Abstract: This paper discusses the relationship between the chemical composition of basic melts and the temperatures at which olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase begin to crystallize at one atmosphere. Diagrams are given which show the correlation between crystallization temperature and melt composition and which allow some of the temperatures to be estimated. Because the relationship between melt composition and crystallization temperature is virtually linear over short compositional ranges, the data available can be subdivided and examined by linear multivariate statistical techniques. The result is a set of equations which permit the crystallization temperatures to be calculated with an average error of less than 6 °C and a maximum error of 27 °C. These equations have been tested by experimental determination of crystallization temperatures for a range of rocks from the Marquesas Islands.