Kaersutite from San Carlos, Arizona, with Comments on the Paragenesis of This Mineral

Brian Mason
U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.

Summary: A 230 g kaersutite xenocryst from basalt at San Carlos, Arizona, has the composition SiO2 40·10 %, TiO2 4·44, Al2O3 14·53, Fe2O3 3·24, FeO 10·05, MnO 0·14, MgO 11·00, CaO 11·06, Na2O 2·99, K2O 1·62, H2O + 0·73, H2O − 0·10; D = 3·28; α 1·680, β 1·700, γ 1·715; a 9·858 Å, b 18·063 Å, c 5·315 Å, β 105° 14′. Kaersutite occurring as xenocrysts in basic volcanic rocks and tuffs, and as a phase in garnet-pyroxene xenoliths from such rocks, is probably of upper mantle origin, and may be the important potassium-bearing phase in this region.

Mineralogical Magazine; September 1968 v. 36; no. 283; p. 997-1002; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1968.283.036.12
© 1968, The Mineralogical Society
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