Summary: Two spectrochemical methods of feldspar determination are described: one based on the flame spectrophotometer; the other on the quartz spectrograph. For the first method, unknown feldspars are dissolved in a mixture of hydrofluoric and perchloric acids and diluted to 1 : 10⁴. Percentages of Or and An are determined by comparison with dissolved feldspar standards at the same dilution; percentages of Ab are estimated by difference. For the second method, unknown feldspars are burned, unadulterated, in the cathode of the spectrograph are and a visual estimation is made of the intensities of the following lines: Na5688, Na5683, Ca4455, Ca4435, Ca4425, K4047, K4044, Ca3644, K3447, Na3303, Na3302, and Ca3159. The estimated intensities are then substituted in two empirically determined functions:

(ICa4455+ICa4435+ICa4255+ICa3644+ICa3159)−43(INa5688+INa5683+INa3303+INa3302)and (3INa5688+3INa5683+2INa3303+INa3302)−43(4IK4047+3IK4044+2IK3447) .

From the algebraic values of these two functions, the compositions of the unknown feldspars, expressed as percentages of Or, Ab, and An, are read directly from a chart based on results obtained from feldspar standards of known chemical composition.