Apatite and clinopyroxene as tracers for metasomatic processes in nepheline clinopyroxenites of Uralian-Alaskan-type complexes in the Ural Mountains, Russian Federation

Clinopyroxene and apatite are found to trace metasomatic processes in nepheline-bearing clinopyroxenites (tilaites) from the igneous, mafic-ultramafic Uralian-Alaskan-type complexes of Kytlym and Nizhny Tagil, Ural Mountains, Russian Federation. The clinopyroxenites consist predominantly of coarse-grained, partially to totally altered clinopyroxene phenocrysts in a matrix of fine-grained olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, K-feldspar, and nepheline. Apatite occurs as idiomorphic inclusions (2O-, Na2O-, and Al2O3-bearing fluid. During conversion of the plagioclase, CaO and SiO2 were partitioned into the fluid. Altered areas in the clinopyroxene phenocrysts are characterized by the redistrib…