Fohn lamproite and a possible Late Eocene — pre‐Miocene diatreme field,Northern Bonaparte Basin,Timor Sea

Seismic profiles in the Northern Bonaparte Basin, Timor Sea, northern Australia, disclose an east‐northeast‐trending 120 × 25 km swathe of over 40 circular to subcircular features excavated in the pre‐Miocene erosional surface and buried by Lower Miocene sediments. The larger structures, typified by the Fohn Structure, include central structural highs overlying narrow vertical corridors of upward‐bulging seismic horizons (bulge‐forms). Associated with these structural highs are troughs that overlie broader vertical zones of slower seismic velocity (crater‐form features). Smaller circular features (Dc <2.0 km) include both crater‐form and bulge‐form structures. The first type shows zones of seismic velocity crater‐form structures under craters excavated below the base‐Miocene horizon. The second type exhibits vertical seismic bulge‐form features directly beneath palaeotopographic highs developed at the same horizon. Identification in drill cuttings of fragments of olivine‐leucite lamproite at Fohn 1, at depths of 690–880 m, suggests that this structure is a lamproite diatreme consisting of a massive volcanic plug ringed by pyroclastics, analogous to the classic champagne‐glass structure of alkaline volcanic diatremes. The seismic morphometry of several of the larger structures of the field is analogous to Fohn, suggesting that they too may be diatremes. The smaller bulge‐form features may represent deeply eroded diatreme feeder necks. Crater‐like structures underlain by seismic velocity crater‐forms are interpreted as relatively little‐eroded maars with low‐velocity infill, probably consisting of volcanic and country rock breccia as at Fohn 1, as well as unconsolidated clastics of the transgressive Lower Miocene Oliver Sandstone Member. Lamproite fragments at Fohn 1 are dominated by apatite‐rich assemblages consisting of saponite‐altered olivine, analcime and nontronite‐altered zoned leucite, high‐Ti K‐bearing diopside, Ti‐rich richterite, Ti‐rich phlogopite, Mg‐rich ilmenite, Cr‐bearing priderite, Ba and Sr‐rich fluorapatite and rare‐earth element‐rich apatite. Textural relations suggest early crystallisation of olivine, leucite and K‐bearing diopside followed by crystallisation of alkali amphibole, priderite, ilmenite and apatite in alkali‐Tindash;Fe–rich groundmass. Fohn 1 lamproites have very high whole‐rock P levels, high Na,Sr and Y and low K,Ba,Zr and Nb levels compared to Early Miocene West Kimberley lamproites. The mineral paragenesis suggests crystallisation of olivine‐leucite assemblages at temperatures >1100°C and pressures <0.1 GPa, followed by crystallisation of amphibole and phlogopite under water‐saturated conditions at temperatures below ～1020°C.     

Compositions of magmas and carbonate–silicate liquid immiscibility in the Vulture alkaline igneous complex, Italy

This paper presents a study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals of an olivine-leucite phonolitic nephelinite bomb from the Monticchio Lake Formation, Vulture. The rock contains 50 vol.% clinopyroxene, 12% leucite, 10% alkali feldspars, 8% hauyne/sodalite, 7.5% nepheline, 4.5% apatite, 3.2% olivine, 2% opaques, 2.6% plagioclase, and < 1% amphibole. We distinguished three generations of clinopyroxene differing in composition and morphology. All the phenocrysts bear primary and secondary melt and fluid inclusions, which recorded successive stages of melt evolution. The most primitive melts were found in the most magnesian olivine and the earliest clinopyroxene phenocrysts. The melts are near primary mantle liquids and are rich in Ca, Mg and incompatible and volatile elements. Thermometric experiments with the melt inclusions suggested that melt crystallization began at temperatures of about 1200 °C. Because of the partial leakage of all primary fluid inclusions, the pressure of crystallization is constrained only to minimum of 3.5 kbar. Combined silicate–carbonate melt inclusions were found in apatite phenocrysts. They are indicative of carbonate–silicate liquid immiscibility, which occurred during magma evolution. Large hydrous secondary melt inclusions were found in olivine and clinopyroxene. The inclusions in the phenocrysts recorded an open-system magma evolution during its rise towards the surface including crystallization, degassing, oxidation, and liquid immiscibility processes.     

