Appinite xenoliths and associated rocks from the Ben Nevis igneous complex

Abstract

SummaryAn area is described in which the main rock type is a variable dioritic rock, thought to have been formed by the expulsion of the residual acidic liquid from a largely crystalline quartz-diorite magma. It contains xenoliths of pyroxenite and appinite. The latter consist largely of hornblende, with some diopside, quartz, orthoclase microperthite and oligoclase. They are considered to be the reaction products of the outer margin of a magma and the adjacent calcareous country rock.