Millimeter–centimeter thick layers of chromite-rich rock (chromitites) are rare, but ubiquitous, features of the Bushveld (South Africa) and Rum (Scotland) layered intrusions. Despite their meager dimensions, the chromitites provide insight into processes that modify igneous layering and, in the Bushveld, the formation of the platinum-group element– rich Merensky Reef. The Merensky Reef chromitites represent reaction zones formed in a compositional gradient between hydrous silicate melt and a crystalline cumulate assemblage, analogous to reaction zones in metamorphic systems. At Rum, the chromitites formed at the melting front between newly injected magma and the magma chamber floor, an analogous process but one driven by thermal, rather than chemical, energy.
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December 01, 2017
Metasomatic Chromitite Seams in the Bushveld and Rum Layered Intrusions Available to Purchase
Edmond A. Mathez;
Edmond A. Mathez
1
Department of Education American Museum of Natural History New York, NY 10024 USA E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
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Rosamond J. Kinzler
Rosamond J. Kinzler
2
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
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Edmond A. Mathez
1
Department of Education American Museum of Natural History New York, NY 10024 USA E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
Rosamond J. Kinzler
2
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America
First Online:
14 Dec 2017
Online ISSN: 1811-5217
Print ISSN: 1811-5209
Copyright © 2017 by the Mineralogical Society of America
Mineralogical Society of America
Elements (2017) 13 (6): 397–402.
Article history
First Online:
14 Dec 2017
Citation
Edmond A. Mathez, Rosamond J. Kinzler; Metasomatic Chromitite Seams in the Bushveld and Rum Layered Intrusions. Elements 2017;; 13 (6): 397–402. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.13.6.397
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- Africa
- Bushveld Complex
- chromitite
- cumulates
- Europe
- Great Britain
- Hebrides
- Highland region Scotland
- igneous rocks
- Inner Hebrides
- intrusions
- Inverness-shire Scotland
- layered intrusions
- magma chambers
- melts
- Merensky Reef
- metals
- metasomatism
- models
- phase equilibria
- platinum group
- plutonic rocks
- Rhum
- Scotland
- silicate melts
- South Africa
- Southern Africa
- thermodynamic properties
- ultramafics
- United Kingdom
- Western Europe
- Rum Intrusion
Latitude & Longitude
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