ALBERT

Notes: Abstract The mineralogy and chemistry of picrites from Mauna Loa and Kilauea have been investigated to evaluate, for Hawaiian tholeiitic picrites, the contrasting genetic models which have been proposed for these Mg-rich volcanics, namely products of direct crystallization of high-Mg melts (20–25% MgO) or the result of accumulation of olivine phenocrysts into less Mg-rich melts. Genetic interpretations rely heavily on Mg-Fe partitioning relations between olivines and their picrite hosts. Although the 100 Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) ratios (M) of picrites are wide-ranging (M=73.6–82.9 for Fe2O3/FeO=0.15), with MgO as high as 27.8%, the average 100 Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios (mg) of the cores of olivine phenocrysts (megacrysts) show only restricted compositional variation (mg=87.2–89.0). Successive olivine generations are progressively more Fe-rich. Olivine/liquid Mg-Fe partitioning data and the Mn and Ni abundances in olivine phenocrysts collectively indicate that they were precipitated by Mg-rich basaltic melts with 12–14% MgO. Spinel compositions range from liquidus magnesiochromites, occurring mainly as inclusions in olivine phenocrysts, to groundmass titanomagnetites which crystallized at nearsolidus temperatures. The Cr2O3 contents and M values of liquidus magnesiochromites suggest that their parent melts were neither Mg-rich picritic (MgO〉20%) nor relatively Mg-poor basaltic types. On MgO variation diagrams (extending from approximately 7% to more than 25% MgO), Mauna Loa and Kilauea picrites and their respective microcrystalline/glassy groundmasses (the major component of quickly-cooled picrites) plot on linear regression lines (‘olivine control lines’). At a given MgO content, Kilauean picrites and tholeiites (M〈75) generally contain more TiO2 FeO t , CaO, K2O and P2O5, and less SiO2 and Na2O than Mauna Loan types. The compositions of the groundmasses in picrites and Mg-rich ol-tholeiites equate closely with those of the Mg-poor tholeiites (7–9% MgO) which dominate the petrology of each shield. Low-pressure closed system differentiation of Hawaiian tholeiitic magmas (10–15% MgO) can yield picritic derivatives which differ, however, from the extrusive picrites by virtue of distinctly higher FeO t contents and correspondingly more Fe-rich olivines and Cr-spinels. The calculated Mg-Fe olivine megacryst-‘liquid’ partition coefficient K D for individual picrites indicate that lowpressure equilibria (K D =0.30–0.34) are defined only by melts with approximately 12–14% MgO (M∼ 71–74). Assessed in conjunction with Ni-MgO modeling, these data indicate that the more Mg-rich picrites (MgO〉 14–15%) are indeed olivine-enriched and do not represent melt compositions. Olivine enrichment resulted from post-eruptive mechanical (flow) differentiation of extruded ‘mushes’ of intratelluric cognate olivine phenocrysts (mg∼88) and tholeiitic melts (M∼60), which are ‘residua’ of the parental magmas (12–14% MgO), following the crystallization of the olivine phenocrysts. The ‘parental’ magmas of both picrite suites were generated by 35–40% melting of relatively Fe-rich spinel lherzolites (mg∼84) containing kaersutitic amphibole as a major primary constituent.