Zirconolite-bearing ultra-potassic veins in a mantle-xenolith from Mt. Melbourne Volcanic Field,Victoria Land,Antarctica

One mantle xenolith from a basanite host of the Mt. Melbourne Volcanic Field (Ross Sea Rift) is extraordinary in containing veins filled with leucite, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, nepheline, Mg-ilmenite, apatite, titaniferous mica, and the rare mineral zirconolite. These veins show extensive reaction with the dunitic or lherzolitic host (olivine+spinel+orthopyroxene+clinopyroxene). The reaction areas contain skeletal olivine and diopside crystals, plagioclase, phlogopite, aluminous spinel and ilmenite in a fine grained groundmass of aluminous spinel, clinopyroxene, olivine, plagioclase and interstitial leucite. The vein composition estimated from modal abundances and microprobe analyses is a mafic leucite-phonolite with high amounts of K, Al, Ti, Zr and Nb but low volatile contents. The melt is unrelated to the host basanite and was probably derived by smallscale melting of incompatible element-enriched phlogopite-bearing mantle material and must have lost most of its volatile content during migration, crystallization and reaction with the host dunite. While the veins are completely undeformed the dunitic host shows slight deformation. Vein minerals crystallized at high temperatures above 1000°C and pressures below 5 kbar according to the phase assemblage including leucite, nepheline and K-feldspar. Spinel/olivine geothermometry yielded 800–920°C for the re-equilibration of the host peridotite. Thus the xenolith must have been at shallow depth prior to and during the late veining event. Mantle material at shallow depths is consistent with rifting and the regional extreme displacement at the transition from the rifted Victoria Land Basin in the Ross Sea to the uplifted Trans-Antarctic Mountains.     

矿物—熔体间元素分配系数资料及主要变化规律

本文提供了不同成分的8大类主岩(偏铝质(超)基性岩、过碱性(超)基性岩、偏铝质中性岩、过碱性中性岩、偏铝质酸性岩、过碱性酸性岩、过铝质酸性岩、超酸性岩)中28个矿物(橄榄石、单斜辉石、斜方辉石、角闪石、黑云母、金云母、斜长石、钾长石、石英、磁铁矿、钛铁矿、石榴石、锆石、磷灰石、绿帘石、黄玉、榍石、堇青石、蓝方石、石榴石、霞石、白磷钙矿、镁铁钛矿、板钛矿、黄长石、钙钛矿、尖晶石、金红石)的69个化学元素(Li、Rb、Cs、K、Na、Ca、Sr、Ba、Mn、Fe、Mg、Cu、Pb、Zn、Co、Ni、Be、La、Ce、Nd、Sm、Eu、Gd、Tb、Dy、Ho、Er、Tm、Yb、Lu、Y、Sc、Cr、In、Ga、Al、B、Cd、Sb、Bi、U、Th、Zr、Hf、Si、Ti、Ge、Sn、Mo、Nb、Ta、W、V、P、F、Cl、S、N、O、C、As、Pu、Re、Os、He、Ne、Ar、Xe、Kr)和1个化学一价原子团OH的分配系数。综合分析对比表明,矿物、熔体的成分和结构是分配系数的最重要的控制因素。对前人未讨论过的矿物结构和熔体铝过饱和度这两个因素应引起重视。最后,本文分析了矿物-熔体间元素分配系数的研究现状、存在问题,指出了这一领域今后的研究方向。     

Mantle metasomatism and magma formation in continental lithosphere: Data on xenoliths in alkali basalts from the Makhtesh Ramon,Negev desert,Israel

