑的特征之一是它的鬣刺结构和分层构造。本文从喷出地表的岩桨冷凝时温度分布、熔体性质与结晶作用的密切联系，把科马提岩浆喷发形成的岩流作为一个冷凝整体。通过与金属铸锭浇注成形和矿石冶炼生产的比较，发现它们在冷凝固结过程中温度场特征、熔体的性质、结晶能力和结晶方式都有十分相似的特点，并以此为出发点详细解析了科马提岩的鬣刺结构和岩石分层构造的形成     

Spinifex-textured komatiites in the south border of the Carajas ridge,Selva Greenstone belt,Carajás Province,Brazil

Spinifex-textured komatiites in the Selva greenstone belt are the first unequivocal examples of komatiites in the Transition Subdomain of the Carajás Mineral Province. Outcrops of spinifex-textured komatiites, located ∼1.5 km to the south of the Carajás ridge, were discovered during regional exploration for Ni–Cu–(PGE) sulfide deposits by VALE. They are associated with a 3.8 km long unit consisting of variable types of ultramafic rocks (talc schist, serpentinite and spinifex-textured komatiite). This ultramafic unit follows the steep dipping NW–SE trending Selva greenstone belt composed mainly by quartz-chlorite schists (interpreted as metasediments) and chlorite-actinolite schists (interpreted as metabasalts). Greenschist facies metamorphic parageneses characterize all rock types in the Selva greenstone belt.The komatiitic rocks in the Selva belt comprise a sequence of flows consisting of an upper spinifex-textured layer and a lower olivine cumulate layer. Although the spinifex and cumulus textures are well preserved in the field, the primary mineralogy of the komatiites has been completely replaced by greenschist facies metamorphic minerals. Platy olivine spinifex texture, consisting of an array of roughly parallel olivine plates, and random spinifex texture, consisting of randomly oriented olivine plates, are the most common primary volcanic textures in komatiites in the Selva greenstone belt. Platy and random spinifex texture is defined by former plates of olivine replaced by serpentine with minor actinolite, chlorite and magnetite, alternating with former matrix replaced by abundant actinolite and minor chlorite, talc, serpentine, and magnetite. The domains between olivine plates in both platy and random spinifex-textured rocks contain irregular arrays of fine-grained parallel crystals, representing primary fine-grained “quench” clinopyroxene crystals replaced by actinolite.Spinifex-textured komatiites have MgO contents bracket between 22.8 and 26.9 wt.%, and cumulate textured komatiites have MgO contents up to 40.6 wt.%. When plotted vs MgO contents, most major and minor elements fall on well-defined linear trends indicating control by olivine fractionation or accumulation. Komatiites from the Selva and Seringa (located in the Rio Maria Domain) belts are Al-undepleted with Al₂O₃/TiO₂ ratios close to 20. Results for CaO, Na₂O, and REE suggest that these elements were mobile and their abundances have been modified during metasomatic alteration. REE contents in some samples are very high (up to 40 times primitive mantle values) and REE patterns vary from flat (La/Yb_MN ∼ 1) to highly enriched in LREE (La/Yb_MN up to ∼ 10). The REE mobility may be related to hydrothermal alteration associated to Cu–Au mineralization in the region.The identification of spinifex-textured komatiites close to the Carajás Basin suggests the continuation of 3.0–2.9 Ga greenstone belts of the Rio Maria Domain within the Transition Subdomain, and enlarges the area with potential to host komatiite-associated Ni–Cu–PGE deposits.     

大兴安岭吉峰地区中元古代科马提岩及成因类型

大兴安岭吉峰地区的橄榄质科马提岩具有良好的显微鬣刺结构,在橄榄石和辉石晶体间隙中充填有基质物质,说明其为火山岩.通过研究,对其初步划分了冷凝带和鬣刺带,它们构成一个不完整的冷凝单元.吉峰科马提岩在岩石化上表现了良好的科马提岩属性,与南非及西澳大利亚橄榄质科马提岩一致.岩石地球化学研究表明,科马提岩及与其伴生的玄武岩具有紧密的成因联系,它们的演化符合科马提岩-拉斑玄武岩的演化趋势,具良好的正相关特点.在主量元素、微量元素及REE特征上,本区科马提岩具有较好的II类科马提岩属性,与南非巴伯顿、印度、西格陵兰II类科马提岩极为相似.吉峰科马提岩的ε_Nd（T）=+7.51,说明源于亏损地幔,并且以LREE轻度富集为特征,显示它们系亏损地幔经较小程度部分熔融产生的.吉峰拉马提岩的形成时代为中元古代,其形成环境可能是地壳拉伸减薄,上涌的科马提质岩浆在淬火快速冷却的条件下形成.这一岩石类型的发现为研究大兴安岭地区元古宙大地构造演化提供了一个新线索.     

