Alnö Complex
The Alnö Complex or Alnö Alkaline Complex is a group of carbonatite and alkaline igneous rocks in Alnö in the eastern coast of central Sweden that intruded the basement in Late Ediacaran times.[1][2][3] Alnö Complex is made up by a series of concentric dykes within a radius of 25 km of a main "central complex" of intrusions.[3] In addition the Alnö Complex proper is surrounded by a 500 to 600 m broad zone of metasomatic rock that was formed by metasomatism of the Precambrian migmatite gneiss basement the igneous rocks intruded.[2][3] The metasomatic rock is referred by some authors as "fenite".[2][3] The dykes of the complex consist of carbonatite and alkaline rocks such melilite and sövite.[3]
It has been proposed that both the Fen Complex in Southern Norway and the Alnö Complex formed as consequence to mild extensional tectonics in the ancient continent of Baltica following the opening of the Iapetus Ocean.[4]
Harry von Eckermann published a landmark study on Alnö Complex in 1948 correctly claiming a magmatic origin of carbonatite, albeit his finds were only widely accepted after the Ol Doinyo Lengai eruption in the 1960s showed contemporary evidence on the existence of such magmas.[5]
References
- ^ Brueckner, Hannes K.; Rex, D.C. (1980). "K-A and Rb-Sr geochronology and Sr isotopic study of the Alnö alkaline complex, northeastern Sweden" (PDF). Lithos. 13: 111–119.
- ^ a b c Skelton, A.; Hode Vuorinen, J.; Arghe, F.; Fallick, A. (2007). "Fluid–rock interaction at a carbonatite-gneiss contact, Alnö, Sweden". Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 154: 75–90.
- ^ a b c d e Morogan, Viorica; Woolley, Alan R. (1988). "Fenitization at the Alnö carbonatite complex, Sweden; distribution, mineralogy and genesis". Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 100: 169–182.
- ^ Meert, Joseph G.; Torsvik, Trond H.; Eide, Elizabeth A.; Dahlgren, Sven (1998). "Tectonic Significance of the Fen Province, S. Norway: Constraints from Geochronology and Paleomagnetism" (PDF). The Journal of Geology. 106: 553–564.
- ^ Hode Vuorinen, Jaana (2005). The Alnö alkaline and carbonatitic complex, east central Sweden – a petrogenetic study (Ph.D.). Stockholm University. pp. 1–28.