A transitional alkalic dolerite dike suite of Mesozoic age in Southeastern New England
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-1-1984
Abstract
Dike rocks from the New England platform of Rhode Island and adjacent Massachusetts consist of premetamorphic and post-metamorphic suites. The older group includes metamorphosed dolerite, minette, and schistose dioritic rocks. Post-metamorphic dikes consist of dolerite and sparse monchiquite. The post-metamorphic dolerites are of comparable age to the Eastern North American dolerite suite associated with the Mesozoic basins along the eastern seaboard of North America. However, the southeastern New England dolerites exhibit mineralogy and chemistry more typical of a transitional alkalic suite compared to the more subalkalic tholeiitic dolerites of the Eastern North American suite. Both suites are compatible with a rift tectonic setting, but the more alkalic dolerites may represent a deeper source of small volume melts compared to the Eastern North American dolerites. These more alkaline melts may have concentrated at local centers, or they may be typical of flank dolerites as opposed to the less alkalic varieties that occur within the central axial rift. © 1984 Springer-Verlag.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Volume
86
Issue
4
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Hermes, O. D., J. M. Rao, M. P. Dickenson, and T. A. Pierce. "A transitional alkalic dolerite dike suite of Mesozoic age in Southeastern New England." Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 86, 4 (1984). doi: 10.1007/BF01187142.