0000000000114449
AUTHOR
David J. Prior
Does second phase content control the evolution of olivine CPO type and deformation mechanisms? A case study of paired harzburgite and dunite bands in the Red Hills Massif, Dun Mountain Ophiolite
Abstract We have examined the microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) of six “paired” harzburgite and dunite samples from a small (~ 1 km2) area in the Ellis Stream Complex, Red Hills Massif, Dun Mountain ophiolite belt in New Zealand. Here, banded peridotites with isoclinal folds, E-W striking vertical foliations and vertical lineations are inferred to result from shear on vertical planes that overprint previous mantle structures. The samples contain five different olivine CPOs: typically known as A, C, D, E and AG-types. The co-located harzburgite and dunite of each pair show different CPOs (e.g., A vs E type). In each pair, dunite generally has larger grain siz…
Volcanic SiO2-cristobalite: A natural product of chemical vapor deposition
Abstract Cristobalite is a low-pressure, high-temperature SiO2 polymorph that occurs as a metastable phase in many geologic settings, including as crystals deposited from vapor within the pores of volcanic rocks. Such vapor-phase cristobalite (VPC) has been inferred to result from silica redistribution by acidic volcanic gases but a precise mechanism for its formation has not been established. We address this by investigating the composition and structure of VPC deposited on plagioclase substrates within a rhyolite lava flow, at the micrometer to nanometer scale. The VPC contains impurities of the form [AlO4/Na+]0—coupled substitution of Al3+ charge-balanced by interstitial Na+—which are ty…