Appendix B
Petrographic calculations
SIMPLIFIED CIPW NORM CALCULATIONS
Stages of CIPW norm calculation
As outlined in Box 2.4, norm calculation1
consists of five stages, all of which (except
Stage 1) may be carried out using a photocopy
of the pro forma shown in Table B1:
1 Recalculating the analysis to be volatile-free
See Box 1.3
2 Transforming the analysis to
molecular proportions
Divide the weight per cent figure for each
oxide (i.e. g oxide per 100 g of rock) by the
relative molecular mass (RMM) for the oxide
concerned to express the analysis in the
number of moles of each oxide per 100 g of
sample.
3 Allotment of oxides other than SiO2
One then follows a sequence of calculations
(each involving only simple arithmetic) in
which each oxide is allotted in turn to appro-
priate mineral molecules (as set out in Table
2.3 in Chapter 2). When carried out on paper,
1
All calculations at this stage should be carried out (and
written down) to four decimal places; when a spread-
sheet is used for the calculation, the cells should – for
clarity – be formatted to show four decimal places for
molar data, and two decimal places for mass % data.
Igneous Rocks and Processes: A Practical Guide,
1st edition. By Robin Gill. Published 2010 by
Blackwell Publishing
entries in the table should initially be made
only in pencil, to allow correction later. Acces-
sory minerals such as apatite and ilmenite,
being easy to determine, are by convention
calculated first. Then one calculates provi-
sional amounts of orthoclase, albite and anor-
thite: the amount of each is determined by the
amount of the least abundant constituent
remaining from previous allotments. Next,
the amounts of high-Ca pyroxene (HCP;
diopside) and low-Ca pyroxene (LCP;
enstatite2) are determined. If any Al2O3, CaO
or Na2O are left over (not usual), they are
assigned to corundum, wollastonite and
acmite (sodic pyroxene) respectively.
4 Allotment of SiO2: quartz or silica-deficient
minerals?
The provisional allotments carried out in (2)
have formed the silica-saturated minerals
feldspar and pyroxene, regardless of the
amount of silica actually available. The next,
very important stage is to allot the available
SiO2. If, after these SiO2 allotments, an excess
of SiO2 remains, it is assigned to quartz, and
the allotting process is complete. If, conversely
there is insufficient SiO2 available to form all
of the saturated minerals calculated in (3),
one must substitute SiO2-undersaturated min-
erals in place of enstatite and feldspar. First,
MgO and FeO (with MnO) are re-assigned
from enstatite to olivine until the silica deficit
has been cancelled out. If this adjustment still
leaves a deficit, however, albite must be recal-
2
Referred to in the original CIPW scheme by the now-
obsolete name ‘hypersthene’.
Table B1 Worksheet for the manual calculation of a simplified norm. An electronic version (which can be used as a template for spreadsheet
calculations) is available as a MS Excel® document at www.blackwell.. . . . / . Enter the volatile-free rock analysis in the first row.

SiO2 TiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 FeO+MnO MgO CaO Na2O K2O P2O5 Σ analysis
Mass % anal
Approx RMM 60 80 102 160 72 40 56 62 94 142
Moles/100g
Φ= Multiply Norm
μ= by RMM Mass %
q 60
or 556
ab Plag 524
Plag