Mantle xenoliths (lherzolites, clinopyroxene dunites, wehrlites, and clinopyroxenites) in the Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks of Makhtesh Ramon (alkali olivine basalts, basanites, and nephelinites) represent metasomatized mantle, which served as a source of basaltic melts. The xenoliths bear signs of partial melting and previous metasomatic transformations. The latter include the replacement of orthopyroxene by clinopyroxene in the lherzolites and, respectively, the wide development of wehrlites and olivine clinopyoroxenites. Metasomatic alteration of the peridotites is accompanied by a sharp decrease in Mg, Cr, and Ni, and increase of Ti, Al, Ca contents and ³⁺Fe/²⁺Fe ratio, as well as the growth of trace V, Sc, Zr, Nb, and Y contents. The compositional features of the rocks such as the growth of ³⁺Fe/²⁺Fe and the wide development of Ti-magnetite in combination with the complete absence of sulfides indicate the high oxygen fugacity during metasomatism and the low sulfur concentration, which is a distinctive signature of fluid mode during formation of the Makhtesh Ramon alkali basaltic magma. Partial melting of peridotites and clinopyroxenites is accompanied by the formation of basanite or alkali basaltic melt. Clino- and orthopyroxenes are subjected to melting. The crystallization products of melt preserved in the mantle rock are localized in the interstices and consist mainly of fine-grained clinopyroxene, which together with Ti-magnetite, ilmenite, amphibole, rhenite, feldspar, and nepheline, is cemented by glass corresponding to quartz–orthopyroxene, olivine–orthopyroxene, quartz–feldspar, or nepheline–feldspar mixtures of the corresponding normative minerals. The mineral assemblages of xenoliths correspond to high temperatures. The high-Al and high-Ti clinopyroxene, calcium olivine, feldspar, and feldspathoids, amphibole, Ti-magnetite, and ilmenite are formed at 900–1000°. The study of melt and fluid inclusions in minerals from xenoliths indicate liquidus temperatures of 1200–1250°C, solidus temperatures of 1000–1100°C, and pressure of 5.9–9.5 kbar. Based on the amphibole–plagioclase barometer, amphibole and coexisting plagioclase were crystallized in clinopyroxenites at 6.5–7.0 kbar.     

The Mineralogy and Petrology of Mount Suswa, Kenya

Mount Suswa, a Quaternary volcano in the Rift Valley of Kenya,is composed of sodalite-trachytes, sodalite-phonolites, andphonolites, the majority of which are mildly peralkaline. Thelavas are predominantly feldspathic with phenocrysts of alkalifeldspar and, less commonly, slightly sodic augite and fayaliticolivine. The groundmass typically contains alkali feldspar,augite, titanomagnetite, and may in addition contain sodalite,nepheline, alkali amphibole, aenigmatite, and glass. The lavasof four stratigraphically distinct episodes can be distinguishedon the basis of mineralogy and chemical composition. These lavasare the products of at least three parental magmas, none ofwhich appears to be a derivative of the other. Each ‘magmatype’ represents an independent episode of magma generation,emplacement, and eruption. The order of eruption in the finalepisode corresponds to increasing peralkalinity and undersaturationwith respect to silica, and indicates that these lavas weregenerated via the tapping of a differentiating magma, with thefirst lavas being the least differentiated. Utilizing coexistingfeldspar, residual glass, and bulk rock compositions, the derivationof peralkaline phonolitic residual liquids from a trachyticparent is shown to be a process controlled by feldspar fractionation.     

The origin of pseudoleucite in tinguaite,Ghori, India: a Re-evaluation

Pseudoleucite occurs as large megacrysts (giant phenocrysts) in tinguaite at Ghori which is located in the Panwad-Kawant carbonatite-alkalic complex, India. In thin sections the pseudoleucite crystals show mainly an oriented intergrowth of nepheline and orthoclase with additional minerals phases such as white mica, analcime, sodalite and cancrinite. From mineralogy and geochemistry it is inferred that the scheme involving subsolidus breakdown of leucite and subsequent reaction with Na-rich fluids can satisfactorily explain origin of pseudoleucite crystals in tinguaites.     

