A flinty, spherulitic dyke of peralkaiine trachyte in a Precambrian dyke-swarm consists mainly of albite and aegirine. Within this, euhedral crystals of narsarsukite, NadTi,Fe)Si401o(F), occur as short prisms elongate parallel to c. This distinguishes them from all previously described narsarsukites, which have tabular habits. Minor phases present include micas, apatite, quartz, pectolite, nord...

Previous studies have shown that the 2.04 Ga Kangâmiut dyke swarm of SW Greenland was injected into an active tectonic environment associated with the formation of the Nagssugtoqidian orogenic belt. Major and trace element modelling of the swarm shows that its chemical evolution was controlled by simple clinopyroxene–plagioclase fractionation. However, such trends — although typical of continen...

Introduction: In understanding the evolution of the Moon, a number of its fundamental magmatic characteristics must be explained in the context of other geophysical and geological observations. Volcanic activity subsequent to the formation of anorthositic crust was dominated by the eruption of mare basalt. (1) The main phase of mare volcanism began ~500 Myr after the crystallization of the anor...

Introduction: The lunar meteorites Miller Range 05035 (MIL) and Meteorite Hills 01210 (MET) were collected during the 2005 and 2001 ANSMET (Antarctic Meteorite Search) field seasons [1,2]. MET is a 22.8 g regolith breccia composed primarily of basaltic material [3-6]. MIL is a 142.2 g coarse-grained basalt [2]. The bulk composition, mineral assemblage, and texture of MIL is similar to lunar met...

Areas of exposed basalt along mid-ocean ridges and at seafloor outcrops serve as conduits of fluid flux into and out of a subsurface ocean, and microbe-mineral interactions can influence alteration reactions at the rock-water interface. Located on the eastern flank of the East Pacific Rise, Dorado Outcrop is a site of low-temperature (<20°C) hydrothermal venting and represents a new end-member ...

Introduction: Olivine vitrophyres are impact melts, consisting of Lunar highlands and KREEP-rich materials, that are primarily composed of olivines in an opaque glass, sometimes with lath-like plagioclase crystals [e.g. 0-2]. Petrographically, these are similar to vitrophyric Apollo 14 high-Al basalts [11]. The purpose of this study was to use olivine chemistry and petrographic evidence in orde...

The Mars Global Surveyor mission carries a remote-sensing gizmo called the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). TES detects heat waves flowing from the surface of the Red Planet. The TES team, led by Phil Christensen (Arizona State University), identified two large regions on Mars that have distinctive spectral properties. Using mathematical mixing calculations based on the thermal emission spe...