Alkaline Rocks: Economic and Geodynamic Significance through Geological Time
Product code: SP551
Print publication date: 23/07/2025
Geological Society of London, GSL Special Publications, Earth Materials Deposits and Petrology, Mineral and ore deposits, New
Type: Book (Hardback)
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 9781786206275
Author/Edited by: Edited by R. Pandey, A. Pandey, L. Krmíček, C. Cucciniello, and D. Müller
Weight: 1.05kg
Number of pages: 416
Online publication date: 11/07/2025
Lyell Collection URL: https://www.lyellcollection.org/toc/sp/551/1
£145.00
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Special Publication 551
Alkaline igneous rocks have a relative excess of alkalis over silica. Most are silica-undersaturated and contain normative nepheline and primary feldspathoids. Although alkaline rocks are very rare, their diverse mineralogical and chemical composition accounts for a plethora of igneous rock names. They are recorded in continental, post-collisional and island-arc settings, as well as along rift zones.
Alkaline rocks commonly include a wide variety of rocks, including alkali basalts, tephrites, phonolites, trachytes and their intrusive equivalents, lamprophyres, and carbonatites. Their study significantly contributes to the interpretation of mantle evolution and geodynamic settings of ancient terranes. Additionally, alkaline rocks may host important precious- and rare-metal mineralization.
This Special Publication presents new data on alkaline rocks from different terranes globally and uses their mineralogy and geochemical fingerprints in order to elucidate their petrogenesis, tectonic settings and mineralization potential. This volume is not only of interest to igneous petrologists, but also to exploration geologists prospecting for precious- and rare-metal mineralization worldwide.
Pandey, R., Krmíček, L., Müller, D., Pandey, A. and Cucciniello, C. Alkaline rocks and their economic and geodynamic significance through geological time
Alkaline rocks and their petrogenesis and geodynamic significance worldwide
Chattopadhaya, S., Ghosh, B., Liu, C.-Z., Bandyopadhyay, D., Roy, S., Dhar, A., Koley, M. and Kumar, D. Intraplate alkali basalts related to end-Cretaceous Deccan magmatism: implications for tectonomagmatic processes
Randive, K., Jawadand, S., Meshram, T., Sahu, M., Belyatsky, B., Dora, M. L., Meshram, R., Kumar, J. V., Dandekar, S., Raut, T., Korakoppa, M. and Bhutani, R. Lamprophyres from the Chhota Udaipur alkaline–carbonatite sub-province, Deccan Large Igneous Province, India: implication for petrogenesis and crustal structure
Sridhar, N., Reddy, R. M., Pandey, R., Naskar, S., Randive, K. and Singh, K. M. Mineral chemistry of chrome-diopside bearing lamprophyre from Mesoproterozoic Settupalle igneous complex of Prakasam alkaline province: insights on the magma dynamics at shallow lithospheric mantle beneath the NE margin of the Cuddapah basin, Southern India
Rosa, P. A. S., Ruberti, E., Enrich, G. E. R., Azzone, R. G., Vasconcelos, P. and Thiede, D. S. The Bom Repouso Agpaitic Suite (MG, Brazil): geology, geochemistry and geochronology
Chmyz, L., Azzone, R. G., Rosa, P. A. S., da Silva, J. C. L., Tarazona, L. M. C. and Monteiro e Silva, M. Recycled crystal population proving complex plumbing systems: an archetypal example from Cretaceous alkaline magmatism in SE Brazil
Enrich, G. E. R., Ruberti, E., Azzone, R. G., Rosa, P. A. S. and Gomes, C. B. Influence of intensive parameters on the mafic paragenesis of nepheline syenites: the Monte de Trigo alkaline suite, southeastern Brazil
Mohanty, S., Ravy, D. T., Zaitsev, V. A. and Ghatak, A. Decoding apatite in volcanic carbonatitic breccia from Mongra, NW of Amba Dongar Carbonatite Complex, Gujarat, India: insights to genesis and rare earth element budgets
Irshad, S., Mohanty, S., Pdah, D. S. M. and Ghatak, A. A mineralogical–geochemical–petrological study of deformed carbonatites from Padu–Nongryngkoh Jaintia and East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India
Meshram, T. and Randive, K. On the metasomatism of carbonated peridotite mantle of the Sevattur Carbonatite Complex, southern India: insights from phlogopite and apatite compositions
Alkaline rocks and their association with precious- and rare-metal mineralization worldwide
Soloviev, S. G. Late Palaeozoic high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic series magmatism and related W(–Mo–Cu–Au) metallogeny of the Kyrgyz Tien Shan, Central Asia
Dwyer, R. C., Forster, D. B., Simpson, B. P., Blevin, P. L. and Huang, H. Relationships between high-K magmas and Cu–Au porphyry deposits in the Macquarie Arc, Australia
McLemore, V. T., Iverson, N., Owen, E. J., Kelley, S., Zimmerer, M. and Kelley, R. Diversity of critical minerals deposits in the North American Cordilleran alkaline-igneous belt in Southern Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico
Wu, M., Qiu, K., Diao, X., Ma, J., Yu, H., An, M., Zhi, C., Krmíček, L. and Deng, J. The giant Baerzhe rare-earth-element–Nb–Zr–Be deposit, Inner Mongolia, China, an Early Cretaceous analogue of the Strange Lake rare-metal deposit, Quebec
Jin, C., Zhang, Z. and Cheng, Z. Carbonatites and related mineralization: an overview
Wyman, D. Lamprophyres, gold and orogenies: a mineral systems perspective
Schirra, M., Zajacz, Z. and Müller, D. Magnetite geochemistry of giant alkalic-type epithermal gold deposits: insights into the magmatic evolution of mineralized alkaline systems
Index
Alkaline igneous rocks are defined as having an excess of alkali metals compared to silica and characteristically host primary feldspathoid minerals. Despite being uncommon in nature, they have a wide diversity of mineralogical and chemical composition and are recorded from several geological settings, including continental, post-collisional, island-arcs and rift zones. Typically, such alkaline rock complexes host intrusive lamprophyres and carbonatites as well as alkaline granitoid rocks often associated with extrusive alkaline basalts, trachytes, tephrites, dacites and phonolites.
Evaluation of such complex rock types has contributed to the understanding of Earth’s evolution, development and composition of the mantle and, as this book’s title implies, the geodynamic setting of the host geological environments over time. In addition, it has been recognised that alkaline rocks can host potentially economic concentrations of precious-and rare-metal mineral deposits.
Currently, this subject is very topical given geopolitical concerns over the supply of rare metals such as lanthanides, zirconium, niobium and beryllium, as well as record prices for precious metals. Thus, this new publication presenting data on alkaline rocks from different global terranes and the use of geochemical and mineralogical characteristics is very timely.
The volume is written by subject experts, and the bibliography is up to date and relevant. Such a globally diverse group of authors bring data and case studies not necessarily readily accessible by those in the English-speaking world. Beyond the USA and Australia, case studies from Brazil, China, Mongolia and India provide a broad geographical coverage of alkaline rocks and papers are evenly split between petrogenetic and geodynamic studies and economic geology.
I found the volume largely free of typographic errors and the diagrams easy to understand. Indeed, the authors have produced an admirable publication, simple to read from cover-to-cover. This excellent addition to the Special Publications series is sure to interest anyone involved in economic geology and mineral exploration.
Review by Rob Bowell, Geoscientist, 17 November 2025.
