Compositional variation in pillow lavas from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Five fresh, two weathered, and two metamorphosed basalt pillows with a presently or originally glassy outermost layer, together with a weathered and a metamorphosed basalt fragment without an originally glassy layer, all from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, were investigated in detail. Fresh pillows usually show only very slight compositional heterogeneity, except for the glassy outermost layer where the total iron and MgO contents are higher and the K₂O content and the $\text{Fe}{}_2\text{O}{}_3\text{FeO}$ ratio are lower than the interior. In particular, the K₂O content of the glassy outermost layer is only about a half of that of the core in some pillows. In weathered pillows the surface layer shows higher total iron, TiO₂, P₂O₅ and H₂O contents and a higher $\text{Fe}{}_2\text{O}{}_3\text{FeO}$ ratio and a much lower CaO content than the interior. Most of the compositional heterogeneity observed in metamorphosed pillows may be ascribed to chemical migration during weathering, though metamorphism also may cause considerable heterogeneity.