Petrology and genesis of natrocarbonatite

Microprobe analyses of phenocrysts and groundmass, and crystal-size distributions of phenocrysts of pahoehoe natrocarbonatite lavas of the 1963 eruption of Oldoinyo Lengai have been determined. Nyerereite phenocrysts are homogeneous, with average composition Nc₄₁Kc₉Cc₅₀ (neglecting F, Cl, P₂O₅, and SO₃) where Nc=Na₂CO₃, Kc=K₂CO₃, and Cc= (Ca,Sr)CO₃. Gregoryite phenocrysts have turbid, pale brown, oscillatorily zoned cores (average composition Nc₇₇Kc₅Cc₁₈) with 0–30% oriented inclusions of exsolved nyerereite. Overgrowths on gregoryites (30 m wide) are relatively sodic (Nc₈₁Kc₄Cc₁₅) and are free of inclusions. Cores and rims are rich in SO₃ (4%) and P₂O₅ (2%). Blebs of pyrite-alabandite mixtures (100 m) occur in the groundmass. The groundmass has the simplified composition Nc₆₅Kc₁₅Cc₂₀, less calcic than the composition of the 1-kbar nyerereite+gregoryite +liquid cotectic in the ternary system Nc-Kc-Cc. Groundmass quench growth of alkali halides + carbonate was followed by slower growth of coarse-grained and irregular gregoryite +KCl+BaCO₃. Crystal size distributions of gregoryite and nyerereite in one sample are linear, implying little loss or gain of phenocrysts by crystal settling. AverageG is 0.15 mm, compared toG=0.03 mm for combeite phenocrysts from consanguineous nephelinite. Assuming an equal residence time () for both lavas, the apparent crystal growth rate (G) in carbonate melt is 5 times greater than in peralkaline undersaturated silicate melt. Data from experiments with natrocarbonatite and related synthetic systems indicate that Na–K–Ca carbonatite magmas which crystallize calcite cannot fractionate to nyerereite+gregoryite +liquid assemblages. Natrocarbonatites plot in the liquidus field of nyerereite, and minor fractionation of nyerereite to produce the erupted lavas is indicated. The term natrocarbonatite has been inappropriately applied to other eruptive rocks with calcite phenocrysts, and the only known occurrence of gregoryite-bearing natrocarbonatite is Oldoinyo Lengai. Natrocarbonatite probably originates by liquid immiscibility from strongly peralkaline nephelinites, which have also been erupted at Oldoinyo Lengai.