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Rock Classification Scheme (BGS).pdf - The Water, Sanitation and ...

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minerals fall into group M. A qualifier term to indicate thecolour of the rock can, however, be given. General guidelinesare provided in Section 7 for applying qualifier terms.6.1.3 CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CARBONATITESIf a carbonatite is too fine grained for an accurate mode tobe determined, or if the carbonate minerals are complexCa-Mg-Fe solid solutions, the chemical classificationshown in Figure 26 should be used. <strong>The</strong> root names calciocarbonatite,magnesiocarbonatite <strong>and</strong> ferrocarbonatiteshould be used only when the chemical classification ofFigure 26 has been used.In the IUGS recommendations for classifying igneousrocks (Le Maitre et al., 1989) the name ferrocarbonatitecould be assigned through either the modal or chemicalmethods of classifying carbonatitic rocks. In the presentscheme, the name assigned on modal grounds has beenchanged to ferroan-carbonatite so that it is clear bywhich method the rock has been assigned a name.6.2 Melilitic rocksAll rocks which contain more than 10% modal meliliteshould be classified according to the scheme for meliliticrocks (Streckeisen, 1978; 1979).Although light-coloured, melilite is classified as a maficmineral belonging to group M. Melilitic rocks are dividedinto ultramafic <strong>and</strong> non-ultramafic sub-groups (Figure 27).If melilite can be determined modally <strong>and</strong> is more than10%, <strong>and</strong> M is greater than 90%, the triangular diagrams ofFigure 28 should be used for classifying coarse-grained<strong>and</strong> fine-grained rocks.6.2.1 CLASSIFICATION OF ULTRAMAFIC MELILITIC ROCKS<strong>The</strong> general name for coarse-grained melilitic rocks is melilitolite,<strong>and</strong> they are classified according to their mineralcontent, as shown in Figure 28a, to produce the root namesmelilitolite, olivine-melilitolite, pyroxene-melilitolite,pyroxene-olivine-melilitolite <strong>and</strong> olivine-pyroxene-melilitolite.<strong>The</strong> root names pyroxene-melilitolite, olivine-melilitolite<strong>and</strong> olivine-pyroxene-melilitolite replace the specialvarietal terms ‘uncompahgrite’, ‘kugdite’ <strong>and</strong> ‘olivineuncompahgrite’, respectively.<strong>The</strong> general name for fine-grained melilitic rocks ismelilitite <strong>and</strong>, where possible, they should be classifiedaccording to their mineral content, as shown in Figure 28b,to produce the root names melilitite <strong>and</strong> olivine-melilitite.Even in fine-grained rocks melilite can usually be identifiedin thin section when it is present in essential proportions(i.e. > 10%). If the rock is altered the melilite isusually carbonated. If the mode cannot be determined, thetotal alkali silica (TAS) classification (shown in Figure 20)should be used along with the following instructions:• the rock should plot in the foidite field• if it has > 10% larnite (synonymous with calciumorthosilicate [cs]) in the norm it is a melilitite• if it has > 10% larnite <strong>and</strong> K 2 O < Na 2 O (wt.%) then itis a melilitite or olivine-melilitite• if K 2 O > Na 2 O <strong>and</strong> K 2 O > 2 wt.% it is a potassic melilititeor potassic olivine-melilitite. Previously, the latterwould probably have been called a katungite; now itmay be a leucite olivine-melilitite or a kalsilite olivinemelilitite• if it has

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