Basalts and Phase Diagrams: An Introduction to the Quantitative Use of Phase Diagrams in Igneous Petrology

In this newly revised and expanded edition the reader finds both an introduction to igneous petrology and an exposition of the quantitative use of phase diagrams in understanding the origin and crystallization history of basic magmas. The book provides a step-by- step analysis of crystallization and melting in a limited number of geologically significant phase diagrams. The limiting processes of fractional and equilibrium melting and fractional and equilibrium crystallization are rigorously examined. Examples of the use of phase diagrams are drawn from the literature of layered intrusions, redox equilibria in iron-bearing systems, and the high pressure equilibria of melting in the mantle.

Professor Morse is credited with discovering and making important contributions to the Kiglapait Layered Intrusion in Labrador, used as a guide to igneous fractionation processes in the earth and planets; linear partitioning in binary solutions; mineral/melt partition coefficients; anorthosites as guides to chemical and crustal evolution of the earth; the crystallization of terrestrial planets; melting relations of rocks; theoretical and experimental petrology; multiphase Rayleigh fractionation; internal reservoirs of large magma chambers; intensive parameters of mafic magmas; inner and outer core boundaries of the Earth; the petrology of sapphirine granulites; and optical mineralogy. He is the author of 5 books and 82 research articles.