Conditions necessary for exchange between lattice OH groups and D2O in expanding layer silicates are reported. From spectral changes in the 200–1200 cm−1 region resulting from this exchange, in-plane librations of OH co-ordinated to (A1A1), (A1Mg), (A1Fe3+), and (MgMgMg) have been identified in montmorillonite, beidellite, saponite, hectorite, and vermiculite. Both in-plane and out-of-plane librations have been identified for pyrophyllite and celadonite, from comparison of synthetic specimens containing OD with natural or synthetic OH forms. Comparison of hydrogen and deuterium forms of Mg- and Ni-talcs leads to the identification of translational and librational OH vibrations.

The fall of a shower of meteorites numbering several hundred fragments at Wiluna, Western Australia, on the night of 2 September 1967, has been investigated. Although the dispersion ellipse had been largely obscured by removal of fragments before a party of scientists were able to make a field investigation, it has, nevertheless, been possible to make a reasonable estimate of the shower distribution pattern. In spite of this removal of fragments, a number of pieces of meteorite were still found in situ. The bulk of the total recovery is in the collections of the Western Australian Museum, and the physical characteristics of these masses and their petrography is described. In all, some 490 individual fusion-crust coated stones and a large number of broken stony fragments are known to have been recovered. The meteorite is an olivine bronzite chondrite remarkably rich in discrete nodules of nickel iron, up to an inch across, commonly aggregated with troilite. A full chemical analysis of this fresh meteoritic material has been supplied by the British Museum (Natural History).

The macroscopic features of a number of Gibeon meteorites have been reviewed and selected specimens have been examined in more detail by metallographic, microprobe, and X-ray diffraction techniques.

A number of specimens appear to have been reheated by man and in these cases reheating temperatures are indicated. Specimens that show no signs of artificial reheating are discussed in relation to the form, distribution, and structure of the kamacite, daubréelite, and troilite. X-ray examination of the kamacite reveals partly annealed shock damage. Small monomineralic inclusions of daubréelite appear to be concentrated in the non-octahedral kamacite and show no signs of alteration By contrast all the troilite has been remelted and has dissolved contiguous plessite and daubréelite. The remelting of troilite appears to have been induced by shock at temperatures below about 450°C.

The distribution of kamacite, taenite, and plessite suggests that kamacite nucleated at the sulphides, which appear to have been plentifully dispersed in the parent taenite. Such a process could take place without the undercooling that is usually assumed in normal octahedrites. The plessite fields show internal boundaries that are probably relics of grain boundaries in the parent taenitesulphide aggregate. Microprobe investigations have been made of nickel distributions in and between kamacite, taenite, plessite, and schreibersite, and particular attention has been paid to the nickel distribution at the internal grain boundaries in the plessite. Evidence is presented for the diffusion of nickel along these boundaries and for their migration during the later stages of formation of the microstructure.

Results of an electron microprobe study of the metal phase and perryite inclusions in the metal of Horse Creek, Mount Egerton, and Norton County enstatitic meteorites are given. The origin of the ‘pseudo-octahedral’ structures observed in the metal phase of the Horse Creek and Mount Egerton ‘anomalous enstatitic meteorites’ is discussed.

A glass-bearing dolerite, which consists of orthopyroxene phenocrysts (γ 1·689, α 1·678, β 1·680, 2Vα 81°, S.G. 3·35) and a glassy mesostasis (n 1·568, S.G. 3·25), is described petrologically. Three new chemical analyses are given. From the petrological and chemical data it can be concluded that the orthopyroxene formed under intratelluric conditions and probably under high pressure. According to the recalculated chemical analysis of the orthopyroxene 0·22 Al3+ is in the Y position and much less Al3+ in the Z position. The chemical analysis of the residual glass is compared with similar residual glasses, and it shows that iron enrichment characterizes the earlier stages of crystallization differentiation, whereas the later stages are marked by an increase in Si4+, K+, and Na+.

Hydrothermal almost pure potassium feldspar (adularia) forms incrustations on fissured wall rocks in an active geothermal environment. Measured max. temperature, 265 °C, and concentration of K+ and Na+ cations in the geothermal fluid require K-feldspar and Na-feldspar to be deposited under equilibrium conditions. On fissure walls only K-feldspar is precipitated, whereas andesine phenocrysts of host rocks are replaced by both K-feldspar and Na-feldspar, and groundmass of host rock is replaced by K-feldspar.

Optical data indicate that K-feldspar forming incrustations is partly monoclinic, partly triclinic. The triclinic material displays polysynthetic and ‘microcline’-like twinning, though X-ray diffractograms indicate only monoclinic structure. A primary origin for the triclinic adularia is postulated. Wairakei hydrothermal K-feldspar, max. 0·5 Myr old, is compared with Arkansas adularia 287 or 214 Myr old, also containing both monoclinic and triclinic material. The comparison suggests that, after crystallization, the structural state of adularia changes little, if at all, during geological time.

The associations hornblende and anthophyllite or cummingtonite are dealt with briefly in the light of experimental data and naturally occurring assemblages. On the basis of the distribution of Mg and Fe2+ in coexisting amphiboles and on the calculated and experimental slopes of a reaction in which the amphiboles hornblende and anthophyllite are formed a tentative P-T-x diagram is suggested for these parageneses.

This paper is a report on the various features of the crystallogenesis of calcite as shown in specimens collected from iron-ore skarn deposits. Although there are several forms, each showing a variety of habit, a detailed study shows that there is a unified sequence of successive habit substitution. A structural analysis of calcite based on P.B.C. (Periodic Bond Chain) vectors is then considered.

Sandstones from Mull and Morvern, most of which are from the Greensand formation, have been shown by X-ray diffraction to contain minerals of the plumbogummite group in very small amounts in the < 1·4 µm fraction. The minerals were concentrated by HF digestion of the clay minerals. X-ray spectrographic traces show concentrations of Sr, La, Ce, Yt, and Ba, and a semiquantitative spectrochemical analysis also shows a concentration of Ca and Pb and the presence of numerous rare-earth elements. Individual minerals, which have a complex composition and can not be assigned to any one named species, are disseminated throughout the rocks as particles with an estimated size of between 0·1 and 0·25 µm.