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3J-0E
TOROR•
TORORO,
SUKULU* , . ' '
Miles
0 10 20 30 40
be younger than Karroo, chiefly by analogy with the Chilwa Series of Nyasaland.
Detailed descriptions of the centres are given by Davies (1956) and King &
Sutherland (1964).
Sukulu forms a circular group of hills, some 2\ miles across, and consists
almost entirely of carbonatites. The carbonatites show a complex pattern of con-
centric structures, related to a number of centres, extensively traversed by faults
and dykes, many of which are essentially radial in arrangement. Sovite is the
chief type of carbonatite. Magnetite, apatite, micas, tremolite, zircon, pyro-
chlore, and barytes are the commonest minerals other than carbonates. The
presence of a very narrow ring of alkali silicate rocks (including fenites) has been
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 69
MBALE
I | Basement granites.etc.
Miles
0 1 2 3 4
.-•'34°IOE
FIG. 2. The older alkaline complexes of south-east Uganda (after Davies, 1956).
established from pits and boreholes. Traversing the carbonatites are occasional
dykes of tinguaite and zones or veins of breccia and agglomerate.
Bukusu is about 4 miles in diameter. So far as can be judged from the evidence
of scant exposures, supplemented by numerous pits and boreholes, the complex
consists of a central mass of carbonatite which is partly separated from an
encircling ring of carbonatite by alkaline silicate rocks. Similar silicate rocks
enclose the outer carbonatites, and an extensive zone of fenitization, which is
comparatively well exposed, is developed in the invaded granites. The fenites
70 B. C. KING—PETROGENESIS OF
are characterized by the formation of a blue-green amphibole, reddish-brown
biotite and alkali felspar, and are evidently associated with the development
of arcuate shear zones in the granite. Syenitic rocks, composed almost entirely
of potash felspar, occur intermittently in the peripheral parts of the complex,
while inwards the silicate rocks are extremely variable and include pyroxenites,
biotite-pyroxenite, glimmerite, hornblendite, and ijolite. The occurrences of
peridotite and dunite are of interest as representing the only olivine-bearing
plutonic rocks recorded from any of the alkaline centres. Felspar-bearing rocks
range from nepheline syenites to malignites.
The carbonatite is a sovite in which magnetite, phlogopite, and apatite are
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OKATHUM c
KOPOPWA
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Volcanks ^ Carbonatite ^ Ijolites
fn
FIG. 3. Geological section across the Napak volcano (after King, 1949, with modifications). >
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74 B. C. KING—PETROGENESIS OF
the melanocratic and mesocratic rocks of the earlier complex. A later phase of
ijolite pegmatites then occurred.
Dyke-like bands of coarse-grained urtite transect all other members of the
ijolitic sequence. A pegmatitic wollastonite-urtite is the commonest rock type,
but melanite-wollastonite-urtites and wollastonite-pyroxene-urtites also occur.
Late stage alterations, often associated with shearing, are common; nepheline
is replaced by cancrinite, natrolite, and other zeolites, while wollastonite is con-
verted to pectolite and calcite forms indiscriminately. The place of melanite is
taken by a colourless andradite, and aegirine-augite often breaks down to
turbid alteration products which include haematite and calcite.
AUO
2^3 Na2O
El
FeO MqO
Fe,O, CaO
It
AI2O3 Na 2 O
1 — 1
• : - • • • • • • : •-.* , : ;
• • • • . • • • . • .
K2O
FeO
MqO
FeoO, CaO
i i 1 1 1
25 2O 15 IO is 2O WT. 25
Fig. 4. Diagrammatic representation of the chemical compositions of the lavas from Mt. Elgon and Napak. The values are averages based on chemical analyses.
Downloaded from http://petrology.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of York on August 14, 2014
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 75
trachyandesites, and phonolites are extensively represented (Davies, 1952), while
phonolites also occur at Kadam (Trendall, 1961) and phonolites, trachytes, and
trachybasalts at Moroto (Hytonen, 1959, p. 110; Macdonald, 1961). The largest
volcano, Elgon, must originally have had a basal diameter of at least 60 miles.
