The petrology and significance of a stratiform mafic segregation pegmatite in a Karoo-aged dolerite sheet
- Authors: Mitchell, Andrew A , Naicker, S B , Marsh, Julian S , Dunlevey, J N
- Date: 1997
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149496 , vital:38858 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-9293fd659
- Description: A sub-horizontal stratiform mafic segregation pegmatite, of the order of 30 cm thick, occurs within 25 m of the top contact of a Karoo-aged dolerite sheet at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The host rock is an orthopyroxene-rich dolerite containing 5 - 8% interstitial granophyre. The pegmatite is similar to the host dolerite in many respects, except that the granophyre content is higher, and acicular augite is the only pyroxene. At its upper contact, a laterally continuous sub-horizontal joint forms a sharp boundary to the pegmatite, whilst the lower contact is gradational over a few millimetres. Low MgO and chalcophiles, and elevated incompatible element contents, are the main geochemical attributes of the pegmatite.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
Some geochemical constraints upon models for the crystallization of the upper critical zone-main zone interval, northwestern Bushveld complex
- Authors: Eales, Hugh V , Marsh, Julian S , Mitchell, Andrew A , de Klerk, William J , Kruger, Floris J , Field, Matthew
- Date: 1986
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/136044 , vital:37331 , https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.1986.050.358.03
- Description: Ratios between elements Mg, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, V, and Sc are consistently different in mafic rocks of the upper critical zone, and those above the Bastard unit. Within the 300 m section above the Merensky Reef, 87Sr/86Sr ratios increase from c.0.7063 to c.0.7087, irrespective of rock type. Decoupling of Mg/(Mg + Fe2+) ratios and the Ca contents of plagioclase, and wide variations in the proportions of anorthosite within the Bastard, Merensky, and Merensky Footwall units, are inconsistent with anorthosite formation by simple fractional crystallization of magma batches of limited volume.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1986