In ion microprobe analysis the specimen is bombarded with a focussed ion beam a few µm in diameter and the secondary ions produced are accelerated into the entrance slit of a mass spectrometer. An outline of the salient features of the instrument is given here, together with an account of the methods used for quantitative elemental and isotopic analysis.

The major part of this paper consists of a comprehensive account of the geological applications of ion microprobe analysis. These include elemental analysis, especially for trace elements (down to sub-ppm levels in many cases) and light elements (H-F) which are beyond the scope of the electron microprobe. The other main area of geological interest is isotopic analysis, where the ion microprobe has the advantage over conventional mass spectrometry of being capable of in situ analysis of selected points on polished sections, obviating the need for laborious specimen preparation, and enabling spatially-resolved data to be obtained, with a resolution of a few µm. The ion microprobe has been especially successful in U-Pb zircon dating and the study of isotope anomalies in meteorites. Other significant applications include diffusion and stable isotope studies.

Homogeneous and heterogeneous phase relationships in the alkali feldspars are reviewed, and behaviour diagrams developed. Al,Si ordering is almost certainly continuous and higher order in both albite and potassium feldspar and has been established reversibly or nearly so down to below 500°C in albite and possibly to ∼ 200°C in potassium feldspar. The degree of order in intermediate albite changes strongly over a range of ∼ 75–150°C depending on pressure, low albite being stable up to about 620–650°C and high albite above about 725°C at low pressure. Symmetry is broken at ∼ 980°C mainly by a cooperative shearing of the whole framework and not by Al,Si ordering alone; there is a thermal crossover near 700°C shearing being dominant above (high albite) and ordering dominant below (intermediate albite).

In potassium feldspar symmetry is broken by Al,Si ordering at a temperature of about 500°C The change in degree of order with respect to temperature has been followed easily and reversibly in sanidine from ∼ 1075 to ∼ 550°C and to a lesser extent in microcline from 450 to 200°C. Ordering rates in sanidine down to 500°C and ordering rates in microcline between 450 and 200°C are almost as fast as in albite. Ordering in sanidine at 500°C and below slows and then stops with the development of the tweed orthoclase domain texture. The tweed texture acts as a barrier to further order because the strain energy associated with the (incipient) twin domain texture balances or nearly balances the free energy decrease resulting from ordering. Ordering stops not because of the kinetics of Al,Si diffusion, but because the total driving force is very small or nil. Ordering can readily proceed to completion, with the formation of low microcline, only if the domain-texture barrier is overcome by processes involving fluids or strong external stresses. There is no barrier in albite.

The symmetry-breaking process in alkali feldspar changes with composition from mainly shearing in albite to ordering in potassium feldspar. Symmetry is broken equally at a compositional crossover (metastable with respect to exsolution) near Ab80-75 at low pressure and progressively displaced towards Or at higher pressures. Ordering in pure albite occurs by a (nearly) one-step path which progressively becomes two-step with substitution of Or. Diagrams showing the near-equilibrium variation of the order parameters at low pressure with composition and T are given, as well as two extreme phase and behaviour diagrams for complete coherent and complete incoherent (strain-free) relationships. These diagrams can be used to understand feldspar relationships and microtextures in hypersolvus and subsolvus rocks, the occurrence of orthoclase, and of intermediate and low microcline.

Several examples of magma mixing exist within the undersaturated alkaline magma series of the Tertiary/Quaternary volcanics in the French Massif Central. This study describes magma mixing in the Puy Griou/Griounot area of the Cantal volcano (10-3 Ma). Petrographic evidence for injection of blebs of basic magma into phonolitic host magmas is abundant (cauliform inclusions, liquid-liquid contacts, vesiculation and chilling). Compositions of the inclusions are basic tephrite, whereas the hosts are miaskitic phonolites. Petrographic examination reveals the presence of disequilibrium mineralogical features (e.g. Mg-rich olivine in phonolites) and strong zoning in many clinopyroxenes. Transfer of phenocrysts between basic inclusions and phonolite hosts was common, and can be seen clearly in the wide range of compositions of clinopyroxene. Hornblende, magnetite and olivine were also transferred from inclusions to host.