云南个旧似长石正长岩类及其岩石成因

云南个旧碱性岩体主要的岩石类型有碱性正长岩和似长石正长岩,其中,似长石正长岩中出现大量似长石矿物霞石、方钠石和碱性暗色矿物。本文根据矿物成分及特征,将这些似长石正长岩进一步划分为黑榴霞石方钠正长岩、霞石方钠正长岩、霞石正长岩及方钠霞石正长岩4类。岩石地球化学结果表明,4类岩石的地球化学行为整体表现出过碱质岩的特征,K2O+Na2O含量很高,为钾玄岩系列,同时表现出钾质的特点。分异指数高,呈现高度分异演化特点。稀土元素变化大,轻重稀土元素分异明显,富集轻稀土元素,亏损重稀土元素。微量元素富集大离子亲石元素Th、U及Zr、Hf等高场强元素,亏损Ba、Sr大离子亲石元素,而P和高场强元素Ta、Ti亏损,同时Cr、Co、Ni含量非常低,具有中等的负Eu异常和微弱的负Ce异常。研究表明,似长石正长岩在岩浆演化过程中表现出明显的分离结晶作用特征,且岩浆起源温度较高,约为835℃,起源较深。个旧似长石正长岩为A型岩套A1亚型,结合构造判别图解,认为其可能来自角闪石或者金云母相矿物存在的富集地幔,形成于燕山晚期伸展的构造背景,岩浆在较高温度下高度结晶分异,并在侵位过程中伴随陆壳成分的混染。     

我国东北小古里河-科洛-五大连池-二克山火山带钾质矿物成因及地质意义

东北黑龙江小古里河-科洛-五大连池-二克山火山岩带是我国近代保存最好的火山群之一,此带火山岩的岩石化学特点全都强碱富钾,K₂O/Na₂O>1.2,属于一套高钾过碱性火山岩。通过对东北钾质火山岩及金云母橄榄岩地幔捕虏体中钾质矿物金云母、白榴石的成分、结晶环境与岩浆成分及来源关系的研究,认为在岩石圈伸展构造背景下,地幔金云母橄榄岩的低度部分熔融形成钾质岩浆,钾质岩浆上升到地壳浅部经历了白榴石的结晶作用。岩浆演化晚期,因钾质矿物大量晶出导致岩浆相对富钠而出现他形霞石和方钠石等填隙矿物。火山岩及地幔捕虏体中富挥发分矿物金云母、白榴石、磷灰石、霞石和方钠石还提供了钾质岩浆富含H₂O、F、Cl、P等挥发分的证据。     

Kalsilite in the lavas of Mt. Nyiragongo (Belgian Congo)

A considerable part of the nephelinite lavas of the volcanoMt. Nyiragongo in the eastern Belgian Congo contains kalsiliteas one of the main constituents. The mineral never occurs asthe only feldspathoid of the rock but is accompanied by nepheline,abundant melilite, and, sometimes, by small to moderate amountsof leucite. Other important constituents of these kalsilite-bearingrocks are clinopyroxene, olivine, perovskite, titanomagnetite,sodalite, &c. The feldspars are lacking. Kalsilite occurs both as complex nepheline-kalsilite phenocrystsin which these phases are strictly co-axial and in the fine-grainedgroundmass as grains separate from those of nepheline. The complex nepheline-kalsilite phenocrysts exhibit a continuousseries of progressing exsolution schematically presented inFig. 5. The series begins with a perthite-like nepheline-kalsilitecore surrounded by a drop-like development of nepheline in themargin of the crystal and ends up with a homogeneous kalsilitecore surrounded by a nepheline margin. The complex phenocrysts occur mostly as aggregates causing atypically glomeroporphyritic texture. Evidence is presentedindicating that, in the very first stages of crystallization,some of the Nyiragongo lavas are able to precipitate small amountsof phenocrysts of approximate composition K₃NaAl₄Si₄O₁₆. Throughcrystal-rise under turbulent currents in the molten lava massthese phenocrysts have been accumulated into aggregates andthus have been preserved until extrusion. Granted sufficientlyslow cooling under static conditions, the phenocrysts wouldhave reacted with the molten lava. The roles of the crystal-riseand of the turbulent currents in lava are illustrated by theoccurrence of the ‘giant’ leucite aggregates foundin the inner walls of the crater and by observations on thelava lake of the mountain. The occurrence of kalsilite in the groundmass is explained bythe existence of a two-phase area in the sub-solidus range inthe nepheline-kalsilite system. The Nepheline Aggregate lavas represent the last extrusionsemitted by the Nyiragongo main crater. The nepheline phenocrystscharacteristic of these lavas range considerably higher in potassiumcontent than the nephelines found in other Nyiragongo flows.The crystals are slightly zoned with a large potassium-richcore coated by a narrow margin with gradually decreasing potassiumcontent. The zoning may be detected only by using special methods.The history of crystallization of the nepheline phenocrystsis considered analogous to that of the complex nepheline-kalsilitephenocrysts with the only difference that the nepheline phenocrystsof the Nepheline Aggregate lavas are less rich in potassiumand, consequently, have not been subjected to exsolution.     