Notes: Abstract Textural and geochemical studies of inclusions in topaz from greisens in the Hensbarrow topaz granite stock (St. Austell, Cornwall) are used to constrain the composition of fluids responsible for late stage greisening and mineralisation. The topaz contains an abundant and varied suite of inclusions including aqueous liquid + vapour (L + V), quartz, zinnwaldite, albite, K-feldspar, muscovite, ilmenorutile, apatite, columbite, zircon, varlamoffite [(Sn, Fe)(O, OH)2] and qitianlingite [(Fe+2,Mn+2)2(Nb,Ta)2W+6O10]. Primary L + V inclusions in topaz show relatively high T h (mainly 300 to 〉500 °C) and a narrow range of salinities (23–30 wt % NaCl equivalent) compared with those in greisen quartz (150–450 °C, 0–50 wt % NaCl equivalent). Textures indicate that topaz formed earlier than quartz and the fluid inclusion data are interpreted as indicating a cooling of the hydrothermal fluids during greisenisation, mixing with meteoric waters and a decrease in pressure causing intermittent boiling. The presence of early-formed albite and K-feldspar as inclusions in the topaz is likely to indicate that the greisen-forming fluid became progressively more acid during greisenisation. The most distinctive inclusions in the topaz are wisp- and bleb-shaped quartz, 〈 50 μm in size, which show textural characteristics indicating former high degrees of plasticity. They often have multiple shrinkage bubbles at their margins rich in Sn, Fe, Mn, S and Cl and, more rarely, contain euhedral albite, K-feldspar, stannite or pyrrhotite crystals up to 40 μm in size. The quartz inclusions show similar morphologies to inclusions in topaz from quartz-topaz rocks elsewhere which have been interpreted as trapped “silicate melt”. Their compositions are, however, very different to those expected for late stage topaz-normative granitic melts. From their textural and chemical characteristics they are interpreted as representing crystallised silica colloid, probably trapped as a hydro gel during greisenisation. There is also evidence for the colloidal origin of inclusions of varlamoffite in the topaz. These occurrences offer the first reported evidence in natural systems for the formation of colloids in high temperature hydrothermal fluids. Their high ore carrying potential is suggested by the presence of varlamoffite and the occurrence of stannite, pyrrhotite and SnCl within the quartz inclusions.

Notes: Abstract A vitrophyric analcimite contains phenocrysts of analcime and olivine in a groundmass of titansahlite, titanomagnetite, apatite, and abundant glass. The chemistry of the analcimite and its vitric residuum, the crystallization history of the host, and experimental data collectively favour an interpretation that the analcime “phenocrysts” are ion-exchanged KAl-Si2O6 leucites. Conversion of leucite to analcime resulted from two-way diffusion involving Na+ and H2O, and K+ across the original leucite-glass interfaces and probably was largely accomplished during hydration of the vitric groundmass.

Notes: Abstract An analcime-rich mugearite near Spring Mount in north-eastern New South Wales contains dominant kaersutite, lesser anorthoclase and rare Ti-rich mica megacrysts, and also rare Group I peridotite xenoliths and granitoid inclusions. Mineralogical, experimental and Sr and Nd isotopic data are interpreted to indicate that the megacrysts are cognate with their host and that megacryst precipitation occurred at pressures in the vicinity of 1 GPa. Isotopic and other data indicate minimal crystal contamination of the melt. The generation of this ‘evolved’ lava (100 Mg/(Mg+Fe2+), M∼55; differentiation index DI∼52–56) by high-pressure amphiboledominated fractionation of a mantle-derived hydrous alkali basaltic parent (M∼70) is inconsistent with observed megacryst abundances (〈3%) and absence of Group II cumulates, and with the magnitude of the crystal extracts (∼45% crystals) indicated by crystal fractionation models. These data suggest the mugearite is not a high-pressure differentiate of a hypothetical primary parental magma (M≥70). Alternatively, its composition might approximate that of a primary magma derived from a relatively Fe-rich amphibole lherzolite mantle source.

