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Journal of Petrology | Volume 44 | Number 11 | Pages 2033-2051 | 2003
© Oxford University Press 2003; all rights reserved
Quantifying the Building Blocks of Igneous Rocks: Are Clustered Crystal Frameworks the Foundation?
1 DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM, SCIENCE LABORATORIES, SOUTH ROAD, DURHAM DH1 3LE, UK
2 DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING, LARAMIE, WY 82071-3006, USA
3 DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT, STORRS, CT 06269, USA
* Corresponding author. Telephone: ++44 (0)191 334 2281. Fax: ++44 (0)191 334 2301. E-mail: D.A.Jerram{at}dur.ac.uk
Most phenocryst populations in volcanic rocks, and those preserved in shallow-level igneous intrusions, are clustered (variously referred to as clots, clumps or glomerocrysts). These clusters of crystals are the building blocks that accumulate to form the high-porosity, touching crystal frameworks from which igneous cumulates form. Examination of touching crystal frameworks in olivine- (komatiite cumulates and experimental charges) and plagioclase-dominant crystal populations (Holyoke flood basalt, Connecticut, USA) reveal complex, high-porosity, clustered crystal arrangements. Olivine touching frameworks in komatiite flows are interpreted to form in hundreds of days. Plagioclase frameworks are calculated to have formed in less than 17 years for a crystal growth rate of 1 x 10-10 mm/s to less than 3 years for a growth rate of 5 x 10-10 mm/s based on crystal size distributions. The origin of crystal clusters is likely to involve either (or a combination of) heterogeneous nucleation, remobilization of cumulate mushes or crystals sticking together during settling and/or flow. The spatial distribution pattern of clustered crystal frameworks from both natural and experimental examples constrains fields on spatial packing diagrams that allow the identification of touching and non-touching crystal populations, and further improve our understanding of crystal packing arrangements and cluster size distributions.
KEY WORDS: cumulates; CSD; komatiite; basalt; spatial packing; textural analysis
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