an 278
ne 284
lc 436
c 102
ac 462
Di 224*
wo 116
En 108*
Ol 156*
mt 232
he 160
il 152
ap 328
Σ column
W=
H= W−S= X= X−S=
N.B.Carry out all molar calculations to four decimal places. For relevant mineral formulae, see Table 2.3(b) in Chapter 2.
* These values are approximations applicable to basic rocks (μ < 0.5); values for more evolved rocks are given in the text, as are exact solutions.
360 APPENDIX B
culated to nepheline and, if necessary, ortho-
clase to leucite.
The key purpose of the norm in this book
is to express the degree of silica-saturation of
an igneous rock in the same way that Nature
does it, in terms of minerals such as quartz,
enstatite, olivine and nepheline, emphasizing
the significance of these key minerals when
they occur naturally (i.e. modally).
5 Calculation of the mass % norm
Following Cross, Iddings, Pirsson and Wash-
ington, the norm is expressed in percentages
by mass of the constituent minerals (though
a ‘molar norm’ would be more convenient to
use). The final stage of calculation is therefore
to multiply the amount of each normative
mineral by the appropriate molecular mass as
given in Table B1.
Calculation Procedure
The simplified procedure outlined below dis-
regards MnO (assumed to be already incor-
porated in ‘FeO’), and treats (FeO + MgO) as
a single entity Φ once the FeO-bearing acces-
sory minerals have been calculated.3
1 Enter the volatile-free oxide analysis in
line 2 of the table and convert it to
molecular proportions by dividing each
entry by the relative molecular mass
immediately below it (line 3). Enter the
results in line 4 (mol/100 g).
2a The nominal formula for apatite
(Ca5[PO4].3[OH,F]) may be expressed in
anhydrous oxide terms approximately as
3.33CaO. P2O5. Thus for every molecule
of P2O5 in the oxide analysis, one mole-
cule of apatite will appear in the norm,
and this will ‘use up’ 3.33 molecules of
CaO.
In the P2O5 column of the ap line of
the table, enter the molecular amount of
P2O5 (from line 4).4 Multiply this number
3
The full norm calculation procedure is described in
Cox et al. (1979).
4
At the end of the calculation, all the allotments in a
particular column must add up to the original molecular
proportion of the oxide concerned. That is, the totals in
the bottom line of the table must agree with the entries
in line 4.
by 3.33 and enter in the CaO column of
the ap line.
2b The formula for ilmenite FeTiO3 may be
written in the form FeO.TiO2. TiO2 is
usually less abundant than FeO, and the
molar amount of TiO2 will therefore
determine the amount of ilmenite in the
norm, with some FeO left over. Enter the
moles of TiO2 in the il line under ‘TiO2’,
and enter the same number in the il line
under ‘FeO’; this represents the amount
of FeO reserved for ilmenite, which is no
longer available for forming other
mineral molecules.
3a Transfer the moles of K2O to the line ‘or’
to indicate the amount of orthoclase
present. Enter the same number in the or
line under A12O3. This amount of Al2O3
is now reserved for orthoclase, and must
not be assigned to other molecules.
3b If the moles of Al2O3 remaining exceed
Na2O, transfer the moles of Na2O to the
ab line to make albite; write the same
number under Al2O3.
If the remainder of Al2O3 from 3a is
less than Na2O, the amount of albite
present is determined by the Al2O3 avail-
able; enter this number under Al2O3 and
Na2O; Al2O3 is now used up, and the
excess Na2O is used to make acmite (see
4a).
3c If 3a and 3b leave a residue of Al2O3, it
is allotted with an equal molar propor-
tion of CaO to make anorthite an: write
the residue of Al2O3 on the an line under
Al2O3 and under CaO.
3d If 3c uses all the available CaO, leaving
an excess of Al2O3, this is entered as
corundum (c).5 This is a symptom of
highly aluminous modal minerals such as
muscovite.
4a If an excess of Na2O remains from 3b, it
is allotted to an equal proportion of
Fe2O3 to make acmite (ac).
4b If, as usually happens, an excess of Fe2O3
remains after 4a, it is allotted with an
equal number of moles of FeO to make
magnetite (mt).
4c If 4b leaves an excess of Fe2O3, or if all
FeO has been used in making ilmenite,
assign Fe2O3 to hematite (he).
5
At this stage, all of the separate entries under Al2O3
should add up to the Al2O3 entry in line 4.