Notes: Abstract An alkali basalt near Glen Innes, northeastern New South Wales, contains a suite of Cr-diopside group ultramafic xenoliths which includes some spinel peridotites but which is dominated by a diverse spinel pyroxenite assemblage. Pyroxenite xenoliths range from subcalcic clinopyroxenites (composed largely of unmixed prismatic subcalcic clinopyroxene megacrystals and lesser orthopyroxene megacrystals) to equant mosaic textured websterites (orthopyroxene and Ca-rich clinopyroxene ± spinel). Rare orthopyroxenite xenoliths also occur. The pyroxenite xenoliths are characterised by high 100Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) ratios (M˜ 90) and low concentrations of Ti, K, P, La, Ce and Zr. The websterites are mineralogically and chemically similar to many spinel pyroxenites occurring as layers or dykes in peridotite massifs such as those at Ronda in southern Spain and at Ariège (French Pyrénées). T / P estimates indicate crystallization temperatures of 1250–1350 °C for subcalcic clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene megacrystal pairs and 900–1000 °C for the equilibrated mosaic textured websterites and associated peridotites at pressures of 9–13 kbar. Subcalcic clinopyroxene megacrystals, websterites and orthopyroxenites have LREE-depleted chondrite-normalised REE abundances with (La/Yb)CN 〈 1 and their convex-upwards REE patterns are typical of subcalcic clinopyroxene-dominated cumulates. The pyroxenites are not residua from partially melted pyroxenite layers or dykes in mantle peridotites nor are they completely crystallized protobasaltic or protopicritic magmas. They are interpreted as high-pressure crystal segregations from basaltic magmas (probably mildly alkaline or transitional) flowing within narrow mantle conduits (the flow crystallization model of Irving, 1980). The parental magma(s) was Ti-poor (0.6–0.7% TiO2) and relatively Mg-rich (M˜ 74 − 70). Pyroxenite genesis was a two-stage process involving crystallization of tschermakitic subcalcic clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes  ±spinel as liquidus or near-liquidus phases at 1250–1350 °C and 9–13 kbar to yield “primary” subcalcic clinopyroxenites which then re-equilibrated at 900–1000 °C and similar pressures to produce the mosaic textured “secondary” websterites. The pyroxenites show a wide range of 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr values (0.513298–0.512473 and 0.702689–0.704659, respectively). Their isotopic ratios appear to have been variably modified by exchange with adjacent mantle peridotites or migrating basaltic melts.

Notes: Abstract Trace element data on an Al-spinel ultramafic-mafic inclusion suite in an analcimite support earlier proposals that the various inclusions are comagmatic and represent fragments of a layered tholeiitic ‘pluton’ which differentiated at pressures close to 8 kb. Ultramafic inclusions are dominantly pyroxenites, often websteritic, whereas the mafic inclusions are largely two pyroxene-plagioclase assemblages. Appropriate experimental data and abundances of Sc, Cr and V indicate that subcalcic clinopyroxene or relatively Ca-rich clinopyroxene was the major ferromagnesian phase fractionated, often accompanied by spinel in the early and middle stages of differentiation and, in the later stages, by titanomagnetite. Comparatively moderate decreases in Ni and Co suggest that olivine was a relatively unimportant fractionating phase. Clinopyroxene fractionation at moderate pressures should be assigned only a comparatively insignificant role in the production of evolved basaltic compositions.

Notes: Abstract A variety of rock types is developed in the Shonkin Sag laccolith, with extreme compositions represented by the porphyritic pseudoleucite-bearing chilled margin, shonkinitic in composition, and by the final differentiate, chemically a nepheline syenite. During differentiation the pyroxenes changed in composition from Ca-rich varieties through aegirine-augite to acmite; there is no evidence of an immiscibility gap between Ca-rich and Na-rich pyroxenes. Olivine compositions changed from approximately Fa20 to Fa40, but in marked contrast the coexisting biotites exhibit a more extensive compositional range, from annite24 to annite100; the crystal margins of annites in the most evolved rocks are manganophyllite-rich. Titanomagnetites are TiO2-poor varieties. Arfvedsonite and melanite occur in the most evolved syenites. From mineralogical and thermodynamic data initial and final temperatures of crystallization of the various rock types have been calculated. At an estimated total vapor pressure of 310 bars, the temperature of intrusion was 985° C. Final crystallization of the laccolith took place below 700° C, and crystallization intervals for most rock types are of the order of 170° C. Over the total magmatic temperature range the activity of silica in the melt decreased from 0.13 to 0.09. Oxygen fugacity falls with temperature approximately parallel to the synthetic fayalite-magnetite-quartz oxygen buffer until olivine disappears. The crystallization of Na-rich pyroxenes does not demand an increase in the fugacity of oxygen, but rather requires that the oxygen fugacity fall less rapidly with temperature than would be the case if olivine and magnetite were present.

