Alkaline Rocks and Carbonatites of the World

Setup during HiTech AlkCarb: an online database of alkaline rock and carbonatite occurrences

United States

United States

The present list of occurrences of alkaline rocks in the United States was based initially on the compilation of Barker (1974), who also discussed the distribution in space and time of North American feldspathoidal rocks (Barker, 1969). The present compilation contains not only newly discovered occurrences but also a number of peralkaline syenite and granite localities which were omitted earlier, althoughBarker himself pointed outthat a number of such occurrences had probably escaped his notice. There are probably still omissions because rocks of this type are often found in non-peralkaline environments and so easily missed during bibliographic searches. However, it is likely that coverage of the pantelleritic and comenditic rocks is relatively comprehensive, apart from as yet unknown occurrences, because of the thorough compilation of Noble and Parker (1975).
Future discoveries in the United States are likely to be in the Cordillera, and the large number of localities already known from there, when combined with the considerable numbers coming to light in British Columbia and Alaska, would suggest that western North America could become a particularly important area for exploring the relationship between alkaline igneous activity and orogenesis.

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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith