Olivine Crystal Types in Harrisitic Rocks of the Rhum Pluton and in Archean Spinifex Rocks
Skeletal and dendritic olivine crystals in the Archean volcanic ultramafic spinifex rocks and in harrisitic ultramafic layers of the Rhum pluton are classified as (1) plate, (2) randomly oriented, (3) porphyritic, or (4) branching type. Volcanic and plutonic examples are remarkably similar. Each type records the degree of pre-nucleation supersaturation with olivine that was attained by the parent melt. The rapid induction of supersaturation necessary to form skeletons and dendrites in a plutonic environment is attributed to changing water content or adiabatic expansion of the magma. The olivine crystals in harrisitic and spinifex rocks are not quench crystals; they grew rapidly from olivine-rich melts as the result of extreme supersaturation induced by slow cooling and slight supercooling below a liquidus with shallow slope in temperature-composition space. Skeletal and dendritic olivine crystals grow readily in magma and are poor indices of cooling rate and crystallization environment.