Sr and Nd isotope data indicate that, unlike most other fractionated magmas of the region, phonolites which show evidence for magma mixing are uncontaminated by the continental crust and have isotopic ratios similar to local primitive basic magmas. This leads to the suggestion that the magma mixing event took place at great depth, rather than being a high-level phenomenon. The phonolites were thus generated by high-pressure fractional crystallisation of an earlier basanitic or tephritic parent, perhaps at upper-mantle depths. This conclusion may explain why some phonolites elsewhere in the world have entrained spinel Iherzolite mantle xenoliths.

Accessory minerals are often difficult to investigate with light optics as the mineral grains tend to be small and the refractive indices high. Textural features due to variations in composition are well displayed in such minerals by backscattered electron imagery under circumstances designed to select only the composition contribution to electron backscattering and displayed as atomic number (Z)-contrast imagery (ZCI). It is shown by this technique that compositional zonation patterns are very common and sector zoning in titanite is described for the first time. The compositional basis for zonation of titanites in this study is shown to be controlled by coupled substitutions involving the REE. The technique is particularly good at revealing rounded cores to zircon grains which are normally taken to be refractory grains from the magma source region, and ZCI studies may improve targeting of grains for U-Pb geochronological investigations. Several examples are presented of applications of the technique to accessory minerals encountered in polished thin sections of granitoids in the Caledonian of Scotland. The consequences of ZCI studies for trace element modelling of REE in granitoid petrogenesis are discussed.

Quartz-gahnite-sillimanite asssemblages are described from a supracrustal enclave at Kraaifontein, 45 km south-west of Springbok in the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex, South Africa. The assemblage formed by prograde reaction in the granulite facies zone during the 1100 Ma Namaqua event, possibly as the result of desulphidation of sphalerite. Subsequent lower-amphibolite-facies retrogression occurred in close proximity to shear zones during an early Pan-African metamorphic event at 700 Ma. Zincian staurolite formed as overgrowths on gahnite in a hydration reaction involving the consumption of gahnite, quartz, and sillimanite. Compositional zoning to more zinc-rich rims in gahnite at Kraaifontein is unrelated to the retrograde reaction, but is interpreted as a result of changing conditions during the prograde Namaqua event.

Anisotropic opaque minerals viewed in reflected light microscopy show two sets of colours: the colours seen in plane polarized light which change as the section is rotated on the microscope stage, and the colours seen between crossed polars which change as the analyser is uncrossed. These latter colours are known variously as polarization colours or anisotropic rotation tints, but are here referred to as anisotropy colours. They are commonly a diagnostic aid to correct mineral identification. All these colours occur as a consequence of the dispersion of the relative permittivity (dielectric) tensor—the variation in the values of the tensor with wavelength of incident light and in low symmetry crystals, the variation in the directions of the principal axes of the tensor with wavelength.

In this paper, it is shown that the colour seen in plane polarized light and the anisotropy colours can be predicted for any orientation of section, at any stage angle, and for any degree of uncrossing of the analyser by calculations based on the dielectric tensor values, and these predicted colours compare favourably with the observed values. Three minerals are studied in this paper as examples: stannite, covelline, and bournonite.

