GEOL20003 Earth Composition Minerals & Magmas
Alkali Basalts (& Gabbros) and basanites
modified MacDonald-Katsura diagram (using atomic Na & Si)
Petrography of alkali basalts
like all basalts, these contain plagioclase & clinopyroxene in addition, all alkali basalts contain olivine EVEN in the groundmass!!! unlike tholeiitic basalts, alkali basalts have insufficient Si to form pigeonite or orthopyroxene but the pyroxene formed may appear unusual!!
Substitution in clinopyroxenes
In low silica melts, Al3+ substitutes into the fourfold Si4+ site IV
Ca(Mg,Fe)Si2O6
VI To balance the charge, Al3+ and/or Ti4+ substitute into the six-fold site
in oxidised magmas, Ti is available, not so in reduced magmas
Consequences of substitution 1
many cpx grains with low order interference colours show high dispersion
Consequences of substitution 2
in oxidised magmas, coupled substitution includes Ti4+ so cpx grains are brownish/purple in plane lighttitanaugites
Olivine poor alkali basalts
Can look a bit like tholeiitic basalts
but there is olivine in the groundmass
Thin edge.plagioclase grey and black, cpx rusty, tiny olivines remain brightly coloured (because these have high birefringence)
Olivine-rich alkali basalts
still have olivine in the groundmass!
Alkali gabbros
These are rare: magmas low viscosity? alkali basalts less abundant?? These tend to have amphibole as well as cpx
(an example from an exposed magma chamber in central Tahiti: large, abundant apatite grains)
Phase diagram for the plagioclase system
Typically, plagioclase in alkali basalts is high in Na (An50-60) c.f. calcic plagioclase in tholeiites, (up to An80)
Phase diagram for the olivine system
So NO reaction point stopping the production of olivine in alkali basalts (i.e., different from tholeiites)
Alkali basalt suites
Benmoreite
0.9
Fe*/Fe*+Mg
Mugearite
0.7
Hawaiite
olivine is present in all members of the series.
0.5
Basalt
0.3 0.3 0.6 0.9
Na/Na+Ca
Basanites have even less silica!
Basanites contain feldspathoid as well as plagioclase
the presence of feldspathoids makes these rocks highly reactive (they go blotchy very easily) montmorillonite clay (iddingsite and bowlingite) is stable under these highly alkaline conditions and develops quickly
this clay shrinks and swells when dry and wet so that basanites make poor road metal/engineering material (while alkali basalt is fine)
unfortunately, a range of crazy names have been generated for these comparatively rare rockswe will ignore these! the more undersaturated the magmas get, the greater the abundance of apatite becomes
e.g., leucite basanite
NOTE: both leucite AND plagioclase in thin-sectionVERY important!!
(i.e., not alkali basaltsbut not leucitites either!)
Amphibole basanites:
camptonites
The brown amphiboles nepheline + clinopyroxene + water (so feldspathoid may not be presentalthough analcime (NaAlSi2O6) pools result from alteration of alkali-rich glass!!)
(similar rocks are associated with the Porgera gold deposit PNG)
What you should now know!
That alkali basalts and basanites are more limited in their occurrence (intraplate, smaller volumes c.f. tholeiites), and tend to be the magmas that carry mantle peridotites
That the low silica promotes substitution of Al3+ (and possibly Ti4+) into the cpx lattice resulting in high dispersion in some grains and titanaugites in oxidised magmas where Ti is available (not in ilmenite)
How the magma composition influences the mineralogy during fractional crystallisation of olivine and plagioclase, and how this differs from tholeiitic suites
What petrographic features distinguish alkali basalts from tholeiitic basalts, and what distinguishes basanites from alkali basalts
