An electron microscopic study of anorthoclase spherulites

Spherulites consisting of fibrous alkali feldspar and silica minerals are produced by devitrification of rhyolite glass under hydrothermal conditions. The alkali feldspars (Ab_72.5Or_23.0An_4.5, Ab_81.7Or_14.0An_4.3) in spherulites from two localities in Japan consist of triclinic anorthoclase showing fine cross-hatched twinning and monoclinic sanidine showing fine cross-hatching not attributable to twinning. The cross-hatching, which corresponds to albite and pericline twinning, is produced in the process of transition from a monoclinic to a triclinic phase. The spherulite may develop at a temperature lower than about 200°C because the co-existing silica mineral is not quartz, but metastable tridymite. According to the phase diagram of the alkali feldspars by MacKenzie (1952), the alkali feldspars should have been triclinic during growth. However, the textures show that the alkali feldspar grew as a disordered monoclinic phase. Because of the high growth rate, the Al/Si disordered structure was produced during growth and afterwards transformed into a triclinic structure with cross-hatched twinning.