5a The remaining FeO is added to MgO and
the total entered in the Φ (‘phi’) box.
This is used in calculating the ferromag-
nesian silicates. (This is a simplification:
the original CIPW scheme treats FeO and
MgO separately throughout, reporting
olivine separately as fo and fa, for
example.)
5b Calculate μ = MgO/Φ where MgO is the
molar MgO used in step 5a. (This param-
eter is used in the final step of the norm
calculation.)
6a If CaO remains after 3c, it is allotted
with an equal amount of Φ to make
diopside (high-Ca pyroxene).
6b If 6a leaves an excess of CaO, it is allot-
ted to wollastonite (wo).
6c If 6a leaves an excess of Φ, it is allotted
to enstatite.
That completes the allotment of oxides
other than SiO2: for all oxides except
SiO2, the entry in the ‘Column sum’ box
at the bottom of the table should equal
that in the ‘moles/100 g’ box near the
top. The proportions of enstatite, albite
and orthoclase (and in extreme cases
other minerals) are however dependent
upon there being a sufficient amount of
SiO2 available to satisfy their formulae.
This test is applied, and the necessary
adjustments made, in the sections 7a–7e
following.
7a Using the mineral formulae given in
Table 2.3, allocate SiO2 to the silicate
minerals which have been established
provisionally in items 2 to 6c. Enter (in
pencil) the amount of SiO2 required for
each mineral on the appropriate line
under SiO2. Add up the total moles of
SiO2 which these allocations will require.
Call it ‘W’ and enter it in the W box on
the form.
7b Call the total SiO2 available ‘S’ (see line
4). If S is greater than W, an excess of
SiO2 exists, and the difference should be
entered as quartz (q). In this case, proceed
directly to item 8.
7c If S is less than W, there is a deficiency
in SiO2, and the amount of enstatite
(LCP) calculated in 6c must be amended.
Call the original amount of SiO2 allo-
cated to enstatite ‘E’. (W − E) is the total
SiO2 requirement if enstatite is disre-
garded. If all the enstatite were trans-
PETROGRAPHIC CALCULATIONS 361
formed to olivine (which has half the
silica requirement of enstatite), the
total silica requirement would become
(W − E) + 0.5E = W − 0.5E.
Thus, if:
W − S ≤ 0.5E [B1]
the silica deficiency will be eliminated by
transforming part or all of the enstatite
into olivine. The required adjustments
are then:
Revised amount of enstatite = E′
[B2]
= E − 2 (W − S )
Enter this number E′ on the enstatite line
under SiO2 and under Φ in place of the
old values. The remaining Φ is entered
on the olivine line:
Amount of olivine = E − E′ [B3]
The amount of SiO2 allocated to olivine
is half of this number; enter this on the
olivine line under SiO2.
Then proceed directly to item 8.
If W − S > 0.5E, all of the enstatite
must be transformed into olivine, and
further steps taken to meet the remaining
SiO2 deficiency, the first being to trans-
form albite into nepheline.
7d The new silica requirement, once
some or all of the enstatite has been
replaced by olivine, is X = W − 0.5E.
(Though enstatite has now been elimi-
nated from the norm, the quantity E cal-
culated in 7c is still relevant in the
calculations).
Let the provisional amount of Na2O
in albite calculated in 3b be called ‘A’.
X − 6A would be the new SiO2 require-
ment if albite were disregarded. If we
transformed all the albite into nepheline,
the new SiO2 requirement would become
(X − 6A) + 2A = (X − 4A).
Thus, if:
S ≥ X − 4A [B4]
the silica deficiency will be eliminated by
transferring all or part of the albite into
nepheline. The required adjustments are
then:
362 APPENDIX B
Revised amount of Na2O in albite = A′ [B5]
= A − 0.25 ( X − S )
Amount of Na2O in nepheline = N [B6]
= 0.25 ( X − S )
Now proceed directly to item 8.
If S < X − 4A, all of the albite must
be transformed into nepheline, and yet
further steps taken to reduce the silica
requirement.
7e If step 7d leaves a silica deficiency, ortho-
clase may be recalculated to leucite. It is
very unusual for a silica deficiency to
persist after this step.
8 All the SiO2 allotments are now com-
plete. The final step, having checked that
the totals in each column add up to the
amount of each oxide available in line 4,
is to convert the molecular norm into
mass % form. For each mineral, take the
moles of any constituent which is present
in the formula as a single molecule (e.g.
for feldspar use K2O or Al2O3, not SiO2;
for olivine use SiO2, not Φ), and multiply
it by the molecular weight given in the
penultimate column, entering the result
in the final column.
For the ferromagnesian minerals diop-
side, enstatite and olivine, the mineral
RMM values used here depend on their
MgO/FeO ratio. A simple approxima-
tion is to use the following values:
Less evolved More
rocks evolved rocks
(μ > 0.5) (μ < 0.5)
Diopside 224 240
Enstatite 108 124
Olivine 156 188
The accurate solution is to use the
equations:
Equation for mineral RMM
Diopside RMM = 216 × μ + 248 × (1 − μ)
Enstatite RMM = 100 × μ + 132 × (1 − μ)
Olivine RMM = 140 × μ + 204 × (1 − μ)
9 Calculate the total of normative mineral
percentages and compare with the vola-
tile-free analysis total. If the exact RMM
values for Di, En and Ol have been used,
the norm total should agree with the
analysis within ± 0.05%; if approximate
RMM values have been used, agreement
should usually be within ± 0.50%. A
larger discrepancy may indicate a calcu-
lation error.
PLOTTING DATA IN TERNARY AND
QUATERNARY DIAGRAMS
Fig. 8.1 illustrates the kind of diagram recom-
mended by International Union of Geological
Sciences (IUGS) for defining the composition
ranges covered by various plutonic rock
names. It is a ternary diagram in which the
relative proportions of three minerals in a rock
are plotted to see which name is applicable: in
this example the three minerals are quartz (Q),
alkali feldspar (A) and plagioclase feldspar (P).
The mineralogical composition of a rock is
determined by point-counting a thin section as
described in Chapter 1 (see ‘Classification by
mineral proportions – colour index’) and thus
the percentages obtained are volume percent-
ages rather than mass percentages.
Data points in ternary graphs may be
plotted using special triangular graph paper
as illustrated in Fig. B1a. Table B2 gives an
illustrative modal composition of a granite for
explaining the plotting process. Attempting to
plot the percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar
and plagioclase (column 1 of Table B2)
directly leads to three separate lines that
together form a triangle (shaded in Fig. B1b;
the size of the triangle obtained is related to
the total percentage of the other minerals in
Table B2 Recalculation of a rock mode for
plotting in a ternary diagram.
All minerals Felsic minerals
(volume %) (rel. volume %)
quartz 24 Q 31
alkali feldspar 33 A 43
plagioclase 20 P 26
hornblende 5
biotite 11
opaques 5
accessories 2
total 100
total of felsic 77 100
minerals
 (a)

