Some clinopyroxenes from ultramafic inclusions in Dreiser Weiher, Eifel

Abstract

Eight clinopyroxenes from wehrlites and clinopyroxenites and three clinopyroxenes of crystal lapilli in tuff of Dreiser Weiher in Eifel, Germany, have been separated and chemically analysed. One hornblende and two phlogopites from a wehrlite and clinopyroxenites have also been analysed. The rocks enclosing these inclusions are alkali basalts of basanite composition. The analysed clinopyroxenes contain considerable amounts of Al2O3 (3.87–10.84 wt%). The calculated Tschermak's component ranges from 5.9 to 18.4 mol per cent. All of the analysed clinopyroxenes are clearly different from chromian diopsides in lherzolite inclusions in basaltic rocks in Dreiser Weiher and other localities; the former has higher contents of total FeO, CaO and TiO2 and lower contents of MgO and Cr2O3 than the latter. Two clinopyroxenes separated from apatite-bearing clinopyroxenites show high contents of Fe2O3 with about 2 per cent of Na2O, indicating the presence of considerable amounts of acmite component in addition to Tschermak's component. The relative proportions of Al in the tetrahedral site and that in the octahedral site in the analysed clinopyroxenes are clearly different from those of the common igneous clinopyroxenes and eclogites, and similar to those of the clinopyroxenes from other inclusions in basaltic rocks and granulites. It is suggested that all the analysed clinopyroxenes and their host inclusions have crystallized from alkali basalt magmas in relatively deep levels of the continental crust.