A petrological and geochemical study has been made of the late Precambrian St. David's granophyre (SDG) and the Cwm Bach rhyolites (CBR). The SDG is trondhjemitic, peraluminous, and chemically zoned with lower Na/K ratios in its interior portions. Although the SDG contains only minor amounts of K, the Rb content is relatively high and ratios of immobile versus mobile elements indicate that K has been removed. The CBR are flow-banded and autobrecciated subaerial rhyolite flows which are more K-rich and less altered than the SDG, lying close to the ternary minimum composition of the system Q-Or-Ab-(H2O). K mobility is considered to result from the reaction K-feldspar→ K-mica which released excess K ions, imparting peraluminous compositions to the rocks. On the basis of this reaction the original K content of the rocks has been estimated, the values for which are more compatible with immobile element abundances and with normal igneous trends. Similar abundances of the relatively immobile elements Ti, Zr, Sr, Y and Nb, together with K-corrected K/Rb ratios, suggest that the SDG and CBR may be comagmatic volcanic-arc-collision-type granite and rhyolite.

The rock association of minette with silicic lavas and intrusions (granites, syenites, dacites) is a common geologic feature in both collisional and extensional tectonic settings. Considerable doubt exists as to whether a genetic link exists between these mafic and silicic rocks. We describe a Miocene sill from NW Colorado which is a clear example of a mixed magma consisting of originally-liquid inclusions of minette in a silicic trachydacite host. Chemical and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic data are consistent with derivation of the silicic host magma of the sill dominantly by fractional crystallization of the minette magma. Correlations between the elemental compositions of the rock types and their Sr and Nd isotopic ratios imply minor assimilation of continental crust with relatively low values of both 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd, concomitantly with fractional crystallization. The parental minette magma was probably derived by partial melting of subcontinental lithospheric mantle. While the sill was emplaced in a rift-like tectonic setting, the chemical and isotopic composition of the lithosphere-derived minette magmas (and hence the silicic fractionates) was largely independent of this setting, but dependent upon the composition and age of the lithospheric mantle and crust.

A study of xenocrystic material included in 57 Ma igneous rocks that outcrop in the Taourirt area of north-east Morocco has been made. The mineralogy of the host rocks is essentially clinopyroxene, rare olivine, titanomagnetite and either kaersutite or biotite. Feldspars (plagioclase and alkali feldspar) and nepheline are usually altered. Accessories may include haüyne, perovskite and ferriannite-rich annite. The complex xenocrystic assemblage includes various types of clinopyroxene, amphiboles, micas of differing compositions and various types of spinel. These inclusions did not dissolve in the melt and, as a consequence, the residual (alkali-rich) mineralogical assemblage is not modified. Their abundance is such that they may not significantly affect the major element compositions, but they may strongly influence the levels of certain trace elements such as Cr and Ni.

The Visoke complex is one of the main Quaternary volcanic centres of the Virunga Range, located north of lake Kivu. Mineralogical (microprobe) data are given for two representative leucitite lavas; one sample contains a complex coarse-grained xenolith (phlogopite, diopside, leucite, titanomagnetite, perovskite and apatite) and megacrysts of pyroxene, phlogopite and olivine scattered in fine-grained leucite-rich host lava. Compared with the typical leucite-dominated, low-pressure phenocryst assemblage of the two samples studied, the chemical trends of ferromagnesian crystals suggest an earlier igneous event (high-pressure phenomenon) strongly related to the leucite-bearing magma suite.

The degree of metamorphism affecting the Devonian-Carboniferous rocks of the Palaeozoic Cinco Villas massif has been studied by (a) petrographic techniques, (b) illite crystallinity, and (c) degree of graphitization of the carbonaceous material. Some mineralogical differences have been found between the Devonian and Carboniferous rocks; paragonite and mixed-layer paragonite/muscovite, typical of anchimetamorphic areas, appear in the Devonian but are not found in the Carboniferous rocks. These are characterized by the local appearance of chloritoid, garnet, amphibole, epidote, andalusite and biotite, and the generalized presence of muscovite/chlorite. Illite crystallinity shows a metamorphic zonation (anchizone epizone) towards the granitic Aya massif, and a concentric pattern around the intrusive body.