(b) Q

10
90

20
80

30
70

40
60
me

%
olu

50
yv

by

50
Ab

vo
lum
%

60 20% P
e

33% A 40

70
31% Q 30
43% A
26% P
80
20
24% Q
90
10

A 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 P
% P by volume

Fig. B1 (a) Example of ternary graph paper scaled to a 10 cm side; graduations divide each side into 100
equal parts. Proprietary versions are available from specialist stationers. (b) Ternary QAP plot (cf. Figs. 6.1
and 8.1) of the illustrative granite mode in Table B2; Q represents quartz, A represents alkali feldspar and
P represents plagioclase (see Figs. 6.1.1 and 8.1.1).
364 APPENDIX B

the rock (hornblende etc.) not represented in Other instances where the mixing equation
Fig. B1(b). For the rock to appear as a single (which need not be confined to mixtures of
point in Fig. B1(b), it is necessary to scale up just two components) are (i) assessing the
the quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase per- effects of olivine accumulation at the base of
centages so that (as Q, A and P in column 2 a komatiite flow and (ii) calculating the change
of Table B1) they add up to 100% on their of melt composition when 20% plagioclase
own. Note that the 3 felsic minerals constitute (of specified composition) is crystallized from
77% of the mode; scaling up is achieved by a parent melt. In the latter case where a com-
multiplying each one by the factor 100/77 (or ponent is being subtracted, the equation needs
dividing by 0.77). The values so obtained are to be formulated in terms of mixing plagio-
shown in column 2 of Table B2 and they plot clase with the residual melt to recreate the
as the star in Fig. B1(b). initial melt:
The same procedure is used to plot ternary
variation diagrams from norms or other data. Ciparental melt = Ciresidual melt x residual melt + [B8]
It is also possible to visualize – in principal Ciplagioclase x plagioclase
– plotting chemical or mineralogical data in
Such calculations can be repeated for a
three-dimensional quaternary (i.e. 4-compo-
number of major elements. Computer pro-
nent) diagrams having the form of a regular
grams are available which use a range of
tetrahedron, though representing such plots
different major elements to calculate a least-
on a two-dimensional page raises obvious
squares best fit mixture (of residual melt and
practical challenges. An example of such a
several fractionating minerals) to match the
quaternary diagram is shown in the inset in
observed composition of the candidate paren-
Fig. 4.1. The solution often adopted is to
tal melt.
project coordinates that plot in the interior
volume of such a figure on to one of the two-
dimensional faces (e.g. Fig. 9.21). The calcu- EXERCISES
lation in Exercise B2 illustrates the simplest
B1. Calculate simplified CIPW norms for
form of such projection. Other ways of pro-
the following rock analyses
jecting in quaternary systems are described by
(volatile-free):
Cox et al. (1979).
a b c
MIXING CALCULATIONS SiO2 56.9 75.4 48.57
TiO2 0.75 0.11 1.18
It is often helpful to test a petrological hypoth-
Al2O3 19.70 13.72 17.40
esis using a numerical model. One example is
Fe2O3 2.80 0.29 1.33
testing whether the composition of a given FeO+MnO 2.20 0.82 8.69
hybrid sample (analysis ‘A’) could be the MgO 1.31 0.12 8.71
result of the bulk assimilation of typical wall- CaO 2.36 0.49 11.50
rock (analysis ‘B’) by a magma represented by Na2O 7.95 4.05 2.40
rock analysis ‘C’. This possibility can be tested K2O 5.45 4.40 0.25
using a simple mixing equation: P2O5 0.18 0.03 0.10
CiA = CiB x B + CiC xC [B7]
B2. Plot on Fig. B1(a) the following modal
where CAi represents the concentration (mass composition of a plutonic rock: plagio-
%) of species i (e.g. MgO) in analysis A, CBi clase 38%, orthopyroxene 30%, clino-
represents its concentration in wall-rock B, pyroxene 21%, olivine 4%, opaques
and xB represents the mass proportion of wall- and accessories 7%. Devise an appropri-
rock B assimilated by melt C (0 < xB < 1.00, ate rock name using Fig. 4.1.
xB + xC = 1.00.). An example of using this B3. Explain which normative minerals are
calculation is given in Exercise 8.5 at the end ruled out if the following normative
of Chapter 8. The equation can be used to minerals are present?
estimate how much of a given potential con- enstatite (En);
taminant is needed to account for the compo- corundum (c);
sition of a hybrid rock (solving for xB). olivine (Ol).