Partial melting and recrystallization of Archeaan komatiites by residual heat from rapidly accumulated flows

Spinifex-textured komatiites at Honeymoon Well, Western Australia, show evidence of partial melting and recrystallization of original igneous textures. Their textures and mineral compositions differ markedly from those typical of komatiites. Spinifex olivine plates are bent and broken, while interstitial space between spinifex and cumulus olivine is occupied by polygonal aggregates of clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, minor olivine and plagioclase. Similar granular pyroxene-plagioclase aggregates occur as diffuse veins cutting spinifex zones and cumulate zones of the flows and, in places, form the matrix to a breccia containing corroded fragments of spinifex rock. Thermometry based on the two pyroxene assemblages yields temperatures of 1055° to 1141° C, just below the low-pressure komatiite solidus. Mineral compositions are different from those of typical komatiites: clinopyroxenes are Al-poor and Cr-rich, olivines are unusually iron-rich and depleted in Cr and Ca, and the low-Ca pyroxene is bronzite rather than the more typical pigeonite. We interpret these observations as the results of thermal metamorphism, partial remelting and subsequent slow crystallization of originally normal spinifex-textured komatiite flows. The rocks in question occupy a 40–70 m interval sandwiched between two olivine-rich units: an underlying 90 m-thick olivine adcumulate layer, forming part of the cumulate zone of a basal 160 m-thick flow, and an overlying 1 km-thick extrusive body composed mostly of olivine mesocumulate and adcumulate and capped in turn by spinifex-textured flows. Thermal modelling shows that a sinusoidal temperature profile of cool flow tops and hot flow centres would exist within this sequence shortly after eruption. Conductive thermal relaxation of this profile could reheat spinifex zones to the extent of inducing partial melting and textural reconstitution. Such reheating is largely dependent on the time interval between the emplacement of successive flows. Calculations suggest that at Honeymoon Well the emplacement interval must have been of the order of 10 years or less. Textural reconstitution may have contributed to the development of the thick orthocumulate sequences characteristic of komatiites in the Agnew-Wiluna belt. Present address: Geochemex Australia, P.O. Box 281, West Perth, 6005, Western Australia     

Formation of Spinifex Texture in Komatiites: an Experimental Study

The formation of platy olivine spinifex, the texture that characterizeskomatiite lavas, has long been enigmatic. A major problem isthat the dendritic morphology of the olivine resembles thatof crystals grown in laboratory experiments at high coolingrates (>50°C/h), but at the position where these texturesform, up to several meters below the komatiite flow top, thecooling rate cannot have been greater than 1–5°C/h.We performed experiments that demonstrate that the platy habitof spinifex olivine or pyroxene is a consequence of slow coolingof ultramafic magma in a thermal gradient (7–35°C/cm).The charges were cooled at rates between 2 and 1428°C/hand, even at the low cooling rates, the thermal gradient ledto constrained growth and the development of preferentiallyoriented dendritic crystals with morphologies like those innatural platy spinifex-textured lavas. Under these conditions,olivine starts to crystallize at temperatures well below theequilibrium liquidus temperature (37°C < –T<56°C) depending on the composition of the starting material.When the cooling rate is high, the thermal gradient has a negligibleeffect on the texture and the crystals have a random orientation,like that in the upper parts of komatiite flows. KEY WORDS: komatiite; spinifex; cooling rate; experimental petrology; thermal gradient     