The optical analysis shows that the first effects of the regional metamorphism began before the D2 deformation, reaching its paroxysm during this phase and continuing afterwards. The degree of graphitization evolves progressively with metamorphism, and this fact is reflected in an exponential relationship between d(002) and crystallinity Lc(002). The similarity in the degree of graphitization between homologous materials within and outside the Aya aureole suggests a similar kinetic factor for both the thermal and regional metamorphisms, or a similar duration time. This fact, as well as the distribution and relationship between the deformation and recrystallization of the minerals, suggests a syn-plutonic regional metamorphism developed at low pressures, in accordance with the value of the b0 parameter for the white micas, and probably a maximum temperature of about 500°C.

The dolomite-ferroan-dolomite-ankerite series of carbonate minerals has been investigated in flowing carbon dioxide using high-temperature DSC. Decomposition products were analysed by X-ray diffraction. The minerals studied included dolomite containing no iron, and members substituted by iron in the molar ratio range of 0.082 to 0.49. Complete resolution of the three main endothermic features was observed and enthalpy values ΔH, determined from each. The individual and total enthalpy values showed a linear dependence upon the Fe and Mg content of the members across the series. A decrease in the enthalpy of decomposition occurs with increasing Fe content. The effect of Fe substitution was readily observed and the estimated limit of detection is less than 1% FeO. Accuracy of the measurements was limited by the purity of the minerals themselves.

Analyses of tourmaline and coexisting muscovite in tourmaline-bearing rocks from SE Ireland indicate that the content of Si in tourmaline is not fixed but is dependent on bulk chemistry, varying inversely with Al. Zoning patterns within tourmaline reflect this and, despite theoretical objections, substitution of Si by Al in the tetrahedral site must occur in nature. Ti may also substitute for Si. Ca and Ti are generally involved in a coupled substitution. Estimates of the degree of alkali-defect and proton-loss substitution in SE Ireland tourmalines indicate that the former process is at least as important as the latter and that bulk chemistry is important in determining which substitution occurs. The general importance of alkali-defect substitution and Al⇌Si suggests that the most useful way to treat microprobe data for schorl-dravite tourmalines is to assume the presence of 3B and 4(OH) and calculate on the basis of 24.5 oxygen atoms.

Almandine garnets in the cordierite-bearing granite of Sweltor Quarry, Dartmoor, contain < 10 mol. % of the spessartine end-member, whilst those in the Lundy granite have c. 10 mol. % spessartine. Experimental work indicates that such compositions can grow in equilibrium with siliceous melts at depths of 18–25 km. This evidence, reaction rims, lack of marked zoning and comparison with garnets in other siliceous calc-alkaline siliceous rocks point to a genesis involving partial melting of the ‘local’ lower crust. A restite origin rather than direct crystallization from magma is favoured but the evidence is equivocal. The Dartmoor granite (Hercynian) is a typical peraluminous late- to post-tectonic S-type granite. The S-type character of the Lundy (Tertiary) granite is revealed by the occurrence of garnet and topaz together with biotite enriched in Rb, Cs and F, despite its close association with Tertiary basic magmatism in an anorogenic setting.

Small, euhedral Mn-rich garnets (32–52 mol. % spessartine) from the Cairngorm granite, Eastern Grampian Highlands, Scotland, are considered to be of magmatic origin and have not been derived from the assimilation of metasedimentary material, despite their occurrence largely at the margins of the pluton. Similar garnets also occur in a late cross-cutting aplite sheet. The garnets in the granite crystallized early in the sequence and are thought to have formed in response to the ponding of Mn-rich fluids against the wall of the pluton. This Mn enrichment of the fluid phase continued throughout the evolution of the pluton, resulting in Mn-rich biotites and opaque oxides and the localized crystallization of Mn-rich garnets in aplite. Garnet contains up to 1.67 wt. % Y, but has not played a major role in the geochemical evolution of the Cairngorm granite, which has high SiO2 (72–77%) and is enriched in Y and HREE. Chemical analyses of garnets, biotites and rocks are given.

A new cathodoluminescence-microscope has been developed with a considerably improved detection limit. Time-dependent luminescence intensity changes observed during electron bombardment enabled the recognition of short-lived, long-lived, and brown luminescence colour types in α-quartz.

Short-lived bottle-green or blue luminescence colours with zones of non-luminescing bands are very common in authigenic quartz overgrowths, fracture fillings or idiomorphic vein crystals. Dark brown, short-lived yellow or pink colours are often found in quartz replacing sulphate minerals. Quartz from tectonically active regions commonly exhibits a brown luminescence colour. A red luminescence colour is typical for quartz crystallized close to a volcanic dyke or sill.