Carbonatite and Alkaline Magmatism in Taourirt (Morocco): Petrological, Geochemical and Sr-Nd Isotope Characteristics

Alkaline lamprophyre dykes from Taourirt (North Morocco) containnumerous xenoliths, ranging from alkaline pyroxenites, kaersutitites,gabbros and nepheline syenites to a calcite carbonatite. Thesilicate xenoliths and the host rocks consist of Al- and Ti-richdiopside–salite, mica or kaersutitite, ± nepheline,± plagioclase and K-feldspar, and ubiquitous apatite.Both the xenoliths and the lamprophyres are enriched in incompatibleelements. The chemical composition of the lamprophyres cannotbe accounted for by fractional crystallization alone. Moreover,the clinopyroxenes exhibit complex zoning, which requires repeatedmixing of pulses of more or less fractionated melts. The carbonatiteis a sövite cumulate with Sr-rich calcite, pyrochlore,fluorapatite, and rare salite. The Sr–Nd isotopic compositionsof the Taourirt rocks indicate a depleted mantle source, thecarbonatite having the most depleted composition, and definea linear trend similar to that of the East African carbonatites.The different rocks thus represent unrelated magmas, and thetrend is interpreted as mixing between two components with HIMUand EM1 mantle end-member signatures. An EM2 mantle componentcould also be involved for a few samples; it may correspondto hydrous metasomatized mantle of the PP–PKP (phlogopiteand phlogopite K-richterite peridotite) and MARID (mica, amphibole,rutile, ilmenite and diopside) type. KEY WORDS: alkaline magmatism; carbonatite; Morocco; REE; Sr–Nd isotopes     

Kalsilite in the lavas of Mt. Nyiragongo (Belgian Congo)