Spinifex Texture of Native Sulfur: A Cooling Product of Sulfur Flow Eruptions at Shiretoko-Iwozan Volcano, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: Several native sulfur specimens, collected from Shiretoko-Iwozan volcano, eastern Hokkaido, Japan, exhibit spinifex texture, which appears to resemble that often observed in komatiite. The spinifex texture is exhibited by yellow-colored elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals up to 5 cm long settled in medium gray-colored fine–grained clayey matrix. One surface of a specimen is coated by layers of micro pillow lava of native sulfur. Such specimens were rarely found as clasts or fragments around the 1936 No. 1 crater that erupted native sulfur flows, together with the most common monomineralic native sulfur fragments of native sulfur flows having pahoehoe surface and of native sulfur dikes. The elongated spinifex native sulfur crystals presently consist of aggregated polygrains of orthorhombic sulfur crystals formed through crystallo-graphic transition from the single crystal of monoclinic sulfur initially crystallized. The spinifex texture exhibited by elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals is a product of rapid cooling of sulfur melt. Many lithic fragments of altered country rocks are present in the specimens exhibiting native sulfur spinifex texture. This suggests that segregation of the sulfur melt from the mixture of lithic fragments and sulfur melt was incomplete because the mixture was chilled before the melt segregation. Elongated skeletal native sulfur crystals may have nucleated and crystallized directly from the molten sulfur liquid. Lithic fragments mixed in the melt are supposed to have acted as nuclei for the nucleation of the native sulfur crystals. On the other hand, the most of native sulfur flows consist of monomineralic massive native sulfur with very scarce lithic fragments. Such massive monomineralic native sulfur crystallized from the supercooled, solidified amorphous sulfur. Such supercooled amorphous state may have been attained due to the lack of nuclei because of the scarcity of lithic fragments. The unique structures exhibited by native sulfur lava flow, including pahoehoe surface and spinifex texture, are due to the characteristic physical property of molten sulfur liquid, that is, low viscosity.     

Chromite in komatiites: 3D morphologies with implications for crystallization mechanisms

High-resolution X-ray computed tomography has been carried out on a suite of komatiite samples representing a range of volcanic facies, chromite contents and degrees of alteration and metamorphism, to reveal the wide range of sizes, shapes and degrees of clustering that chromite grains display as a function of cooling history. Dendrites are spectacularly skeletal chromite grains formed during very rapid crystallization of supercooled melt in spinifex zones close to flow tops. At slower cooling rates in the interiors of thick flows, chromite forms predominantly euhedral grains. Large clusters (up to a dozen of grains) are characteristic of liquidus chromite, whereas fine dustings of mostly individual ~20-μm grains form by in situ crystallization from trapped intercumulus liquid. Chromite in coarse-grained olivine cumulates from komatiitic dunite bodies occurs in two forms: as clusters or chains of euhedral crystals, developing into “chicken-wire” texture where chromite is present in supra-cotectic proportions; and as strongly dendritic, semi-poikilitic grains. These dendritic grains are likely to have formed by rapid crescumulate growth from magma that was close to its liquidus temperature but supersaturated with chromite. In some cases, this process seems to have been favoured by nucleation of chromite on the margins of sulphide liquid blebs. This texture is a good evidence for the predominantly cumulus origin of oikocrysts and in situ origin of heteradcumulate textures. Our 3D textural analysis confirms that the morphology of chromite crystals is a distinctive indicator of crystallization environment even in highly altered rocks.     

花岗伟晶岩结构结晶动力学的研究进展

在地质流体演化方面,花岗伟晶岩位于花岗岩与热液石英脉的过渡位置,对其结构的实验研究对理解火成岩结构具有重要意义。长期以来,花岗伟晶岩被认为是花岗岩浆平衡结晶、缓慢冷却的结果,但近年来的一系列结晶动力学计算和实验发现伟晶岩在过冷却状态下快速生长,其结构主要受到结晶动力学参数的制约,F、B、P等助熔剂和H2O是影响这些参数的主要因素,富助溶剂的硅酸盐水溶液可作为伟晶岩的结晶介质。但由于快速淬火式实验设备的弊端,这些实验只能由淬火后的实验产物估算各类结晶动力学参数,只能以易淬火成玻璃的含水硅酸盐熔体作为结晶介质,只能静态地研究某一过冷却度下的结晶动力学状态。近年来,最新式热液金刚石压腔已经定型,可以模拟包括富助溶剂硅酸盐水溶液在内的各类伟晶岩结晶介质,能够在控制冷却速率的同时原位观测和微束分析晶体生长的动态特征,是模拟伟晶岩结构的理想工具,具有广阔的应用前景。     

