The Alkali Feldspars from Microsyenitic Dykes of Southern Greenland

H. G. Scharbert
Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, University of Vienna, Austria

Summary: 26 b-axis oscillation photographs of alkali feldspars of microsyenitic dykes of Southern Greenland are presented. The crystals are rather restricted in composition (Or42·4 to Or35·3) but are rather rich in Ca (up to 14 % An). The range of variation of the optic axial angles, 2 V 45° to 71° (exceptions up to 87°), puts the crystals between sanidine-anorthoclase cryptoperthite and orthoclase microperthite, as classified by Tuttle (1952).

Since the syenitic magma cooled down rather rapidly some peculiarities in the structural state of the alkali feldspars are to be expected. The potassium-rich phase is (nearly) monoclinic. According to the values of the reciprocal lattice angles α* and γ* the sodium-rich phases can be divided into three groups: high-temperature pericline-twinned and high-temperature albite-twinned phases, high-temperature pericline-twinned and low-temperature albite-twinned phases, and high-temperature pericline-twinned and low-temperature albite-twinned phases with nearly identical values of the reciprocal lattice angle γ*.

Mineralogical Magazine; September 1966 v. 35; no. 275; p. 903-919; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1966.035.275.02
© 1966, The Mineralogical Society
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