Petrographical and mineral chemistry characteristics of mafic dykes in Nhi Ha area, Ninh Thuan and its meaning

The NE-SW and NW-SE mafic dyke rocks in Nhi Ha area intruded through Cretaceous granitoid Dinh Quan or overlapped by Quaternary sediment materials. It has block type and blue grey in color in the field. Under microscope, based on minerals and textures, divided into 2 types of mafic dyke rock, such as diabase and porphyritic diabase. Minerals chemical analysis by EPMA method: plagioclase almost are labradorite (An 60.80%), oligoclase (An from 12.31 to 14.29%), some grain had albitation (An from 6.75 to 8.46%); pyroxene with augite (Wo41,80 En44,22 Fs13,98 to Wo43,40 En37,50 Fs19,10) and diopsite composition (Wo45,45 En42,48 Fs12,07 to Wo48,16 En40,02 Fs11,81); amphiboles in basalt are magnesio-hastingsite (Ca-amphibole group). Popular alteration minerals are chlorite, epidote and sericite. Chlorite is pycnochlorite type, ratio Fe/(Fe+Mg) <0,6 show that it formed by hydrothermal alteration process with temperature from 150 to 3250C. Opaque minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, ilmenite, magnetite, titanomagnetite, titanite (sphene) and a little bit of rutile.

Ilímaussaq ‘en miniature’: closed-system fractionation in an agpaitic dyke rock from the Gardar Province, South Greenland (contribution to the mineralogy of Ilímaussaq no. 117)

Based on petrography, mineral chemistry, and petrology, the physico-chemical evolution of an agpaitic dyke was found to be very similar to that of the neighbouring Ilímaussaq complex. Various mineral assemblages were used to reconstruct the crystallization conditions of the dyke rock for different stages during cooling. The early magmatic phenocryst assemblage is alkali feldspar + nepheline + augite + olivine + magnetite and indicates liquidus temperatures of ∼850ºC, silica activities of ∼0.5, and oxygen fugacities of FMQ –1.5 to –3. The groundmass assemblage albite + microcline + nepheline + sodalite + arfvedsonite + aegirine + aenigmatite + astrophyllite indicates lower temperatures of between 600 and 450ºC, at silica activities of 0.25, and oxygen fugacities around the FMQ buffer. Amphibole composition strongly responds to fluorite saturation and proves crystallization occurred in a system closed to oxygen. Late-stage hydrothermal conditions are indicated by the conversion of nepheline and sodalite to analcime and the growth of aegirine on arfvedsonite. These late-stage reactions are constrained to temperatures of <300°C, water activities of between 0.5 and unity, and oxygen fugacities above MH. The dyke has to be regarded as a small equivalent of the larger Ilímaussaq complex, in which identical differentiation processes proceeded at a scale very different in terms of magma volume and cooling times.

Flow direction and groundmass shear zones in dykes, Shimane Peninsula, Japan

The groundmass of andesitic dykes at Sezaki, southwest Japan, has trachytic texture and contains microscopic shear zones. The shear zones comprise a conjugate pair formed by flattening of the solidifying dyke rock, probably caused by the magma pressure of the still molten part of the dyke. This pressure shortened the solidifying rock perpendicular to the dyke margins and caused it to extrude parallel to the magma flow direction. The groundmass shears indicate that locally the magma flowed 60° upward in the dykes. It is concluded that while groundmass shears are a useful indicator of flow direction in dykes, phenocryst alignment in dykes is strongly influenced by magma-pressure flattening and thus may be a poor indicator of flow direction

Faulting of a Middle Jurassic, ultramafic dyke in the Picton Quarry, Picton, southern Ontario

A fault zone coinciding with a Middle Jurassic, ultramafic dyke exposed in the Picton Quarry in Prince Edward County, Ontario, is marked by steeply dipping, generally east–west-striking fractures. The dyke has been affected by faulting, as evidenced by the presence of subhorizontal slickensides on fractures cutting the dyke rock. This discovery constitutes the first known example of Middle Jurassic or younger faulting having affected Paleozoic strata of southern Ontario and indicates that the structural and tectonic history of the region is more complex than commonly believed.

Alkaline mafic and ultramafic lamprophyres from the Aillik Bay area, Labrador

The Aillik Bay lamprophyric dyke swarm comprises abundant sannaites, plus rarer olivine sannaites, aillikites and carbonatites. Sannaites are characterized by phenocrysts of Ti–Al titansalite plus rarer olivine and phiogopite in a groundmass dominated by pyroxene, biotite, titanomagnetite, and K-feldspar. Minor mineral phases may include apatite, nepheline, analcime, carbonate, rutile, and pyrite. Most sannaites contain well-developed leucocratic ocelli, which are commonly zoned. Olivine sannaites are similar, but olivine (Fo77–85) is more abundant, and ocelli are rarer. Both types occur together as banded dykes, and calculations support the suggestion of a common parental melt.Aillikites have zoned phenocrysts of olivine (Fo71–87) and mica in a groundmass of carbonate, apatite, mica, titanomagnetite, and perovskite. Carbonatite dykes usually exhibit textures with features akin to those of the aillikites. The mineraiogical and geochemical characteristics of the aillikites are distinct from those of kimberlites.It is the intent of this paper to provide new data on these rocks. These data are used to support one of several viable models for the generation of all dyke-rock types by partial melting of LREE-enriched mantle at depths of 90–110 km. Carbonatite dykes are believed to represent the smallest melt fraction but are the latest emplaced dykes. These small melt fractions may have followed structural weaknesses created by earlier lamprophyre magmatism.

Constrictional deformation of the Koster dyke swarm in a ductile sinistral shear zone, Koster islands, SW Sweden

The Koster-Kattsund dyke swarm is an important element in the Sveconorwegian province of the Baltic shield. Dyke intrusion took place in the period 1225-1015 Ma. Throughout most of the swarm the dykes are strongly deformed and thoroughly recrystallised into lineated amphibolites as a result of a Sveconor- wegian tectonic event about 1000 Ma ago. However, in the Koster archipelago fresh dolerites can be fol­lowed northwards in to partially recrystallised metadolerites and finally into the totally recrystallised, line­ated amphibolites that characterise the swarm. In the Koster archipelago intense dyking resulted in the formation of a multilayered rock sandwich con­sisting of alternating layers of gneiss and dolerite. The sandwich trends NNE and dips 67°W. The dolerite dykes have a mean thickness of2.2 m and they occupy 15-20% of the total rock mass. To the northeast the sandwich becomes progressively deformed and ultimately shows very high strain of pure constrictional type. The deformation took place in a steep NW-SE-trending ductile shear zone. During the initial shear zone deformation (D4,) the sandwich underwent anticlockwise bending and the large Kyrkosund synform was formed. The fold plunges 303/66 and has a NW-SE-trending axial surface. The bending took place by means of flexural-slip folding in which the layer-parallel shearing was located in incompetent dyke layers. Increasing shearing and recrystallisation in a NW-SE-trending belt crossing the northern limb of the Kyr­kosund synform resulted in a softening of this belt. The succeeding event (D4b) was localised in this initial soft belt, and involved sinistral simple shear combined with pure shear resulting in horizontal widening and vertical shortening of the belt. This composite deformation formed the pure constrictional fabric now seen in the rocks. The strong D4b stretching was followed by the formation of trains of asymmetric folds (D 4c and d4a). It is demonstrated that volume changes in the dyke rock during deformation were negligible, and that no competence contrast between gneiss and dyke rock existed during the D 4b stretching. The finite con­strictional strain ellipsoid has the dimensions X = 7.07, Y = Z = 0.18. The composite simple/pure shear deformation that presumably caused the constriction has a simple shear component y = 10.9, correspond­ing to an angular shear of 84. 7°. The pure shear deformation resulted in a 3.4 times horizontal widening of the initial soft belt. The horizontal sinistral displacement within the shear zone was at least 35 km.

Contribution to the study of ore minerals in some igneous rocks from Assynt

SummaryThe parageneses of opaque minerals in three Assynt rocks are described. A biotite-diorite dyke-rock of Lewisian age is characterized by a primary igneous assemblage of Fe-Ti oxides, pyrrhotine, and pentlandite. Effects of metamorphism are recognized, particularly in the oxidation of ilmenite in a Lewisian epidiorite dyke-rock. Cromaltite contains a primary assemblage of oxide minerals together with a later hydrothermal sulphide assemblage. Evidence from the opaque minerals cannot be reconciled with a theory of limestone assimilation. The correlation of the distribution of Co, Ni, and Cu in the rocks with the opaque minerals present is considered.