Notes: Abstract The Shonkin Sag differentiation sequence displays systematic variations in major and trace elements with evolution. The accumulative more mafic shonkinites are enriched in Co, Ni, Cr; La, Ce, Zr, and Nb are concentrated in the most evolved differentiate, chemically a nepheline syenite. Maximum abundances of K, Rb, Ba, Pb, and Sr occur in the intermediate syenitic differentiates (differentiation index=64.0–68.8). A change in the variation trends for K, Rb, Pb, Sr, Na, Ce, and Zr coincided with a change in the rate of decrease of oxygen fugacity with falling temperature.

Notes: Abstract The paper discusses the petrography, mineralogy, petrochemical affinities, P/T crystallization regimes and genetic aspects of four garnet clinopyroxenite inclusions from diatremes in the Gloucester area, New South Wales. Inclusion mineral assemblages (which generally display textural evidence of annealing) include garnet-plagioclase-(sulphur-rich scapolite)-clinopyroxene, garnet-hornblende-orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene and garnet-hornblende-clinopyroxene. The garnet-plagioclase clinopyroxenite inclusion possesses an essentially alkali basaltic chemistry. It probably represents a crystallized basaltic liquid whereas the petrochemical affinities of the two garnet pyroxenites carrying amphiboles are more appropriate to subcalcie clinopyroxenites with variable Mg/Fe ratios. Experimental and other data suggest that the Gloucester garnet clinopyroxenite suite crystallized at pressures of the order of 10–14 kb and temperatures in the vicinity of 1000° C. The chemical compositions of many garnet pyroxenites, occurring either as inclusions in alkali basaltic rocks or as localized facies within some alpine-type peridotites, such as those in the western Mediterranean region, suggest that they can be interpreted as lower temperature heteromorphs of “primitive” subcalcic clinopyroxenites, variable in Al contents and hy/di ratios, but retaining consistently low Ti, Na, K and P. It is suggested that many inclusions of garnet (-spinel) pyroxenite and subcalcie Clinopyroxenite, restricted to alkali basaltic rocks and their associates, originally may have been interleaved with upper mantle aluminous peridotites and that they represent partial melt products of their aluminous peridotitic hosts.

Notes: Abstract The Lower Proterozoic Salt Lick Creek intrusion, East Kimberley region, Western Australia, is a layered intrusion divisible into two well-defined zones, the Basal and Main Zones, whose combined stratigraphic thickness, as now exposed, is approximately 1000 metres. The Basal Zone, 360 metres thick, contains three members, two of which (Members 1 and 3) are dominated by olivine, plagioclase cumulates (including harrisites and allivalites); Member 2, near the middle of the Basal Zone, consists substantially of more olivine-rich cumulates, including plagioclase-bearing dunites. The Main Zone, commencing with Member 4 plagioclase, orthopyroxene cumulates, is composed largely of anorthositic cumulates of Member 5. Mild but nevertheless measurable rhythmic layering is superimposed upon the three members comprising the Basal Zone. Electron probe microanalyses of the primary phases across some 500 metres of cumulates indicate limited cryptic variation with stratigraphic height. Olivine ranges in composition from Fo81 to Fo84, orthopyroxene from Ca2Mg83Fe15 to Ca2Mg78Fe20, clinopyroxene from Ca48Mg46Fe6 to Ca44Mg48Fe8, and plagioclase from An84 to An88 but mineral compositions are not a simple function of stratigraphic height. It is inferred that the parental magma(s) was high-alumina mafic, intrinsically subalkaline, strongly olivine- and plagioclase-normative and in all likelihood tholeiitic in its affinities. The olivine-free cumulates of the Main Zone display a higher level of normative saturation than the cumulates of the Basal Zone but mineral and host rock chemistries, particularly 100 Mg/ (Mg+Fe2+) atomic ratios, are not favourable to proposals which would relate the origin of the Main Zone or the several members of the intrusion to the differentiation of a single pool of magma. It is suggested that the Main Zone, at least, derived from a separate pulse of relatively more saturated magma and that the lateral replenishment by more or less undifferentiated magma was also a fundamental and critical factor in the genesis of the Basal Zone cumulates.