Geochemistry of contaminated komatiites from the Umburanas greenstone belt,Bahia State,Brazil

The late Archaean Umburanas greenstone belt (UGB) is located in the São Francisco Craton, southwest of Bahia State, Brazil. The lower unit of UGB comprises basal komatiite lavas and tholeiitic basalts intercalated with felsic volcanic rocks. The regional crystalline basement rocks, the Gavião block, predominantly consist of granitic, granodioritic and migmatitic gneiss along with tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) associations.Petrographic studies of UGB komatiites reveal characteristic spinifex igneous texture although primary mineralogy is rarely preserved. Based on textural relationships, komatiites are divided into cumulate, spinifex, and massive types. The MgO content varies in the range 31.5–40.4 wt%. The MgO–SiO₂ negative correlation in komatiites suggests olivine fractionation trend. The UGB komatiites are of Al-undepleted type, characterized by Al₂O₃/TiO₂ (21–48) ratio, enriched in highly incompatible LILE relative to moderately incompatible HFSE and distinct negative Nb, Sr and Eu anomalies. Also shows depletion of light rare earths, convex-downward rare earth patterns typically not observed in komatiites world-wide, and primitive mantle normalized Gd/Yb (1.03–1.23) and La/Sm (2.36–4.99) ratios. The negative Eu anomaly is attributed to the circulation of H₂O-rich fluid, whereas the negative Nb and Sr anomalies are attributed to contamination from granitic basement rocks of the Gavião block.The UGB komatiites are most likely derived from adiabatic decompressional melting of a mantle plume. The melting took place at liquidus temperatures in the range 1572–1711 °C, which is consistent with mantle-plume origin invoked for several other komatiites in Archaean greenstone belts elsewhere. The melts were more likely generated at a depth shallower than 100 km (pressure < 2.5 GPa) where garnet was absent in the source mineralogy. Geochemical characteristics suggest contamination of primary melts with granitic basement rocks either during ascent of melt or during emplacement of magma in a continental basin setting. Greenschist to low-T amphibolite facies metamorphism at ∼2Ga may also have played a role in modifying the original komatiite petrography and composition.     

山东蒙阴科马提岩地球化学特征及其意义

山东蒙阴科马提岩具有典型的鬣刺结构，高镁低钛，铝不亏损，具有正的Rb、Ba、Sr、U异常，轻稀土元素亏损，重稀土元素平坦，稀土元素总量很低，高场强元素与稀土元素发生分异，Nb/Nb^＊〉1，与加拿大蒙罗镇科马提岩地球化学特征和同位素特征相似。研究表明，蒙阴科马提岩可能起源于长期亏损的地幔源区，岩浆不可能来源于以橄榄石、辉石和石榴石（或者majorite）为主要矿物相的地幔源区。最新Sm-Nd同位素研究显示，蒙阴科马提岩样品的εNd值为-0．4～＋3．6，新鲜样品一般为＋3．3，也证实了科马提岩来自长期亏损的地幔源区，并且地幔柱在上升过程中受到地壳混染程度很小，推测研究区科马提岩的喷出可能是新太古代大陆增生事件的重要组成部分。     

