Epidosite () is a highly altered

epidote Epidote is a calcium aluminium iron sorosilicate mineral. Description Well developed crystals of epidote, Ca2Al2(Fe3+;Al)(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH), crystallizing in the monoclinic system, are of frequent occurrence: they are commonly prismatic in ha ...

and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

bearing rock. It is the result of slow

hydrothermal alteration Metasomatism (from the Greek μετά ''metá'' "change" and σῶμα ''sôma'' "body") is the chemical alteration of a Rock (geology), rock by hydrothermal and other fluids. It is traditionally defined as metamorphism which involves a change in t ...

metasomatism Metasomatism (from the Greek μετά ''metá'' "change" and σῶμα ''sôma'' "body") is the chemical alteration of a rock by hydrothermal and other fluids. It is traditionally defined as metamorphism which involves a change in the chemical com ...

of the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic sheeted dike complex and associated plagiogranites that occurs below the massive sulfide ore deposits which occur in

ophiolite An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed, and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is ...

s. Lori Bettison-Varga, Robert J. Varga and Peter Schiffman, ''Relation between ore-forming hydrothermal systems and extensional deformation in the Solea graben spreading center, Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus,'' Geology, 1992, v. 20 no. 11 p. 987-990 Most epidosites represent the zone of intense metal leaching below and lateral to the sulfide deposits which is the result of convection of heated ocean water through the fractured basalts of the sheeted dikes.

References

External links

* *http://www.mindat.org/glossary/epidosite Metamorphic rocks {{Metamorphic-rock-stub ru:Унакит