The volcanics are often cut by plugs and dykes of nephelinite and phonolite.
Toror is the most northerly of the group of dissected volcanoes and the vol-
canics have been entirely removed by erosion (DuBois, 1959). It consists of a
central mass of phonolitic agglomerate, intruding carbonatite which is now in
the form of a partial ring, about two miles in diameter. The carbonatite intrudes
granitic gneiss which is fenitized and brecciated towards the contact. Trachyte
TABLE 1
Budeda, Toror, and Elgon
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Syenitic fenite
Ankaraitrite
Si
Si ft) t^
&i
Phonolii
Trachyti
ankarat
Nephelii
Melteigi
Melilite
syenitic
Ijolite
B27 B7 B279 B223 T174 TI34 (3) (4) (ii)
Normative Compositions
Quartz — — — 0-7 — — — — —
Orthoclase . 06 81 24-2 18-8 17 9 790 — — 12 2
Albite 60 189 35 8 709 25-8 — — — 5-8
Anorthite . 4-3 1-5 8-3 II 81
Leucite — — — — — — 70 4.4 7-2
Nepheline . 5-6 147 13 7 — 31 1 28 7-7 8-5 11-4
Na 2 SiO 3 . — — — — 04 — — — —
Acmite 66 36 — 5-4 — — — —
Diopside 62-4 31-9 161 2-2 110 — 56-2 22-8 43 0
Wollastonite 48 4-4 08 2-4 09
2CaO.SiO 2 — — — — 69 1-2
Olivine — — — 08 — 14 46-5 —
Magnetite . 64 102 16 19 — — 13 0 4.4 7-7
Haematite . 08 6-4 — 3-5
llmenite 1-3 0-8 14 0-8 12 0-5 6-2 14 29
Apatite 50 03 1-3 03 01 07 1-7 0-7 2-4
Calcite 02 2-3 07 0-4
Water — — — — — 16 — 19 38
Total 989 95 9 99-2 100-3 94 1 99-3 101-2 99-9 100-8
TABLE 2
Napak
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
WoUastonite
Meso-ijolite
nephelinite
Pyroxenite
Melteigite
Nepheline
Melilite
!
syenite
Turjite
.a
Ijolite
unite
N35C N520 N165 N114 N32 N170 N106 K41 K147
Normative Compositions
Orthoclase . — — 39-5 9.4 —
Albite — — — — — — 5-2 —
Anorthite . 2-5 2-5 50 108 92 100
Leucite — — — — — — 13 1 — 148
Kaliophilite 4-7t 5-U 126$ 8-5* 14-21: 7-8J — — 17-0J
Nepheline . 68 167 213 26-7 37-5 25-8 18 7 18 5* —
Na2SiO3 . — 16 — — —
Acmite — — — — 5 1 — Ill — —
Diopside . 64-2 536 19-2 160 95 14 8 123 34 1 261
WoUastonite — — 22-4 10 1 305 — 1-7 — —
2CaO.SiO 2 09 10 40 12 2 2-4 — — 8-4
Hypersthene — — — — — 90 — 2-2 —
Olivine . — — 3-5
Magnetite . 15 1 12 8 9-5 60 16 12 Ill 104
Haematite . — 0-8 21 — — — —
Ilmenite 49 61 21 4-6 03 64 11 4-3 41
Apatite — 2-4 03 50 — 07 14 2-4 20
Calcite 06 — 02 02
Water . 39 36
33-4§
Total 99 1 1010 99 1 99-9 101 1 995 100 1 1005 1001
Pyroxenite. Melteigite
Ijolite
Urtite
Syenite. Nepheline Syenite. Fenite
Turjaite
Nephelinite. Melanephelinite
Phonolite. Trachyte
VOLCANIC FIELD
AVCRACC
OLIVINe BASALT
IO 12 4 16 IS 2O 22
A L U M I N A MOLAR EQUIVALENT OF WEIGHT °h
FIG. 6. Relations between alkalis and alumina in volcanic and plutonic rocks from Elgon, Napak,
and Budeda. With the exception of phonolites and trachytes, all the volcanics plot below the dotted
line across the volcanic field. Thus, as well as there being a general tendency for the ratio of alkalis
to alumina to be higher in the plutonic rocks, a large proportion of these rocks show higher values for
alkalis plus alumina than are shown by the majority of the volcanics. The plutonic and volcanic fields
are delimited by long and short dashes, respectively.
diopside is usual in those that contain olivine or melilite (cf. King, 1949, p. 31).