Komatiitic and Iron-rich Tholeiitic Lavas of Munro Township, Northeast Ontario

Munro Township, in the Archean Abitibi greenstone belt of northeastOntario, contains volcanic and hypabyssal rocks of two magmaseries: (1) an Fe-rich tholeiitic series of basaltic to daciticlava flows (3–10 m thick), layered peridotite-pyroxenite-gabbroflows (120 m thick), and layered sills (700 m thick); (2) anultramafic-mafic komatiitic series, comprising discrete lavaflows of peridotitic to andesitic composition (1–17 mthick), layered peridotite-gabbro flows (120 m thick), and layeredsills (500 m thick). The komatiitie lavas form a successionabout 1000 m thick that is both underlain and overlain by thickersuccessions of tholeiitic volcanic rocks. Three types of komatiite are recognized: peridotitic, pyroxenitic,and basaltic komatiites. The most ultramafic are peridotiticcumulates rich in forsteritic olivine (Fo_89–94), at thebases of flows and sills. Many less mafic peridotitic komatiites(MgO: 20–30 per cent), which typically form the upperparts of flows and the marginal parts of small intrusions, exhibitspinifex textures indicative of their formation from ultrabasicliquids. Pyroxenitic komatiites (MgO: 12–20 per cent)also may contain olivine, but are dominated by clinopyroxene,usually in spinifex textures. Basaltic komatiites (MgO <12per cent) are composed mainly of clino-pyroxene and plagioclaseor devitrified glass, rarely in spinifex texture and more commonlyin equigranular textures. Peridotitic komatiite with roughly30 per cent MgO appears to represent a parental liquid fromwhich the more ultramafic komatiites formed by accumulationof olivine, and the less mafic types were derived by fractionationof olivine, joined and finally succeeded in later stages byclinopyroxene and plagioclase. Komatiites of Munro Township share many of the characteristicsof the komatiites from the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa(Voljoen & Viljoen, 1969a and b), but lack the high CaO/Al₂O₃ratios that distinguish the Barberton rocks. The Munro komatiitesare identical in this respect to ultramafic volcanic rocks inAustralia, Canada, Rhodesia, and India. It is proposed thatthe definition of the term komatiite be broadened so that itincludes all members of this ultramafic-mafic rock series, notonly those from Barberton Mountain Land. The proposed criteriaare: (1) highly ultramafic compositions in noncumulate lavas;(2) unusual volcanic structures such as spinifex texture andpolyhedral jointing; (3) low Fe/Mg ratios at given Al₂O₃ valuesor high CaO/Al₂O₃ ratios; low TiO₂ at given SiO₂; and high MgO,NiO, and Cr₂O₃.     

川西高原炉霍-道孚裂谷带丘洛地区科马提质岩的发现及其地质意义

川西高原炉霍-道孚裂谷带丘洛地区首次发现科马提岩,呈透镜状或团块状,具鬣刺结构,产于三江造山系巴颜喀拉地块之炉霍-道孚裂谷的三叠系如年各组玄武岩中。科马提岩由玄武质科马提岩、玄武岩、辉长岩、橄榄辉石岩等组成。岩石具富Mg O,贫Ca O、Al2O3和Fe2O3的特征,其Si O2含量为39.78%~49.85%,Mg O含量为23.28%~32.65%,Ti O2含量为0.21%~0.85%,K2O含量为0.04%~0.98%,P2O5含量为0.04%~0.12%,(Fe O+Fe2O3)/Mg O值为0.41~0.77,符合过渡型(T型)洋脊玄武岩特征,亦符合科马提岩各类元素的地球化学特征。原始地幔标准化的过渡元素配分型式表现为不对称的"W"型,Th元素形成一个明显的正异常"峰",Sr元素形成一个明显的负异常"谷",表明科马提岩系列可能来自于洋脊中心热幔柱,形成于低压高温条件下的部分熔融。岩石中鬣刺结构可能是叶蛇纹石高压分解的结果,表明研究区某些变质橄榄岩岩块曾经受过熔融物质喷发的影响。丘洛地区黄金资源丰富,研究具鬣刺结构的科马提岩岩石系列及其与矿产的关系,具有重要的经济价值。     

