Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2009
The determination of the true order of crystallization of minerals in a plutonic intrusion is not an easy matter, but a good deal of information on the subject may be obtained if such an intrusion shows a chilled edge or if there are dykes of corresponding composition. Fortunately, some of the Caledonian plutonic rocks of Western Scotland which we are about to consider do show chilled margins, and there is a series of dyke rocks, loosely termed porphyrites and quartz-porphyries, covering practically the whole range of composition for the rocks on the assumed liquid line of descent.1 It has been possible to study large collections of these housed in the Geological Department of Manchester University and in the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Cambridge.