Vaughanite, idealized formula T1HgSb4S7, is a very rare primary constituent of the Golden Giant orebody of the Hemlo gold deposit, Hemlo, Ontario, Canada. It was found in two polished sections from one drill core; as a 450 by 300 µm aggregate associated with pääkkönenite, stibnite, realgar, and native arsenic; and as a 40 µm anhedral grain associated with stibarsen and chalcostibite. Vaughanite is opaque with a metallic lustre and a black streak. No cleavage was observed but parting, produced by indentation, was detected as a series of weak parallel traces. It is brittle, with an even, occasionally arcuate, fracture. VHN25 is 100–115, mean 104. Mohs hardness (calc.) = 3−3½. In refected plane-polarized light in air the bireflectance is weak to moderate; the pleochroism is also weak, from a somewhat greenish grey to slightly darker bluish grey. Anisotropism is moderate to strong, with rotation tints in shades of green, yellow, purplish brown to brown. Reflectance spectra and colour values are tabulated. The colour in air is light grey. Internal reflections are rare but are arterial-blood-red on indentation fractures. X-ray studies have shown that vaughanite is triclinic with refined unit-cell parameters a 9.012 (3), b 13.223 (3), c 5.906 (2) Å, α 93.27 (3)°, β 95.05 (4)°, γ 109.16 (3)°, V 659.46 (80) Å3, a:b:c = 0.6815 : 1 : 0.4466 and Z = 2. The space group choices are P1 (1) or (2), diffraction aspect P*. The five strongest lines in the X-ray powder pattern [d in Å (l) (hkl)] are: 4.343 (30) (), 4.204 (100) (), 3.313 (60) (130), 2.749 (40) (, 131) and 2.315 (30) (, 122). The average of five electron microprobe analyses gave T1 18.3 (2), Hg 17.5 (2), Sb 43.4 (3), As 1.1 (1), S 20.5 (5), total 100.8 wt. %, corresponding, on the basis of total atoms = 13, to T10.98Hg0.95(Sb3.90As0.17)Σ4.07S7.00. The calculated density is 5.56 g/cm3 for the empirical formula and 5.62 g/cm3 for the simplified formula. The mineral is named for Professor David J. Vaughan.

Chemical analyses of bannisterite from the Kamo mine, Toba City, Mie Prefecture, Japan, give Ba : Ca = 69:31–55:45, yielding the ideal formula with Ba > Ca, i.e. (Ba,Ca)(K,H3O)(Mn2+ · Mg,Fe2+)21 (Si,Al)32(O,OH)92 · nH2O, where Ba > Ca, Mn2+ > Mg, Fe2+,Si ≫ Al, and O > OH. The unit cell parameters calculated after the indexing of the X-ray powder pattern are: a = 22.95, b = 16.52, c = 25.66 Å, β = 94.2°. It occurs as dark brown veinlets cutting massive caryopilite-rhodochrosite ore, which is also cut by veinlets of manganoan chlorite (Mn/(Mg + Mn + Fe) = c. 0.30–0.39) with minor barian orthoclase (Ba/(K+ Ba) = 0.05 ∼ 0.06).

Three polymorphs of tridymite (MC, PO-10 and MX) have been examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in crystals which also contain lamellae of cristobalite. MX is the least common, and is highly unstable in the electron beam. It occurs as small regions (< 1 µm2) in PO-10 tridymite and at MC/PO-10 boundaries; these regions are interpreted as being strained. A consistent association between PO-10 and the cristobalite lamellae is attributed to the fact that PO-10 can more closely match the low-cristobalite structure than MC can, at boundaries parallel to the plane in which the crystal structures contain layers of SiO4 tetrahedra. An analogous interpretation explains the observation that twin boundaries (associated with 60° or 120° rotation of the layer) are commonly parallel to the layer plane in PO-10 but at high angles to it in MC. Abundant lamellar features, parallel to the same plane in PO-10, are tentatively interpreted as representing twinning by reflection and 180° rotation, which may also account for c* streaking in diffraction patterns.