The causes of these different and previously poorly understood luminescence colours were investigated using heat treatment, electron bombardment and electrodiffusion. Both natural and induced brown luminescence colours reflect the presence of lattice defects (nonbonding Si-O) due to twinning, mechanical deformation, particle bombardment or extremely rapid growth. The bottle-green and blue linearly polarized luminescence colour, characterized by a plane of polarization parallel to the c-axis, both depend on the presence of interstitial cations. The yellow and red luminescence colours in α-quartz both exhibit a plane of polarization perpendicular to the c-axis and appear to be related to the presence of trace elements in an oxidizing solution and to ferric iron respectively.

Solution studies have been carried out on natural and synthetic arsenate minerals, which are often found in the oxide zones of base metal orebodies. Solubility products and free energy of formation data have been derived for the minerals olivenite, cornubite, clinoclase, adamite, legrandite, euchroite, duftite, conichalcite, austinite, bayldonite, and schultenite at 298.2 K (25 °C). The data have been used in turn to construct stability field diagrams illustrating the chemical conditions under which the various species may crystallize from aqueous solution. This equilibrium model is then compared with several natural occurrences of the arsenate suites and it is demonstrated that it can be used to explain a number of observed paragenetic sequences. Descriptions of solution conditions which describe the stabilities of the arsenate minerals with respect to more commonly found secondary minerals of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) involve more complex calculations and estimates of the likely levels of various dissolved species, but it is shown how these may be taken into account in the development of a more complex equilibrium model.

Criddleite, ideally TlAg2Au3Sb10S10, is a rare constituent within the Hemlo gold deposit, Hemlo, Ontario, Canada. The mineral occurs as 20 to 50 µm-sized lath-like, tabular or anhedral grains usually surrounding or penetrating aurostibite, or associated with native antimony, native gold and stibnite. Criddleite is opaque with a metallic lustre and a black streak. It has been synthesized by reacting TlSbS2 and high purity Ag, Au, Sb and S in an evacuated silica glass tube at 400 °C. The measured density of the synthetic material is 6.86; the calculated density is 6.57 g/cm3. The difference is due to minor admixed aurostibite, native antimony and a dyscrasite-like phase within the charge. VHN25 is 94–129. Mohs hardness (calc.) = 3–3 ½. In reflected plane-polarized light in air, natural criddleite is weakly bireflectant with a discernible reflectance pleochroism from grey-blue to slightly greenish grey-blue. The mineral has a distinct to moderate anisotropy with rotation tints in shades of buff to slate grey. Reflectance spectra and colour values for both natural and synthetic criddleite are given. X-ray study showed that synthetic criddleite is monoclinic (pseudotetragonal) with refined unit-cell parameters a = 20.015(2), b = 8.075(2), c = 7.831(2) Å, β = 92.01(2)°, V = 1264.9 ± 1.0 Å3 and a:b:c = 2.4786: 1:0.9698. The space group choices are A2/m(12), A2(5) or Am(8), diffraction aspect A*/*. The seven strongest lines in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern [d in Å (I) (hkl)] are: 5.63(90) (011), 3.91(50) (002), 3.456(50) (320), 2.860(70) (700), 2.813(100) (022), 2.018(60) (040) and 1.959(70) (004). Electron microprobe analyses are reported of natural criddleite in five polished sections of drill core from four holes. The averaged empirical formulae, based on 26 atoms, are Tl0.92Ag1.99Au2.93Sb9.87S10.28 (natural) and Tl0.94Ag2.03Au2.89Sb9.76S10.38 (synthetic).

Four polymorphs of Zn(OH)2 have now been recorded from an oxidised vein exposure near Milltown, Ashover, Derbyshire; sweetite, wülfingite, γ-Zn(OH)2, and ashoverite. The last is a new mineral, a tetragonal modification of Zn(OH)2 containing minor quantities of Pb, Cd and Ca. Its unit cell dimensions are a 6.825(2) and c 33.36(4) Å, giving V = 1554 Å3; Z = 32; space group I41/amd, I41md, or I4¯2d; Dmeas. 3.3, Dcalc 3.44 g cm−3. Ashoverite occurs as colourless platy crystals associated with fluorite; it is uniaxial positive with ω 1.629(2), ε 1.639(2). The chemical composition of sweetite is compared with that of ashoverite.