A Fluid-Dynamical Study of Crystal Settling in Convecting Magmas

Thermal convection in magma chambers is believed to be almostalways highly time-dependent, or ‘turbulent’, andpredicted convective velocities are commonly orders of magnitudelarger than settling velocities for typical crystals calculatedfrom Stokes' Law. To understand crystal settling in magma chamberswe have therefore undertaken a theoretical and experimentalstudy of particle settling in a turbulently convecting fluid. The regime of interest is where the ratio, S, of the Stokes'Law settling velocity, v_s, to the root mean square verticalcomponent of convective velocity, W, at mid-depth in the fluidis less than unity. Although v_s < W, settling is still possiblebecause convective velocities are height-dependent and mustdecrease to zero at the boundaries of the fluid. Particles immediatelyadjacent to the bottom boundary settle out with their full Stokes'settling velocities. At the same time, convection is vigorousenough to ensure that the distribution of particles in the fluidis uniform. It follows that the number of particles in suspensiondecays with time according to an exponential law, and the decayconstant is simply the ratio of v_s to h, the depth of the fluid.Experiments confirm this relationship, at least for low particleconcentrations, provided S < 0.5 and there is no re-entrainmentof particles from the floor of the tank. We apply this relationship to crystals in magma chambers andso calculate residence times for typical crystals. We find thatfor basaltic magmas the predicted residence times are smallcompared with the many thousands of years that a chamber takesto solidify if cooling is dominated by conduction through thecountry rock. We therefore conclude that crystal settling maybe an efficient differentiation mechanism. Significant magmaticevolution may, however, take place on time-scales that are competitivewith these residence times. If the settling of crystals is the rate-limiting step duringthe crystallization of a magma chamber it is expected that asteady state will be achieved at which the rate of supply ofcrystals into the convecting magma by crystallization balancesthe rate at which crystals settle out. We show how this ideacan explain both the lack of hydraulic equivalence in cumulaterocks and the commonly observed discrepancy between the relativeproportions of phenocrysts of various phases in fractionatedbasaltic lavas and the calculated relative proportions of thesemineral phases in the fractionating assemblage. Finally, anattempt is made to calculate the steady-state crystal contentof convecting magma chambers. Comparison of the predicted crystalcontents with the observed phenocryst contents of typical basalticlavas suggests that magma chambers may often cool more rapidlythan would be expected for conduction through the country rockalone.     

Laminated olivine spinifex textures in the Mount Ayliff intrusion,South Africa

Summary A thin layer of spinifex troctolite occurs in the middle of the lherzolite unit of the Mount Ayliff Intrusion, South Africa. Olivine crystals reach 1 cm in length, have an aspect ratio up to 20, and lie parallel to the contact. This layer is considered to be intrusiveinto a pre-existing package of cumulates rather than to represent a layer which formed at the liquid-crystal interface of the magma chamber. The crystals define a planar, not linear, fabric, which is interpreted to indicate that the elongated crystals grewin situ and were not concentrated by flow differentiation as this would produce a linear fabric. It is suggested that this texture formed as a result of crystallization under conditions of relatively slow cooling and minimal supercooling. Under these conditions growth rate is high, whilst nucleation rate is low, producing few large crystals. Perpendicular growth is inhibited under these conditions by the absence of a supercooled zone within the boundary layer.Low concentrations of incompatible lements in this rock indicate that chemically it is a cumulate. This composition was produced as a result of migration of the residual liquid away from the olivine-plagioclase crystal mush, rather than by mechanical accumulation of the olivine and plagioclase.

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Laminierte Olivin-Spinifexstrukturen in der Mount Ayliff-Intrusion, Südafrika

Zusammenfassung In der Mitte der Lherzolith-Einheit der Mount Ayliff-Intrusion, Südafrika tritt eine dünne Lage aus Spinifex-Troktolith auf. Olivin-Kristalle erreichen eine Länge von 1 cm, haben ein Seitenverhältnis bis zu 20 und liegen parallel zum Kontakt. Diese Lage wird eher als Intrusion in ein bereits bestehendes Paket aus Kumulaten interpretiert als eine Lage, die sich an der Grenze zwischen Schmelze und Kristallen in der Magmakammer bildete. Die Kristalle bilden ein planares, nicht lineares Gefüge, von dem angenommen wird, daß es ein Wachstum der elongierten Kristallein situ anzeigt, nicht jedoch eine Konzentration der Kristalle durch Fliess differentiation, welche ein lineares Gefüge bewirken würde. Diese Struktur dürfte auf Kristallisation bei relativ langsamer Abkühlung und minimaler Unterkühlung zurückgehen. Unter solchen Bedingungen ist die Wachstumsrate hoch, während die Keimbildungsrate niedrig ist, was zu wenigen, aber großen Kristallen führt. Senkrechtes Wachstum wird unter diesen Bedingungen durch das Fehlen einer unterkühlten Zone innerhalb der Grenzfläche verhindert.Die niedrigen Konzentrationen inkompatibler Elemente in diesem Gestein weisen dieses als Kumulat aus. Diese Zusammensetzung resultiert aus der Migration der Restschmelze weg vom Olivin-Plagioklas-Kristallbrei, anstatt aus mechanischer Akkumulation von Olivin und Plagioklas.

