Crystal growth and nucleation in two large diabase dikes

Abstract

The total number of nuclei, Z, of a single phase formed in a unit volume of a crystallizing magma at the distance y from the contact of a semi-infinite intrusion is[Formula: see text]where n is a numerical constant determined by growth controlling process during the nucleation period and the value of m in the expression assumed for the nucleation rate, J[Formula: see text]The observed variation of Z for clinopyroxene and plagioclase from the contact towards the center of two large dikes appears to follow this relation. In the 106 m wide Kigaviarluk olivine tholeiite dike the value of n is significantly greater for the clinopyroxene (−2.2) than the plagioclase (−0.84). In the 60 m Grenville dike, a quartz tholeiite, the n value (−1.5) is the same for both minerals. The growth-controlling mechanisms of plagioclase and clinopyroxene appears to be sensitive to the bulk composition of the magma from which it is crystallizing.