Abstract
The term spilite is now 150 years old. Few rock names currently in use have a longer tradition and none continues to be more variously defined. The surprising fact is that, despite a welter of opinions as to what should be diagnostic, the majority of rocks identified as spilitic share a broad community of properties. Most such materials are evidently mafic and are recognized as having modes of occurrence similar to certain basaltic rocks. Distinction from basalts arises from observed contrasts, both mineralogical and chemical.
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Vallance, T.G. (1974). Pyroxenes and the Basalt. Spilite Relation. In: Amstutz, G.C. (eds) Spilites and Spilitic Rocks. International Union of Geological Sciences, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88230-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88230-2_5
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