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Mean grain diameters from thin sections: matching the average to the problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robert S. Farr ,
Victoria C. Honour  and
Marian B. Holness
Robert S. Farr*
Affiliation:
Unilever RD Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK44 1LQ, UK
Victoria C. Honour
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
Marian B. Holness
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
*
*E-mail: robert.s.farr@gmail.com
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Abstract

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It is common practice to estimate a mean diameter for spherical or sub-spherical particles or vesicles in a rock by multiplying the average diameter of the approximately circular cross-sections visible in thin section by a factor of 1.273. This number-weighted average may be dominatedby the hard-to-measure fine tail of the size distribution, and is unlikely to be representative of the average particle diameter of greatest interest for a wide range of geological problems or processes. Average particle size can be quantified in a variety of ways, based on the mass or surfacearea of the particles, and here we provide exact relations of these different average measures to straightforward measurements possible in thin section, including an analysis of how many particles to measure to achieve a desired level of uncertainty. The use of average particle diameter isillustrated firstly with a consideration of the accumulation of olivine phenocrysts on the floor of the 135 m thick picrodolerite/crinanite unit of the Shiant Isles Main Sill. We show that the 45 m thick crystal pile on the sill floor could have formed by crystal settling within about a year.The second geological example is provided by an analysis of the sizes of exsolved Fe-rich droplets during unmixing of a basaltic melt in a suite of experimental charges. We show that the size distribution cannot be explained by sudden nucleation, followed by either Ostwald ripening or Browniancoalescence. We deduce that a continuous process of droplet nucleation during cooling is likely to have occurred.

Keywords

petrologymicrostructuregrain sizecrystal settlingliquid immiscibility
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 515 - 530
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
© [2017] The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2017

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