Abstract
The assimilation of evaporites and brines by basaltic magma in continental rifts may be responsible for alkaline magmatism and metasomatism. Spilites may be the oceanic counterpart of alkaline syenites. Remobilisation of alkaline material from evaporites and brines may also lead to feldspathisation and, moreover, it may be an essential factor in the production of glaucophane-bearing rocks. It is particularly significant that the oldest known occurrences of evaporites, nepheline syenites, and glaucophane “schists” are all of late Precambrian (-Eocambrian) age. These rocks appear to have become increasingly abundant with decreasing age, and this may reflect an evolution in the alkali (especially sodium) content of sea water, which in turn may correspond to progressive alkalinisation of the Earth's crust.
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