Alteration products of olivine and pyroxene in basalt lavas from the Isle of Mull

Abstract

Flood basalts of the Isle of Mull were sampled in areas outside the metamorphic aureole of the central intrusions. Alteration products of olivine and pyroxene in these rocks are talc, chlorite, serpentine, iron oxides, brucite, calcite, and ‘iddingsite’. Plagioclase feldspar in the same rocks is unaltered. ‘Iddingsite’ is less common than mixtures of chlorite and serpentine.In two flows the only alteration product near the bottom is ‘iddingsite’ but at higher levels in the same flow green ehloritic material replaces olivine. This variation is accompanied by an increase in the FeO/Fe₂O₃ ratio in the rock towards the flow top. Green alteration products may be converted to material optically identicaI with ‘iddingsite’ by heating in air at 600° C. Zoned patches of chloritic material have formed by crystallization of the late stage magmatic fluid, modified in composition by reactions with olivine and pyroxene.