Although the same minerals, with the exception of olivine, are also recognizable
in the groundmass of the lavas, the matrix of the groundmass is not certainly
determinable, beyond the fact that it is light coloured, of low refractive index,
and very weakly birefringent or isotropic. However, judging from the analyses,
it is necessary to assume in many cases the presence of a mineral (or minerals)
80 B. C. KING—PETROGENESIS OF
with a higher ratio of silica to alkalis and alumina than in nepheline; analcite
seems the most likely, but natrolite is a common secondary mineral and is
abundantly represented in the amygdales. The nature of the matrix, which is
very difficult to separate, has not been systematically investigated. Hytonen
CaO
SiO,
Fe,O: Fe,O,
Fe.O,
SiO
AI2O3 FeO
FIG. 9. Mineralogical phase diagram of the plutonic rocks. Representative analyses from Lokupoi
(Napak) and Budeda are plotted. The radii of the circles are proportional to the content of Fe 2 O 3 :
the largest circle represents about 5 per cent.
The mineral assemblages in the volcanic rocks are sufficiently close to nor-
mative minerals for direct correlation between the two to be possible. In the
case of the plutonic rocks, this is not so and the normative minerals differ con-
siderably from those of the mode. Nevertheless, the high degree of under-
saturation is clearly indicated and, indeed, in many cases calcium orthosilicate
appears in the norm. In the modal minerals, however, the silica deficiency is
accounted for largely by such relationships among normative minerals as the
following:
1
Iron-titanium oxides.
1
Determinations of the alkali ratios in fourteen samples of nepheline from ijolitic rocks gave values
for the kaliophilite molecule ranging from 17-5 to 24 per cent.
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 83
1
(i) The presence of Tschermak's molecule in the pyroxene in place of nor-
mative anorthite:
CaAl2Si2O8 = CaAI2SiO6+SiO2.
anorthite Ca-Tschermakite
In turjaite, as in many of the volcanic rocks, melilite (gehlenite) is essentially the
silica-deficient equivalent of normative anorthite:
2CaAl2Si2O8 = 3SiO2+Ca2Al2SiO7+Al2O3.
anorthite gehlenite (in pyroxene)
(ii) The occurrence of melanite garnet as an approximate equivalent of acmite
• Pyroxenne
O Melleigite
O l|ohte
O Urine
60 ® Felspalhpzed Ijolite
X Nepheline & Cancrinite
+ Fenite Syenite
° Turjaite
180
FIG. 10. Modified von Wolff diagram of rocks from Elgon, Napak, and Budeda. The volcanic field
and main plutonic field are separately outlined. Normative anorthite has been subtracted from L to
give Fp (alkali felspar) and values for Fp and M recalculated accordingly. If An is plotted as a vertical
component on a three-dimensional graph, much of thefieldof nephelinite-melanephelinite (containing
appreciable An) is separated from the ijolite field (containing little or no An). This reflects the ten-
dency for alkalis to be lower in the volcanics than in the plutonics, so that in calculation, the excess
alumina is allocated to lime in An, which in the rocks themselves is expressed as melilite.
removal of early formed diopside would be to enrich the liquid in alumina and
lime, enhancing its ability to crystallize melilite.
The first two equations emphasize the extent of silica undersaturation in meli-
lites; the third equation represents a reaction which has been shown to occur in
artificial systems, wollastonite and nepheline being stable at lower temperatures
(Deer et ah, 1962, p. 241). Wollastonite is a mineral that is typical of the urtites
and ijolite pegmatites; its formation evidently depends on the molar concentra-
tion of lime, in derivative liquids, exceeding that of magnesia and ferrous iron
combined, and on it being in excess of the ferric iron with which it would com-
bine to form andradite (melanite). In the CaO-MgO-SiO 2 system, diopside and
wollastonite are in equilibrium with liquid over a significant range of tempera-
ture, a relationship that is unaffected by considerable amounts of alumina. The
variable order of crystallization between pyroxene and wollastonite may reflect
this relation, for although wollastonite is usually later than pyroxene, examples
of the investment of wollastonite by diopside are not uncommon.
