A rationale for the origins of massif anorthosites

The origin of massif anorthosites cannot be simply explained by a single magma type. Two of the commonly proposed parents for anorthosites are andesites (quartz-diorites) and high-alumina basalts. It is proposed here that these two magmas are the parents for two groups of anorthosites which include all anorthosite massifs, and that the parents for any given anorthosite massif can be determined by the rock sequence associated with the massif.Evidence from experiments and from phenocrysts in volcanics, suggests that andesites crystallizing in the granulite facies would produce plagioclase cumulates (anorthosites) at the base, followed by dioritic and acidic material, whereas high-alumina basalts would produce gabbros followed by anorthosite with very little succeeding acidic material. All massif anorthosites for which relevant data is available have one or the other of these stratigraphic sequences. Grouped according to these sequences, they coincide with two previously proposed groups, i.e. Andesine-type and Labradorite-type, whose characteristics are shown to be compatible with derivation from andesite and high-alumina basalt, respectively.