Paragenetic Types and Compositions of Metamorphic Pyroxenes

Paragenetic types of pyroxenes, selected according to mineralassociations, differ in their average contents of the majorcations. By comparing with the average composition it is seenthat both the Fe/(Mg+Fe) ratio and the Fe⁺², Mn, Mg, Fe⁺³, andCr contents are determined in the main by the composition ofthe host rocks, but the AI_z, Al_y, Ca, and Na contents in pyroxenesare influenced by the conditions under which the rock was formed.The dependence of the Al_z and Al_y contents of orthopyroxenesand clinopyroxenes on temperature and pressure is shown withthe help of a new P-T diagram and by comparison with chemicalanalyses of natural pyroxenes. The correlation between the compound cations in pyroxenes isused to test the hypothesis of real isomorphous substitutionsin each paragenetic type of pyroxenes, and to determine rationalmethods of calculating pyroxene analyses into components. The calculated discriminant functions are useful for referring(with 5–10 per cent error) analyses of pyroxenes to oneof a number of paragenetic types, and in particular for distinguishingpyroxenes from magmatic and metamorphosed gabbros, and fromhigh- and low-temperature two-pyroxene granulites.