Geochemistry of Mesozoic dolerite dikes from eastern North America

Abstract

Major and trace element analyses of over one hundred Mesozoic dolerite dikes from eastern North America have established three main chemical types: 1) olivine-normative; 2) high-TiO2 quartz-normative; and 3) low-TiO2 quartz-normative; and a less common high-Fe2 O3* (Σ Fe as Fe2O3) quartz-normative type. Quartz-normative dikes predominate from Nova Scotia to Maryland whereas olivine-normative dikes predominate in North and South Carolina. In Virginia and Georgia these types occur in approximately equal abundance.