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With 5 Figures     

Intrusion and Crystallization of a Spinifex-Textured Komatiite Sill in Dundonald Township, Ontario

Although komatiite has been defined as an ultramafic volcanicrock characterized by spinifex texture, there is a growing recognitionthat similar textures can also form in high-level dykes andsills. Here, we report the results of a petrological and geochemicalinvestigation of a 5 m thick komatiite sill in Dundonald Township,Ontario, Canada. This unit forms part of a series of komatiitesand komatiitic basalts, some of which clearly intruded unconsolidatedsediments. The komatiite sill is differentiated into a spinifex-texturedupper part and an olivine cumulate lower part. Features characteristicof the upper sections of lava flows, such as volcanic brecciaand a thick glassy chilled margin, are absent and, instead,the upper margin of the sill is marked by a layer of relativelylarge (1–5 mm) solid, polyhedral olivine grains that gradesdownwards over a distance of only 2 cm into unusually large,centimetre-sized, skeletal hopper olivine grains. This is underlainby a 1 m thick zone of platy spinifex-textured olivine and coarse,complex, dendritic, spinifex-textured olivine. The texture ofthe olivine cumulate zone in the overlying unit is uniform rightdown to the contact and a lower chilled margin, present at thebase of all lava flows, is absent. The textures in the silland the overlying unit are interpreted to indicate that thesill intruded the olivine cumulate zone of the overlying unit.Thermal modelling suggests that soon after intrusion, a narrowinterval of the overlying cumulate partially melted and thatthe liquid in the upper part of the sill became undercooled.The range of olivine morphologies in the spinifex-textured partof the sill was controlled by nucleation and crystallizationof olivine in these variably undercooled liquids. KEY WORDS: komatiite; intrusion; spinifex texture; olivine     

Mineral chemistry and zoning in eclogite inclusions from Colorado Plateau diatremes

Eclogite inclusions from kimberlitic diatremes on the Colorado Plateau contain intricately zoned garnet and pyroxene and unusual textures. Detailed electron microprobe traverses for a clinopyroxene-garnet-phengite-lawsonite-rutile assemblage show garnet zoning from Alm₆₉Gr₂₁Py₁₀ (core) to Alm₆₁Gr₁₃Py₂₆ (rim) and pyroxene zoning from Jd₅₀ (core) through Jd₇₇ to Jd₅₅ (rim). Pyroxene cores are Cr-rich in another rock. Sharp compositional discontinuities and zoning reversals are preserved in garnet and pyroxene. Oscillatory zoning occurs in both phases on a 10–20 m scale, with variations of up to 6% Py in garnet and 15% Jd in pyroxene. Phengite is unzoned and contains 74% celadonite endmember.Skeletal, pyroxene-filled garnet crystals are common in some rocks, and garnets in other rocks clearly began growth as shell-like crystals. Some rocks contain domains of coarse, prismatic pyroxene with very fine-grained, interstitial magnesium silicates. The texture appears to have resulted from crystallization in the presence of a fluid phase, and water pressure is inferred to have equalled total pressure during crystallization. Eclogite formation at high water pressure may reflect subcrustal crystallization.An analysis of error propagation shows that ferrous iron calculations from electron probe data are not meaningful for these jadeitic pyroxenes, and temperature differences between core and rim crystallization cannot be documented. The garnet textures and oscillatory zoning are unusual for metamorphic rocks, and they suggest disequilibrium crystallization after overstepping of reaction boundaries. All data fit a model of eclogite formation during cooling and metasomatism of basaltic dikes intruded into a cool upper mantle, but the results here do not preclude other origins, such as subduction zone metamorphism.     

Formation Age of the Sujiagou Komatiites in Western Shandong: Further Constraints from SHRIMP U‐Pb Zircon Dating on Granitic Dykes

Komatiites are presented as direct evidence for higher mantle temperatures during the Archean. In the North China Craton, komatiites with spinifex structure have been identified only at one locality, i.e. the Sujiagou area, western Shandong. They were considered as formed during the early Neoarchean mainly based on their association with supracrustal rocks considered to be that age. This study carried out SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating on metamorphosed trondhjemitic and monzogranitic dykes intruding the Sujiagou komatiites, and they have magmatic zircon ages of 2592 ± 12 Ma and 2586 ± 13 Ma respectively. This provides direct evidence that the komatiites formed during the early Neoarchean.