Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2018
Originally described in phonolitic rocks from the Dunedin district, New Zealand, ameletite was considered by Marshall (1929) to be a chlorine-bearing sodium aluminium silicate, probably a feldspathoid, and later, a zeolite of unspecified composition. Optical, X-ray, and chemical data on several ‘ameletite’-bearing felsic volcanic rocks from the type area indicate that material previously designated as ameletite is variously nepheline and mixtures of sodalite, analcime, phillipsite, and nepheline. Criteria thought to be characteristic of ameletite are discussed.