A considerable part of the nephelinite lavas of the volcanoMt. Nyiragongo in the eastern Belgian Congo contains kalsiliteas one of the main constituents. The mineral never occurs asthe only feldspathoid of the rock but is accompanied by nepheline,abundant melilite, and, sometimes, by small to moderate amountsof leucite. Other important constituents of these kalsilite-bearingrocks are clinopyroxene, olivine, perovskite, titanomagnetite,sodalite, &c. The feldspars are lacking. Kalsilite occurs both as complex nepheline-kalsilite phenocrystsin which these phases are strictly co-axial and in the fine-grainedgroundmass as grains separate from those of nephe-line. The complex nepheline-kalsilite phenocrysts exhibit a continuousseries of progressing exsolution schematically presented inFig. 5. The series begins with a perthite-like nepheline-kalsilitecore surrounded by a drop-like development of nepheline in themargin of the crystal and ends up with a homogeneous kalsilitecore surrounded by a nepheline margin. The complex phenocrysts occur mostly as aggregates causing atypically glomeroporphyritic texture. Evidence is presentedindicating that, in the very first stages of crystallization,some of the Nyiragongo lavas are able to precipitate small amountsof phenocrysts of approximate composition K₃NaAl₄Si₄O₁₆. Throughcrystal-rise under turbulent currents in the molten lava massthese phenocrysts have been accumulated into aggregates andthus have been preserved until extrusion. Granted sufficientlyslow cooling under static conditions, the phenocrysts wouldhave reacted with the molten lava. The roles of the crystal-riseand of the turbulent currents in lava are illustrated by theoccurrence of the ‘giant’ leucite aggregates foundin the inner walls of the crater and by observations on thelava lake of the mountain. The occurrence of kalsilite in the groundmass is explained bythe existence of a two-phase area in the sub-solidus range inthe nepheline-kalsilite system. The Nepheline Aggregate lavas represent the last extrusionsemitted by the Nyiragongo main crater. The nepheline phenocrystscharacteristic of these lavas range considerably higher in potassiumcontent than the nephelines found in other Nyiragongo flows.The crystals are slightly zoned with a large potassium-richcore coated by a narrow margin with gradually decreasing potassiumcontent. The zoning may be detected only by using special methods.The history of crystallization of the nepheline phenocrystsis considered analogous to that of the complex nepheline-kalsilitephenocrysts with the only difference that the nephe-line phenocrystsof the Nepheline Aggregate lavas are less rich in potassiumand, consequently, have not been subjected to exsolution.     

Crystallization paths of leucite-bearing lavas: Examples from Italy

The salic phases found in leucite-basanites, -trachytes, and -phonolites may be used to portray crystallization in the system NaAlSiO₄-KAlSiO₄-CaAl₂Si₂O₈-SiO₂, the phonolite pentahedron. Only two lavas have been found that contain the assemblage leucite-nepheline-plagioclase-sanidine and liquid, a natural pseudo-invariant assemblage (at 900° C±100) equivalent to the isobaric invariant point of the four component system. The diversity of phases in this group of lavas illustrates the role of halogens in controlling their crystallization paths. Thus the presence of F in the leucite-basanites has stabilized magnesian biotite and suppressed sanidine, as has been found in other basanitic lavas (Brown and Carmichael 1969). The presence of Cl in these same lavas has induced the crystallization of sodalite, which takes the place of nepheline in the groundmass. However in the leucite-trachytes, biotite has suppressed olivine and coexists with sanidine and leucite. The presence of S may produce haüyne at the expense of nepheline, and in general sulphate minerals, which include apatite, have the role in lavas of low silica activity that pyrrhotite plays in liquids of high silica activity. Both pyroxenes and titaniferous magnetites in this suite of lavas are very aluminous. Groundmass crystals of pyroxene may have one-fifth of Si replaced by Al. Other phases which occur occasionally are melanite garnet and a potassium-rich hastingsite, but neither ilmenite nor a sulphide mineral has been found. Phenocryst equilibration temperatures, derived from olivine and Sr-rich plagioclase, are generally in the range from 1,050° C to 1,150° C. The high content of incompatible elements (e.g., K, Ba, Rb, F, Sr, P) in these lavas suggests that they represent a small liquid fraction from a mantle source which possibly contains phlogopite.     

Petrography and petrogenesis of nephelinized metagabbros from Finnmark,Northern Norway

Plagioclase in olivine metagabbros metasomatized by nepheline syenite magmas was replaced by intergrowths of nepheline and vesuvianite or salite together with smaller amounts of calcic amphibole. Olivine was simultaneously replaced by diopside. The survival of the gross features of protolith textures and clustering of line intersections in composition-volume diagrams suggest that nephelinization took place at approximately constant volume and oxygen content. Nephelinization involved the introduction of Na, K and Fe³⁺ in an infiltrating peralkaline fluid and depletion of Fe²⁺ and Fe^tot and was promoted by the primary mineral parageneses of the protoliths. Concurrent fenitization of quartzo-feldspathic gneiss without the generation of feld-spathoids shows that the processes of nephelinization and fenitization may result from the same fluid.     

