Measurement and Distribution of Zircons in Some Granitic Rocks of Magmatic Origin

Leonard H. Larsen and Arie Poldervaart
Dept. of Geology and Geography, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
Dept. of Geology, Columbia University, New York, U.S.A.

Summary: Morphological characters of zircons in concentrates have been studied by measurement of length along the c-axis and breadth along the a1- or a2-axis of 200 doubly terminated crystals for each sample. The sample is represented graphically by a line fitted mathematically to a scatter plot of the measurements. This line, the reduted major axis, is visualized as a growth trend, and samples are described and compared statistically.

From a careful study of zircons in a tonalite it is concluded that zircon crystallized over a short range before crystallization of the main constituent minerals.

The distribution of zircon in a batholith of magmatic origin has also been studied. The batholith grades from a core of granodiorite to a mantle of tonalite, but the zircons are uniform throughout. Small bodies of granodiorite and quartz monzonite have sharp contacts against the main batholithic rocks, and zireon samples from these intrusives differ from one another and from those of the batholith. It is concluded that the batholith represents a single intrusion which differentiated after emplacement, and that the later intrusives each crystallized under different conditions.

Mineralogical Magazine; September 1957 v. 31; no. 238; p. 544-564; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1957.031.238.03
© 1957, The Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Society (www.minersoc.org)