The considerable volume of the stability field of primary wollastonite in the
system Na 2 O-CaO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 is noteworthy, and particularly its extension
over compositions that are relatively poor in lime but contain much soda (Fig.
11). Indeed, the composition point for Na 2 0. 3CaO. 6SiO2 lies well within the
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 91
wollastonite field. The low-temperature invariant point that may be inferred,
involving wollastonite, nepheline, and the soda-lime silicates, Na2Ca3Si6O16 and
Na2Ca2Si3O9 (together with the divariant planes and the unvariant lines involv-
ing two or three of these phases), is especially relevant to the petrochemistry of
the later phases of the ijolites. Pectolite, an almost ubiquitous replacement pro-
duct of wollastonite, may be regarded as related to the synthetic Na 2 Ca 2 Si 3 0 9
by substitution of Na 2 O by H 2 O to give Na 2 Ca 4 Si 6 O 17 .H 2 O. In natural systems,
enrichment in volatiles, notably water and carbon dioxide, leads to the formation
not only of pectolite but also of cancrinite, largely at the expense of nepheline.
Cancrinite (3NaAlSiO4. (Na,Ca)CO3) can be considered to form in the reciprocal
Among others, however, Yoder & Tilley (1962, p. 405) object to this because
there is no evidence that, under .normal conditions of a crystallizing magma,
nepheline and magnesian pyroxene are in equilibrium. The same principle, how-
The mineral phases to the left and to the right are characteristic, respectively,
of the assemblages in the plutonic and volcanic series in the alkaline rocks.
Diopside and nepheline are additional phases in the volcanic series, and it is the
early separation of forsterite and melilite, leading to relative enrichment of silica
in the liquid, that is responsible for the trend towards an alkali felspar com-
position.
What determines these alternative courses of early crystallization, which pro-
foundly affect the compositions of derivative melts, cannot be decided with any
certainty, but it would form a fruitful subject for experimental inquiry. It has
been suggested (p. 87) that retention of volatiles, by lowering the temperature
of crystallization, might suppress the field of forsterite along the diopside-
nepheline join and render the melilites unstable. It seems possible, also, that the
presence of (CO3)" in the melt might, as an additional anion, favour the initial
crystallization of phases which have a higher ratio of silica to basic oxides; in
effect, ino- and tecto-silicates rather than neso- and sorosilicates. Experiments
by Yoder & Tilley (1962, p. 501) showed that an olivine nephelinite melt,
quenched at 1200° C under pressures of 31-4 and 40 kilobars, yielded a pyrox-
enite with spinel and phlogopite mica. Such pressures, which would correspond,
in terms of simple hydrostatic pressure, to a crustal depth of 100 km or more,
are far in excess of those relevant to the problem under discussion. Also, the
soda and alumina contents of the pyroxene produced, although not determined,
are almost certainly greater than those in the pyroxenes of the alkali pyroxenites.
Nevertheless, such experiments provide a pointer to the kind of factors that are
likely to be influential in modifying the mineral assemblage of the volcanic
series.
Bowen's analysis (1945) of the partial system Geh-An-Wo-Ne-Ab, and the
studies by Gummer (1943) and Spivak (1944) of that of Wo-sodium silicate-An-
Ne in the system Na 2 O-CaO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 , also provide important clues to the
solution of this problem. On the boundary curve between wollastonite and
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 93
nepheline, the presence of a temperature maximum (thermal divide) would
determine alternative paths for crystallizing melts (Fig. 11). The one trends
towards melilite and ultimately, with fractionation, towards an albitic plagio-
clase while the other trends towards alkali-rich silicates. Following this latter
trend, there is no increase in silica in derivative liquids and lime tends to be
stored; especially in relation to magnesia and iron. The two trends thus corre-
spond, in simplified form, to the trends shown by the volcanic and plutonic
series, respectively.
