Millimetric, ellipsoidal monazite nodules found within Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks in Wales, south-west England and Brittany are characterised by a pronounced zonation of light and heavy REE, an inclusion fabric of low-grade metamorphic minerals indistinguishable from the host rock and a low Th content. They are interpreted as the product of in situ recrystallization of detrital monazites derived from pegmatitic or granitic source rocks and are potentially useful as indicators of Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary rock provenance.

Transmission electron microscopy has been used to investigate the mechanism of natural biotite breakdown under pyrometamorphic disequilibrium conditions. Biotite in a xenolith of pelitic gneiss collected from a Tertiary dolerite sill, Isle of Mull, Scotland, shows evidence of an incipient reaction, characterised by a darkening in colour and the appearance of areas of fine-grained reaction products. TEM and analytical electron microscope data show that the reaction can be described as:

The orientations of the product phase are controlled by the crystallography of the reacting biotite, demonstrating that the transformation proceeds by a topotactic mechanism. An empirical method, based on the Mg/(Fe2+ + Fe3+) ratios of coexisting spinel and biotite from experimental data, is used to deduce that the reaction occurred above ∼ 770 °C. A comparison of the natural reaction microstructures with those produced experimentally suggest that the xenolith was probably above 800 °C for less than 48 hours and cooled to temperatures of 770 °C after ∼ 150–200 hours.

Phacolite from Mitaki, Sendai City, Japan, has a core of penetration-twinned chabazite. The crystal has a convex (0001) face on which many twin individuals are produced by a two-dimensional nucleation mechanism, resulting in complicated twinning during growth. Both the r and the faces repeat finely during growth because of twinning, resulting in {112̄3} sectors with polysynthetic twinning. Finally, single structures nucleate on the crystal edges [211̄] and develop along the (112̄3) face, penetrating each other near the centre of the face.

The volcanic rocks of the Şarkışla area in northeastern central Anatolia are associated with volcaniclastics, turbiditic limestones and pelagic-hemipelagic shales of Upper Cretaceous-Palaeocene age. A preliminary geochemical study was undertaken to constrain local tectonic models, and due to the variable altered nature of the volcanics, determine the lithological composition and magma type. Chemically the volcanics are an andesite-dominated suite of calc-alkali lavas, probably developed adjacent to an active continental margin in a local (ensialic back-arc?) basinal area. The volcanic activity was probably related to a postulated magmatic arc just south of the area during the early Tertiary.

Caryinite from Låmgban, Sweden, and arseniopleite from both the Långban and Sjö Mines in Sweden, are re-examined chemically and crystallographically. Both species are monoclinic, with space group C2/c, and similar lattice parameters. The general formula for caryinite is Na4Ca4Ca4(Mn,Mg)8(AsO4)12, and that for arseniopleite is Na4Ca4Mn4(Mn,Mg)8(AsO4)12. The species status of arseniopleite remains uncertain; it may have Mn dominant in the M(1) site.

Phengite and chlorite have undergone decomposition during pyrometamorphism caused by the intrusion of a dolerite feeder pipe into Dalradian greenschists in Argyllshire, Scotland. All reaction products are extremely fine grained. Transmission electron microscopy has revealed that phengite pseudomorphs consist of biotite, spinel, mullite, sanidine and phengite, and that chlorite pseudomorphs consist of combinations of chlorite, spinel, orthopyroxene, magnetite, cordierite and biotite. Although the reactions were short-lived and did not go to completion, microprobe analysis and phase diagram analysis have revealed that there has been significant chemical interaction between the phyllosilicates and the surrounding rock. Numerous orientation relationships exist between the original minerals and their reaction products; the close-packed planes in the precursor phyllosilicates were inherited by their reaction products.

A simple general equation is presented for estimating the Fe3+ concentrations in ferromagnesian oxide and silicate minerals from microprobe analyses. The equation has been derived using stoichiometric criteria assuming that iron is the only element present with variable valency and that oxygen is the only anion. In general, the number of Fe3+ ions per X oxygens in the mineral formula, F, is given by;

where T is the ideal number of cations per formula unit, and S is the observed cation total per X oxygens calculated assuming all iron to be Fe2+. Minerals for which this equation is appropriate include pyralspite and ugrandite garnet, aluminate spinel, magnetite, pyroxene, sapphirine and ilmenite. The equation cannot be used for minerals with cation vacancies (e.g. micas, maghemite) unless, as in the case of amphiboles, the number of ions of a subset of elements in the formula can be fixed. Variants of the above equation are presented for some of the numerous published schemes for the recalculation of amphibole formulae. The equation is also inappropriate for minerals showing Si4+ = 4H+ substitution (e.g. staurolite, hydrogarnet), minerals containing an unknown proportion of an unanalysed element other than oxygen (e.g. boron-bearing kornerupine) and minerals containing two or more elements with variable valency.

The spinel peridotite inclusions in basalts from Sardinia are upper-mantle residues affected by metasomatism which led to an enrichment particularly of U and light REE. The metasomatism took place prior to the recrystallization which produced the primary mineral assemblage of the inclusions. The compositional variations imply that the xenoliths are residual after at least two melting events.