Mineral phase compositions in silica-undersaturated ‘leucite’ lamproites from the Bucak area, Isparta, SW Turkey

Ultrapotassic rocks in the Bucak area of Isparta Angle, SW Turkey, show unusually low SiO₂ (46.8–49.2 wt.%) and high MgO (10.4–11.6 wt.%) contents, and lamproitic affinity (K/Na, > 2.5; Mg#, 73–75; Al₂O₃, 9.2–11 wt.%, CaO 7.4–10.6 wt.%, Cr, 525–675 ppm; Ni, 442–615 ppm). They are made up by phlogopite (30–40 vol.%), leucite (25–30 vol.%), olivine (5–20 vol.%), which rarely contain Cr-spinel, clinopyroxene (5–10 vol.%), sanidine (5 vol.%) and richterite, with accessory apatite, magnetite and ilmenite. One sample also include negligible sodalite in groundmass, which is unusual mineral in lamproites. Mineral phase variation and textures record discrete phases of pre-eruptive crystallization: (1) early appearance of (Cr-spinel-bearing) olivine, Ti poor phlogopite ± apatite at pressures of ca. 1.0–2.0 GPa, at or close to the lithospheric Mechanical Boundary Layer (MBL), and (2) later appearance of Ti rich phlogopite, clinopyroxene, richterite, leucite, sanidine, and other minor phases, at pressures of ca. 0.1–1.0 GPa, indicating discrete, pressure-specific fractionation events. The Bucak silica poor ‘leucite’ lamproites were probably generated by partial melting of phlogopite-bearing, refractory peridotite at pressures of ca. 1.5–2 GPa, higher than those proposed for SiO₂-saturated ‘phlogopite’ lamproites (ca. 1–1.5 GPa) from Afyon, to the North. The depth (total pressure) of melt segregation probably dominates over volatile partial pressures (e.g. of CO₂, F, H₂O) in determining the SiO₂-undersaturated character of Bucak magmas.     

Mineralogy of Erromango lavas (New Hebrides): Evidence of an early stage of fractionation in island arc basalts

The orogenic volcanic rocks of Erromango island are divided into a Quaternary theoleiitic group and an older Pliocene one showing calc-alkalic affinity. The microprobe mineralogy of these lavas agrees with this geochemical distinction and indicates a marked iron enrichment trend in the recent tholeiitic lavas, whereas titanomagnetite occurs as early formed phenocrysts (Al, Cr, Mg-rich) only in Pliocene basalts. Some Ni and Mg-rich olivine phenocrysts (Fo88) and unusual chemically zoned clinopyroxene megacrysts are described from Pliocene basic lavas and interpreted as deep-fractionated minerals. The large compositional range of these latter (diopside core to augite rim, through salite intermediate zone) leads us to discuss the physical conditions and the corresponding cation substitutions prevailing during their formation. Diopside cores crystallized at depths of about 20 km from a relatively ‘primitive’ melt. The formation of salite is considered to be the result of concomitant fractionation of Mg-rich phases and increase of f_O2. An early stage of fractionation of Cr-bearing diopside + Ni-bearing olivine would account for the typical Cr and Ni depletion of Erromango lavas.     

Alkalic Igneous Rocks of the Balcones Province, Texas

In late Cretaceous time, subsilicic, alkalic magmas formed sills,laccoliths, plug-like bodies, small volcanoes, and a few dikesin Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Texas coastal plain alongan arcuate trend approximately coinciding with the buried Ouachitastructural belt. Transverse structural features apparently localizedthe igneous activity in two centers. In the larger center nearUvalde, Texas about half of the bodies are melilite-olivinenephelinite, a third olivine nephelinite and the remainder analcitephonolite, olivine basalt, and nepheline basanite, in orderof decreasing abundance. Basaltic and nephelinitic magmas were the primary magmas fromwhich all igneous rocks of the province were derived. Removalof olivine gave rise to a small range in chemical compositionof the basaltic rocks, but not gradation toward silica undersaturation.Nephelinitic magmas with compositions near that at which normativecalcium orthosilicate appears differentiated along two trendsto form melilite-olivine nephelinite as one end product andthrough nepheline basanite to analcite phonolite as the other.These two trends arose independently, their courses being determinedby the composition of the primary nephelinitic magma and theplane Fo-Di-Ne which has no piercing point at low pressure.     