High-alumina subsilicic calcic amphiboles, including sadanagaite and subsilicic ferroan pargasite, are found in rock samples from the contact aureole in the Nōgō-Hakusan area, central Japan. They occur in the reaction zones between dark fragments and the surrounding crystalline limestone of the pyroxene hornfels facies zone. The dark fragments which underwent K-metasomatism are originally basaltic rocks. The sadanagaite and subsilicic ferroan pargasite have high Al2O3 (16–19 wt. %) and K2O (3.6–4.3 wt. %) contents. The Si value ranges from 5.38 to 5.64 and the total Al ranges from 3.10 to 3.43 when cation ratios are calculated on the basis of O = 23. The calculated unit cell parameters of sadanagaite are a 10.00 (1), b 18.06 (2), c 5.355 (4) Å, β105.52(7)°, V 932(1) Å3. The A-sites of the amphiboles is occupied almost entirely by K and Na; the amphiboles are saturated with the edenite component. The amphiboles show a larger extent of tschermakite-type substitution [(Mg,Fe)Si⇌AlAl] than does ordinary pargasite. Sadanagaite is probably stable at the temperature above the upper amphibolite facies.

Sodic-calcic and alkali amphiboles from benmoreitic members of the Igaliko Dyke Swarm contain up to 4.13 wt. % ZrO2. It is proposed that Zr enters the amphiboles by a coupled substitution of

(where C = octahedral site and T = tetrahedral site) to produce the richest Zr-bearing amphiboles so far identified, with compositions ranging up to

These amphiboles crystallize at a late stage from magmas which were Zr-rich, highly peralkaline and hydrous, with an fo2 close to the synthetic QMF buffer. The incorporation of Zr in to the amphibole is a consequence of the failure of other Zr-bearing phases (such as zircon, baddeleyite, eudialyte) to crystallize.

The Llandovery Folly Sandstone near Presteigne, Powys, contains disseminated thorium mineralization. The thorium occurs as inclusions of thorite and thorianite within sub-millimetre-scale bitumen nodules throughout the sandstone. The nodules grew replacively in situ. The two square kilometres outcrop/subcrop of the sandstone may contain over 500 tonnes thorium.

The atomic structure of chkalovite, Na2BeSi2O6, has been determined and refined by Simonov et al. (1976). It is orthorhombic, space group Fdd2, with cell parameters: a = 21.129 (5), b = 6.881 (2), and c = 21.188 (5)/Å. The structure is very similar to that of alpha-cristobalite (Dollase, 1965), comprising a framework of ordered BeO4 and SiO4 tetrahedra with the sodium atoms occupying sites within the cavities of the beryllosilicate framework. Taylor (1972) developed a tilting model for the cristobalite structure assuming regular tetrahedra. In addition to the single tilt system deduced for cristobalite (Taylor, 1972, 1984a) chkalovite has secondary tilt systems involving a slight adjustment of the structure by a small cooperative tilt or twist of some tetrahedra about one or more of their three-fold axes (see fig. 1 of Simonov et al., 1976).

The synthesis of monazite was first reported by Radominsky (1875). Since then various methods have been used to synthesize various end members of the monazite solid solution series, mainly CePO4 and LaPO4 (e.g. Anthony, 1957, 1965). As part of an experimental study dealing with the solubility of monazite in granitic melts (Montel, 1986, 1987, and in prep.), the synthesis of some of the end members, as well as solid solutions, was achieved.

Phosphatic limestones and a related soil were described from collections made by the first Royal Society coral-reef-boring expedition to Funafuti in 1896 (Cooksey, 1896; David and Sweet, 1904, Judd, 1904; Sollas, 1904; cf. Cullis, 1904). Although there is some geographic uncertainty about the source of some of Judd's samples, the specimens came from three localities on Funafuti, the largest being on Amatuku.

A Working quarry, at Loanhead (NS363557) within the Clyde Plateau Carboniferous lavas, is traversed by a tholeiitic Tertiary dyke some 25-30 m wide. Throughout the quarry the lavas are extensively altered and the most prominent secondary minerals are calcite and prehnite. Adjacent to the dyke is an indefinite alteration zone within which garnet has developed in close association with analcime and thomsonite. Contact metamorphism is not apparent. Secondary minerals in the quarried lavas and from the alteration zone have been described by Meikle (1989). The most salient feature of secondary mineral formation central to this paper is that grossular and andradite occur, in situ, in close proximity to the dyke, and only in the amygdales.