A complete mechanism for the transformation goethite to hematite based upon the results of thermogravimetric, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction investigations is presented. A porous microstructure and hematite crystallites in twin orientation are found to develop during transformation. For the main part of the transformation, and at higher temperatures, the reaction is controlled by a two-dimensional phase boundary. Activation energies of 169 ± 8 kJ/mole (for an ore mineral) and 154 ± 15 kJ/mole (for a recent sedimentary goethite) were obtained for this part of the transformation. At early stages and lower temperatures, the mechanism is one of proton/iron transfer across the reaction interface. Important goethite characteristics are grain size, shape, crystallinity and excess water content. The activation energy is found to depend upon temperature and degree of dehydration.

MnO zoning profiles for various sizes of garnets from two pelitic schists were examined. The data from garnets of specimen A are consistent with a constant growth law, while the compositional-crystal size relationships of garnets from specimen B are best explained by heterogeneous growth rates.

The surfaces of fresh and tarnished (through exposure to the atmosphere) bornite have been studied by measurement of reflectance and quantitative colour parameters in the visible region, X-ray photoelectron and Auger electron spectroscopy, and conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results of these studies, in combination with those of previous workers, indicate that a surface coating of an iron hydroxy-oxide forms on bornite, leaving beneath it a layer with a copper sulphide composition. A model to explain this alteration process is proposed based on a suggested surface reconstruction in bornite, leading to metals in essentially trigonal planar coordination. Resulting destabilization of iron relative to copper in this crystal chemical environment is suggested to account for its preferential oxidation.

Manganiferous garnets occur in metamorphosed Mn silicate-oxide and silicate-carbonate-oxide rocks of the Sausar Group, India. The garnets of the carbonatic rock show maximum calderite content (∼50 mole%). Increased Ca content in the bulk has been observed to be sympathetically related to the concentration of calderite, rather than the expected andradite component of the garnets. This is the consequence of the preferential partitioning of Ca in coexisting pyroxmangite and/or carbonate. Petrochemical characteristics of the diverse assemblages in response to the physical conditions of metamorphism show that the calderite solubility in manganiferous garnet is not only a function of pressure. Such characteristics only indicate that the mobile components in the bulk influenced the mineralogy of the assemblages at the ambient physical conditions of metamorphism, and this in turn controlled the calderite solubility in garnet.

Xenoliths in an olivine nephelinite from the McBride Province, North Queensland, include Cr-diopside lherzolites, spinel and garnet websterites, felsic, 2-pyroxene and garnet granulites, and hornblendites. The spinel and garnet websterites are interpreted as crystal segregations from olivine basalt or alkali olivine basalt magma at ∼ 12 kbar followed by isobaric cooling (to approximately 900–1000°C) and subsolidus reequilibration. Garnet and 2-pyroxene granulites are mineralogically and texturally distinct and are considered to represent relatively large degrees of crystallization of basaltic magmas at comparable or slightly lower pressures (8–12 kbar). Mafic and ultramafic xenoliths have been modified to varying degrees following the relatively recent influx of a H2O- and CO2-bearing fluid. Variable amounts of amphibole and mica developed in response to the introduced fluid and it is argued that some hornblendites are the end-products of this process acting on spinel websterites. Felsic and 2-pyroxene granulite xenoliths display only minor evidence of increased PH2O. Mineralogical and textural evidence indicates high-sulphur Ca-rich scapolite in several garnet granulites did not form in response to the increased fluid activities. It is proposed the scapolite was a primary cumulate phase precipitated from alkali basaltic magma under elevated fo2 and fso2 conditions.

A new experimental determination of the stability relationships for the dehydration of gypsum to the hemihydrate mineral bassanite at elevated temperature and pressure is described. The experimental method used depends on the observation of very small changes in pressure on the onset of reaction due to the potential volume change in the reaction. The technique yields P-T data of very high precision for this dehydration reaction, and the method is likely to be of use for other reactions. The experimental P-T results have been compared with those calculated from existing thermodynamic data for this reaction.

The thermal behaviour and mechanism of formation of different texture types of intergrown As-Sb alloys have been studied by DTA and annealing experiments performed on natural samples. The constant composition of the As-rich component and of the stibarsen in the intergrowths, and the large compositional range of the homogeneous solid solution obtained after heating in the DTA cycle, have been established using the linear relationship between cell volume and composition. The high-temperature features detected in the DTA studies of the natural samples confirm previously published phase relations for the synthetic As-Sb system. The low-temperature features can be correlated with the homogenization reaction which leads to the formation of a complete solid solution. Study of TTT plots based on the annealing experiments clearly shows that a diffusion mechanism is involved in the homogenization reaction. This has been further substantiated by fitting the experimental data to kinetic equations for diffusion-controlled processes. The kinetic parameters evaluated from the ending time for the 520, 480, and 420 °C annealing experiments, using both the Arrhenius and the transition state theory formalisms, suggests a rather rigid activated complex for the rate-determining step of the process.