Influence of Sr on an Established Petrological Incompatibility: The Association Melilite + K-Feldspar in a Nephelinite from Djebel Targou, Central Morocco

A peralkaline olivine-free nephelinite from Morocco containsan unusual minerological assemblage of Ti-rich garnet, nosean,clinopyroxene, nepheline, leucite, K-feldspar, and melilite.This occurrence appears to be the first report of coexistingK-feldspar and melilite in a lava. The rock bulk compositionshows unusually high SrO content (0.90%) but the calculatedCIPW norm indicates only moderate silica-undersaturation. Amongthe minerals present nosean contains minor amounts of Sr butmost of the available Sr is concentrated in melilite and largezoned crystals of xenocrystic apatite. Apatite contains up to25% SrO. Experimentally determined partition coefficients ofSr between apatite and melt indicate that it could not haveprecipitated from a nephelinite magma. Isotopic compositionof both Nd and Sr dispel any contamination by either sediments,metamorphic basement, or carbonatites. It is deduced that partialor complete dissolution of Sr-rich xenocrysts (apatite and possiblycarbonates) from an ultrabasic alkaline complex in a peralkalinenephelinite composition induces the precipitation of Sr-bearingmelilite in the presence of the normal nepheline +leucite +K-feldspar assemblage. The Moroccan nephelinite thus providesan interesting example where a minor element influences therelations and commonly observed petrological incompatibilitiesbetween phases.     

Petrogenesis of the gabbros from Mt. St. Hilaire,Quebec, Canada

Mt. St. Hilaire occurs as a small funnel-shaped intrusion in the Monteregian petrographic province of Quebec and consists of alkali gabbros and later nepheline syenites. Based on field relations, petrography, and geochemistry, five types of gabbro are recognized. In order of intrusion these are: leucogabbro, foliated gabbro, kaersutite-biotite gabbro, kaersutite gabbro, and a gabbro-melagabbro series. Based on analyses of the early-forming ilmenite-titanomagnetite, the gabbros crystallized under high fO₂ conditions which lead to subsequent crystallization of olivines with high MnO contents. Fractionation of ilmenite and titanomagnetite was a major control on the Ti and A[TV]concentrations in the clinopyroxenes. Plagioclase compositions in the gabbros became richer in Ab contents in the sequence gabbro-melagabbro to leucogabbro. Whole-rock analyses suggest that the parental magma of alkali basaltic composition was fairly evolved prior to emplacement. Lack of olivine in the cumulate gabbro-melagabbros and low Ni and Cr in all gabbros may reflect either extreme olivine fractionation and/or a very low olivine content in the source material for these basalts. Differentiation of the gabbros occurred both pre- and post-emplacement, probably by a process of crystal-liquid fractionation at depths between 3-5 and 8 km. This is in accordance with geophysical measurements for other Monteregian intrusions. A model is presented for the mechanism of emplacement.     

The occurrence of ramsayite,titan-låvenite and a fluorine-rich eucolite in a nepheline-syenite inclusion from Tenerife,Canary Islands

A nepheline syenite inclusion found in an ignimbritic sequence from Tenerife has revealed a variety of minerals which indicate the strongly peralkaline nature of the rock. The major mineral, alkali feldspar, encloses earlier crystallized biotite, Mn-rich magnetite, sphene and perovskite. The late-crystallizing minerals in the interstices include clinopyroxene (aegirine-augite to titanian-aegirine), F-rich arfvedsonite, ramsayite, nepheline, pyrophanite, apatite, sodalite and rare F-rich eucolite and titan-låvenite. The data illustrate the important role of volatiles in the sub-volcanic equivalent of the phonolitic lavas.