The Precambrian Redskin stock is a high-silica alkalic granite that forms a late pluton related to the 1000 Ma-old Pikes Peak batholith. Zircon, fluorite, fluocerite, ilmenorutile, columbite, biotite, magnetite, and hematite are the most abundant accessory minerals. Thorite, monazite, and xenotime are sparse, and cassiterite and topaz very rare. The principal residences of Sn, Nb, and Ta are ilmenorutile and columbite. The occurrence of cassiterite intergrown with biotite and columbite and the high contents of Nb and Ta in cassiterite are evidence that cassiterite is also a primary mineral. The high concentrations of certain trace elements indicate a high degree of fractionation of magma prior to emplacement of the Redskin Granite. An extremely low crystallization temperature for the granite is indicated by the compositions of albite and K-feldspars, the presence of Fe-rich dioctahedral mica, the absence of Ti in magnetite, and the low content of Ti in biotite. This low crystallization temperature seems due largely to the high concentrations of F, Rb, and other volatile elements in the magma.

The results of a study on the suitability of the inductively coupled plasma source spectrometer for the analysis of rocks and minerals are presented. The preparation of a stable solution of the elements to be measured is a prerequisite, and methods of sample preparation are described. It is shown that it is possible to measure all the major elements (excluding H2O and Fe2+) with acceptable precision and accuracy, and a wide range of trace elements down to the ppm level in the rock or mineral. Excluding sample preparation time, analysis and print-out of results as percent or ppm requires 1–2 minutes for complete analysis. Data on possible interferences (spectral line overlap etc.) are presented and, using some analyses of rocks and minerals comparisons are made with other analytical methods.

The unusual assemblage ferroglaucophane-chloritoid-paragonite-garnet-muscovite-chlorite-quartz has been found in metapelites of the phyllite series, north-east of Neapolis, southern Peloponnese, Greece. The chemical compositions of the coexisting phases are given, and the physical and chemical constraints which may control the appearance of this assemblage are briefly discussed.

Small ophiolitic bodies are enclosed in the calcschists of the Piemont zone (western Alps). They have been metamorphosed in the blueschist facies during the alpine orogeny. One of them, the Roche Noire massif, includes gabbro breccias. The magmatic mineralogy of the gabbro was plagioclase + clinopyroxene + minor chromite. There was no chemical homogenization during metamorphism because of the lack of penetrative deformation and on the site of previous chromites, chromium-rich high-pressure and low-temperature minerals (jadeite, phengite, pumpellyite, and lawsonite) were formed. The Al ⇌ Cr substitution does not affect other P- and T-dependent substitutions.

Plots of partition coefficient (mineral/matrix) against ionic radius of the elements in seventeen biotites from trachytes and rhyolites of the Euganean Hills do not show differences in the type of diagram between the biotites with tetrahedral sites completely filled by Si and Al, and those in which filling is only possible with the intervention of Fe3+ (or Ti4+) since these sites are incompletely filled by Si and Al. This behaviour seems to exclude, for the latter, the presence of Fe3+ (or Ti4+ in the tetrahedral site. Similar indications are given by structural analysis. The possibility of existence of [(OH)4]4− groups or, more probably, vacancies in these sites is therefore suggested. The consequences that these results would have on the possibility of correct calculation of the crystallo-chemical formula are discussed.

Petrofabric analysis of five specimens of laminated gabbro from the Centre 3 igneous complex, Ardnamurchan, was carried out by measuring orientations of grains of plagioclase, olivine, and augite with a Universal-stage. Linear alignments of primary precipitate mineral grains within the laminar fabrics were revealed by plots of data for coexisting plagioclase and olivine or augite. The plagioclase grains involved have tabular forms elongated parallel to their a-axes (rather than their c-axes). The olivine grains have flattened ovoid forms and the augite grains have sub-ophitic forms developed about prismatic primocrysts. In all specimens plagioclase displayed alignment of long grain-axes directed approximately down the dip of the lamination, save for one case in which a weak oblique alignment was observed. These lineations were reproduced by accompanying olivine and augite. The alignments are tentatively ascribed to flowage of a viscous boundary zone to the magma body in which crystal growth was taking place.

The third terrestrial occurrence of hibonite is reported from granulite-facies rocks in the Furua Granulite Complex in southern Tanzania. The mineral forms yellowish-brown lath-shaped crystals in a grossular-anorthite rock containing subordinate sphene (clino)zoisite, hercynite, apatite, ilmenite, and corundumilmenite intergrowths.

Electron-microprobe analyses indicate a generalized formula (Ca1−xREx)[(Al,Fe3+)12−2a+x(Ti,Si)(Ti,Si)a−x(Fe2+, Mg)a]O19, with RE = Ce + La + Nd, x = 0.2, and a = 0.8. Individual mineral analyses show a cation substitution of Ca + Ti + Fe3+ = RE + 2Al. Relatively high RE and Fe contents represent the main chemical differences with meteoritic hibonite. The hexagonal unit cell has a = 5.61 Å, c = 22.18, in good agreement with the other terrestrial hibonites.

Three compositional types of (clino)zoisite are distinguished: 1.8–3.1 wt% Fe2O3 (orthorhombic and monoclinic), 3.9–6.0 wt% Fe2O3 (monoclinic), and 5.8–7.9 wt% Fe2O3 with an average of 6.3 wt% RE2O3 (monoclinic).

Thermometric and barometric data for coexisting pyroxenes and garnet from adjacent rocks indicate granulite-facies equilibration conditions of 750 to 850 °C and 6 to 11 kb. During retrogression with increasing partial H2O pressures, hibonite reacted with plagioclase and garnet to form spinel, sphene, and RE-bearing clinozoisite. Corundum-ilmenite inter-growths probably resulted from the breakdown of an Fe-högbomite.

Coexisting zoisite and clinozoisite in seventeen specimens from six localities in Japan have been studied with the electron-probe microanalyser. Zoisite and clinozoisite are commonly zoned, but compositional gaps between them are systematic. Referring to the metamorphic grade of the host rocks, a temporary and schematic phase-diagram for the system Ca2Al3Si3O12-(OH)-Ca2Al2Fe3+Si3O12(OH) is presented. With increasing temperature, in the range of low- to medium-grade metamorphism, the compositional gap between the two epidote-group minerals shifts towards higher Fe3+ compositions.

From the Buranga pegmatite, Rwanda, three occurrences of eosphorite-childrenite series minerals are described in assemblages of Li-Fe-Mn-bearing phosphates and in relationship with quartz-feldspar masses in close association with these assemblages.

Electron-microprobe analyses of these terms (Mn,Fe) AlPO4(OH)2 · H2O afford the following Fet/(Fet + Mn) ratios: 0.548, 0.341, and 0.200. However, thanks to an investigation of the refractive indices and pleochroism, the presence of ferric iron is demonstrated and an oxidation phenomenon, similar to that previously known in rockbridgeite, is suggested to explain the existence of oxidized eosphorite. The oxychildrenite problem is raised again.

The Fet/(Fet + Mn) ratios characterizing the eosphorite sensu lato would be correlated with the Fe and Mn content of the associated major phosphates, the chemical analyses of which are also provided. The investigation of the structural relationships shows that eosphorite might form a paragenesis with montebrasite and that these phosphates replace Na- or K-feldspars by a hydrothermal process. Owing to the apparent dependence of the chemical properties of the couple eosphorite-montebrasite on those of the earlier-formed phosphates, it seems likely that the formation period of eosphorite-childrenite series minerals was prior to the oxidation and ferrisickleriteheterosite formation.

Veins cutting the Brioverian sediments at Le Pulec, Jersey, were worked in the 1870s for silver and lead. Investigation of the mineralogy of both the sediments and cross-cutting veins has shown a complex mineralization history. Siltstones close to the contact with the North-West granite have been bleached, silicified, and dolomitized, and this has been accompanied by the introduction of pyrite, marcasite, and arsenopyrite. Later vein mineralization contains sphalerite and ferroan dolomite accompanied by lesser amounts of galena and chalcopyrite and minor quantities of argentian tetrahedrite, native antimony, bournonite, cubanite, plagionite, and stibnite. The mineral assemblage is unlike the other mineral occurrences of Jersey that have previously been described.

Electron diffraction and electron-microprobe investigations have revealed the presence of order in the monazite-huttonite series. Chemical analyses from the literature and electron-microprobe analyses in this study show that the monazite-huttonite series, REPO4-ThSiO4, is only continuous if the contribution of F, M2+, and OH to the charge balance is taken into account. The electron-diffraction study points to ordered domain structures in the series.

The stability field of analcime solid solutions in the system NaAlSi3O8-NaAlSiO4-H2O has been previously determined by Kim and Burley (1971a). These experiments are re-examined with a view to determining the variations of the room-temperature cell parameters of analcime as a function of temperature of synthesis and composition. It is shown from this evidence that most of the analcime solid solutions in these experiments are equilibrium compositions. The increase in the cell dimension of quenched analcime solid solution is found to be 5 × 10−5 Å/°C. It is suggested that birefringence in analcime is induced by low water-pressure relative to total pressure. A phase transition appears to be observed in quenched analcimes of this study and is thought to be the same as that in the Golden analcime reported by Yoder and Weir (1960).