Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:19:54.154Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The amygdale minerals in the Tertiary lavas of Ireland. III. Regional distribution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

G. P. L. Walker*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology, Imperial College, London

Summary

Zeolites occur at most of the 670 localities studied in the Antrim Basalts, and the ten most abundant species, in order of frequency, are chabazite, thomsonite, analcime, levyne, natrolite, mesolite, stilbite, gmelinite, heulandite, and phillipsite. Gismondine, laumontite, and mordenite are recorded for the first time. Chabazite and thomsonite characterize the upper parts of the lava succession. Below, they are joined by analcime and natrolite and, in some areas where zeolitization is most intense, by stilbite and heulandite, as well. These mineral zones have been mapped, and they probably reflect the temperature distribution in the lavas during zeolitization. Being discordant and clearly superimposed upon the lavas, these zones establish the late age of zeolitization in the volcanic history of Antrim. In places the zeolite zones are missing, and in their place a mineral assemblage rich in calcite, aragonite, quartz, and chalcedony is found. The tholeiite lavas that occupy a small area in north Antrim have an amygdale mineral assemblage different from that in the olivine-basalts, which constitute the remainder of the lava outcrop.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1960

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashcroft, (F.N.), 1916. Min. Mag., vol. 17, p. 305.Google Scholar
Bailey, (E.H.), 1941. Amer. Min., vol. 26, p. 565.Google Scholar
Fleischmann, (F. N. A.), 1910. Min. Mag., vol. 15, p. 288.Google Scholar
Greg, (R.P.) and Lettsom, (W.G.), 1858. Manual of the mineralogy of Great Britian and Ireland, p. 149. London.Google Scholar
Hey, (M.H.), 1933. Min. Mag., vol. 23, p. 421.Google Scholar
Hintze, (C.), 1897. Handb. Min., vol. 2, p. 1791.Google Scholar
Holmes, (A.), 1916. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. 72, p. 253.Google Scholar
Patterson, (E.M.), 1955a. Proc. Roy. Irish Aead., vol. 57B, p. 79.Google Scholar
Patterson, (E.M.), 1955b. Ibid., vol. 57B, p. 170.Google Scholar
Portlock, (J.E.), 1843. Report on the geology of the County of Londonderry.Google Scholar
Schaller, (W.T.), 1932. U.S. Geol. Sure. Bull. no. 832.Google Scholar
Smith, (G. F. H.), Ashcroft, (F.N.), and Prior, (G.T.), 1916. Min. Mag., vol. 17, p. 274.Google Scholar
Tomkeieff, (S.I.), 1940. Bull. Volcan., ser. 2, vol. 6, p. 89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, (G. P. L.), 1951. Min. Mag., vol. 29, p. 773.Google Scholar
Walker, (G. P. L.), 1959a. Ibid., vol 32, p. 202.Google Scholar
Walker, (G. P. L.), 1959b. Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. 70, p. 198.Google Scholar
Wenzel, (A.), 1917. Neues Jahrb. Min., vol. 41, p. 565.Google Scholar