Abstract
SummaryThe effects to be expected from the interaction of possible electric currents at depth with bodies of basaltic magma have been investigated experimentally. Trough-shaped molten specimens were produced in the surface of basalt blocks by heating from above ; the melts were electrolysed and the products analysed chemically.Si, Al, Ti, P, Fe2+, and probably Fe3+are concentrated towards the anode, apparently in the form of drifting lattice remnants; oxygen gas is liberated. Na, K, Ca, Mn, and Mg ions concentrate towards the cathode.Relatively to basalt, the cathodic product is an alkaline and femic rock with normative nepheline and a more acid plagioclase. The anodic rock is distinctly calc-alkaline and salic, with normative quartz and a plagioclase that is more basic. The precise ‘rock-type’ developed depends on the amount of electricity passed, but the trends are distinct. In that increasing basicity and alkalinity (cathodic rocks) are accompanied by both increasing Na/K and Mg/(Fe2++ Fe3+) ratios (which ratios decrease with decreasing basicity and alkalinity) the electrolytic series developed from a basalt magma appears to have few counterparts among natural rocks.
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