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Variolite

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Variolite 

a structural variety of dense volcanic rock of the basalt or diorite type. This rock is filled throughout with spherules (varioles), ranging in size from that of a millet grain to that of a pea, and has a radially divergent structure. Most often the varioles are composed of feldspar fibers impregnated with glass. As a result of the weathering of the rock surface, the spots or protrusions characteristic of variolite appear in places where the spherules are located.

Variolites were considered to be an example of the differentiation of magma due to the liquation of a fusion; in accordance with this theory, varioles were considered to be crystallized drops. A number of theories of magmatic differentiation were built on this liquation model. It is more probable that the varioles are a product of the spherulitic crystallization of a homogeneous fusion.



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Gold within the Isadore-MicMac Zone appears in quartz-carbonate alterations, variolites, as well as syenite alterations or intrusions, associated with quartz in-filling and sulfide mineralization.
 
 
 
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