Abstract
The alkalic pyroxenite nodule consists of megacrysts of diopside, apatite, perovskite and titanomagnetite in a groundmass consisting of diopside, apatite, titanomagnetite, nepheline, melilite, garnet and vishnevite crystals of various shapes, including previously undescribed skeletal and dendritic shapes, together with vesicles and residual glass. The residual glass is poor in SiO2 (38–40 wt%), and extraordinarily rich in Na2O (12.8–15 wt%), SO3 (1–1.5 wt%), and Cl (0.25–0.7 wt%), as a result of rapid, non-equilibrium crystallization of groundmass phases from a CO2-rich nephelinite melt.
The Oldoinyo Lengai alkalic carbonatite lavas do not represent extreme products of the fractional crystallization of pyroxene, wollastonite, nepheline and alkali feldspar from the carbonated nephelinite melt. The most likely connection between the carbonatite and silicate magma types is one of liquid immiscibility, probably involving phonolite melt.
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Donaldson, C.H., Dawson, J.B. Skeletal crystallization and residual glass compositions in a cellular alkalic pyroxenite nodule from Oldoinyo Lengai. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 67, 139–149 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01046572
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01046572