The contrasting courses of evolution of the volcanic and plutonic series is
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m
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m
in
O
Tl
& Vokon.ci tlqon6NopoV
lu
loq CaO/MqO
FIG. 12. Diagram illustrating the relations between the ratios Fe 2 O a +FeO/MgO and CaO/MgO in the alkaline rocks of
Mt. Elgon, Napak, and Budeda. The fields of the volcanics and of the ijolite scries are indicated. Tie-lines join the composi-
tions of pyroxenes to the plots of the containing rocks.
ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES OF EASTERN UGANDA 95
\CaO
90,
FIG. 13. Triangular plot of the relative proportions of Na2O, CaO, and MgO in the ijolite series and
in the nephelinite-melanephelinites.
REFERENCES
BARTH, T. F. W., 1936. The crystallization process of basalt. Amer. J. Sci. 31, 321-51.
BOWEN, N. L., 1922. Genetic features of Alnoitic rocks at Isle Cadieux, Quebec. Ibid. 3, 1-34.
1928. The evolution of the igneous rocks. Princeton Univ. Press.
1945. Phase equilibria bearing on the origin and differentiation of alkaline rocks. Amer. J. Sci.
243A, 75-89.
CHINNER, G. A., & SCHAIRER, J. F., 1962. The join Ca3AI2Si3012-Mg3AI2Si3012 and its bearing on the
system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 at atmospheric pressure. Ibid. 260, 611-34.
DAVIES, K. A., 1952. The building of Mount Elgon, East Africa. Mem. Geol. Surv. Uganda, no. 7.
1956. The geology of south-east Uganda. Ibid. no. 8.
DAWSON, J. B., 1962. The geology of Oldoinyo Lengai. Bull. vole. 24, 249.
DEER, W. A., HOWIE, R. A., & ZUSSMAN, J., 1962. Rock-forming minerals. Vol. I. Longmans.
DuBois, C. G. B., 1959. The Toror Hills alkaline complex, central Karamoja, Uganda. Congr. Geol.
Intern., Mexico, 1956, Rept. 303.
ECKERMANN, H. VON, 1948. The alkaline district of Alno Island. Sver. geol. undersok. 36.
EITEL, W., 1954. The physical chemistry of the silicates. Univ. Chicago Press.
GUEST, N. J., 1963. Natro-carbonatite from Oldoinyo L'Engai, Tanganyika. Proc. Geol. Soc. no.
1606, 54.
GUMMER, W. K., 1943. The system CaSiO3-CaAI2Si2O?-NaAISiO4. / . Geol. 51, 503-30.
HAMILTON, E. I., 1964. Isotopic composition of strontium in carbonatite. Nature, 201, 599.
& DEANS, T., 1963. Isotopic composition of strontium in carbonatite. Ibid. 198, 776-7.
100 B. C. KING—ALKALINE IGNEOUS SUITES
HYTONEN, K., 1959. On the petrology and mineralogy of some alkaline volcanic rocks of Toror Hills,
Mt. Moroto and Morulinga in Karamoja, northeastern Uganda. Bull. Comm. ge'ol. Finlande,
184, 75-131.
JAMES, T. C , 1958. Summary of silicate rocks associated with carbonatite bodies in Tanganyika. Ceol.
Surv. Tanganyika (unpublished report).
JOHNSON, R. L., 1959. The geology of the Dorowa and Shawa carbonatites, Buhera District, Southern
Rhodesia. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Leeds.
KING, B. C , 1949. The Napak area of Karamoja, Uganda. Mem. Geol. Surv. Uganda, no. 5.
& SUTHERLAND, D. S., 1960. Alkaline rocks of eastern and southern Africa. Sci. Progress, 48,
298, 504, 709 (3 parts).
1964. The carbonatite complexes of eastern Uganda, in The Carbonatites (editors TUTTLE,
O. F., & GITTINS, J.). Wiley and Sons.
KOSTER VAN GROOS, A. F., & WYLUE, P. J., 1963. Experimental data bearing on the role of liquid
immiscibility in the genesis of carbonatites. Nature, 199, 801-2.