Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T19:51:44.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A contribution to the nomenclature and classification of volcanic rocks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

E. A. K. Middlemost
E. A. K. Middlemost
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Sydney, 2006 N.S.W., Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

At present one is not able to devise a single, standard classification of igneous rocks that is acceptable to all petrologists. This is mainly because igneous petrology consists of an uneasy union between the descriptive science of petrography and the explanatory science of petrogenesis, and at present the latter discipline is unable to provide a coherent model, or series of models, that can account for the origin and evolution ofall igneous rocks. Some of the more significant concepts used in the classification of volcanic rocks are examined, and three separate, yet complementary, classifications are presented.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 117 , Issue 1 , January 1980 , pp. 51 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cann, J. R. 1971. Major element variation in ocean-floor basalt. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 268, 495–505.Google Scholar
Chayes, F. 1966. Alkaline and subalkaline basalts. Am. J. Sci. 264, 128–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chayes, F. 1975. Average compositions of the commoner Cenozoic volcanic rocks. Yb. Carnegie Instn Wash. 74, 547–9.Google Scholar
De Bono, E. 1977. Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity. Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
LeMaitre, R. W. 1976. The chemical variability of some common igneous rocks. J. Petrology 17 (4), 589–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loewinson-Lessing, F. Y. 1954. A Historical Survey of Petrology. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
MacDonald, R. 1974. Nomenclature and petrochemistry of the peralkaline oversaturated extrusive rocks. Bull. Volcan. 38 (3), 498–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manson, V. 1967. Geochemistry of basaltic rock major elements. In Basalts, vol. 1 (ed. Hess, H. H. and Poldervaart, A.), pp. 215–69. New York: Interscience.Google Scholar
Middlemost, E. A. K. 1975. The basalt clan. Earth-Sci. Rev. 11, 337–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nockolds, S. R. & Le Bas, M. J. 1977. Average calc-alkali basalt. Geol. Mag. 114, 311–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poldervaart, A. 1964. Chemical definition of alkali basalts and tholeiites. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 75, 229–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ringwood, A. E. 1974. The petrological evolution of island arc systems. J. geol. Soc. (Lond.) 130, 183–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronov, A. B. & Yaroshevskiy, A. A. 1976. A new model for the chemical structure of the Earth's Crust. Geochem. Int. 13 (16), 89–121.Google Scholar
Schmitt, R. & Laul, J. C. 1973. A survey of the selenochemistry of major, minor and trace elements. Moon, 8, 182–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shand, S. J. 1950. Eruptive Rocks, 4th ed. London: Thomas Murby.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. R. 1975. Lunar Science: A Post-Apollo View. New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Tilley, C. E. 1950. Some aspects of magmatic evolution. Q. Jl geol. Soc.Lond., 106, 37–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toulmin, S. 1953. The Philosophy of Science. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Viljoen, M. J. & Viljoen, R. P. 1969. The geology and geochemistry of the lower ultramafic unit of the Onverwacht Group and a proposed new class of igneous rocks. Spec. Publ. geol. Soc. S. Afr. 2, 55–85.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, J. F. G. 1967. The petrography of basaltic rocks. In Basalts, (ed. Hess, H. H. and Poldervaart, A.), pp. 163–214. New York.Google Scholar
Yoder, H. S. 1976. Generation of Basaltic Magma. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar