Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology

, Volume 20, Issue 2, pp 115–134 | Cite as

Petrology of the Nandewar Volcano, N.S.W., Australia

  • M. J. Abbott
Article
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Abstract

The Nandewar Mountains, N.S.W., Australia, are the remains of a Miocene continental alkaline volcano whose products range from olivine basalts to comendites and alkali rhyolites. Intermediate hawaiites, mugearites and benmoreites predominate in the shield, in which olivine basalts are rare, and the trachytic rocks form many intrusions into the shield. The Nandewar alkaline series shows extreme fractionation of a relatively differentiated alkali olivine basalt magma, saturated with silica, to yield extremely oversaturated peralkaline comendites and peraluminous alkali rhyolites. The nature of the ferromagnesian phases forming was controlled by low oxygen fugacities. Throughout the series clinopyroxenes range from diopsidic augite, through sodic ferrohedenbergites to hedenbergite-acmite solid solutions. Riebeckite-arfvedsonite solid solutions appear in the trachytes and comendites, and aenigmatite appears in some of the peralkaline rocks. The feldspars in the series fractionate from calcic labradorite through potash oligoclase and calcic anothoclase towards the minimum melting alkali feldspar composition, Ab65Or35. The compositions of the alkali rhyolites approach the minimum in the system SiO2-KAlSi3O8-NaAlSi3O8. All the mineralogical and chemical evidence points to the development of the Nandewar series by the processes of extreme crystallization differentiation of an alkali olivine basalt parent magma. No significant contamination occurred, xenoliths and xenocrysts are absent, and volatile transfer and metasomatism played a minor role.

Keywords

Oxygen Fugacity Olivine Basalt Crystallization Differentiation Alkali Olivine Basalt Basalt Parent 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1969

Authors and Affiliations

  • M. J. Abbott
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Geology and MineralogyUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia

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