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The differentiation of the Skaergaard Intrusion by R. H. Hunter; R. S. J. Sparks is a Earth and Planetary Sciences article available to read on EtoBox.

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Previous interpretations of the Skaergaard Intrusion suggested that differentiation involved extreme ironenrichment but no silica-enrichment until a very late stage. This model is difficult to reconcile with petrological and geochemical evidence, with the behaviour of tholeiitic volcanic suites and with phase equilibria. We propose that the Skaergaard magma evolved on a trend of pronounced silica-enrichment after cumulus magnetite appeared at the top of the Lower Zone. At that stage, the magma was of ferrobasaltic composition with close to 50% SiO2. The Middle and Upper Zones of the intrusion dominantly represent crystal accumulation during differentiation from ferrobasalt through iron-rich basaltic andesite and icelandite to rhyolite, a fractionation sequence common in tholeiitic volcanic provinces. This interpretation requires re-appraisal of the physical processes responsible for the differentiation. In particular, residual liquids became lower in density with fractionation and would have caused the Skaergaard magma chamber to have become compositionally zoned.

Who reads The differentiation of the Skaergaard Intrusion?

Author

R. H. Hunter; R. S. J. Sparks

Publisher

Springer; Springer-Verlag; Springer Verlag; Springer Science and Business Media LLC; Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc. (ISSN 0010-7999)

Published

1987

Language

EN

Field

Earth and Planetary Sciences (Physical Sciences)