On Melilite as a Product of Interaction of Limestone and Basaltic Liquid

Abstract

The melilite described below is an abundant constituent of a zone of reaction between dolerite and Chalk at the intrusion of Scawt Hill, Co. Antrim, Ireland. The melilite occurs both in the hybrid rock formed by assimilation of carbonate and as a constituent of the exomorphic contact zone. In the latter it is associated with spurrite, Ca₂SiO₄ (larnite), merwinite, spinel, and calcite. The following description applies solely, however, to the melilite of the hybrid rock.