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The Itatiaia alkaline complex is a Late Cretaceous intrusion (72 Myr) made up of felsic differentiates, with syenitic rocks dominant throughout and with presence of both nepheline- and quartz-rich varieties. Dykes with phonolitic or trachytic composition cross-cut the coarse-grained facies. The rocks are arranged concentrically, with the core of the complex being formed by SiO2-oversaturated syenites (with a small outcrop of granites), and are radially displaced by faults related to regional tectonic lineaments. The minerals show gradual but significant changes in composition (salitic and augitic to aegirine-rich pyroxenes, hastingsite and actinolite to richterite and arfvedsonite amphiboles, sodic plagioclase to orthoclase feldspars and so on) and the whole-rock trends are broadly consistent with fractional crystallization processes dominated by alkali feldspar removal. Sr-isotopic data indicate more radiogenic ratios for the SiO2-oversaturated rocks (0.7062-0.7067 against 0.7048-0.7054 for the SiO2-undersaturated syenites), consistent with small amounts of crustal input. The favored hypothesis for the petrogenesis of the different syenitic groups is the prolonged differentiation starting from differently SiO2-undersaturated mafic parental magmas (potassic alkali basalts to ankaratrites, present in the Late Cretaceous dyke swarms of the area), accompanied by variable crustal contamination prior to the final emplacement. The lack of carbonatite as a significant lithotype, the potassic affinity of the Itatiaia complex, and the relatively high Sr-isotopic ratios match the characteristics of the other complexes of the Rio de Janeiro-Sa˜o Paulo states coastline and confirm the ultimate derivation of these differentiated rocks from an enriched lithospheric mantle source.

The Alto Paranaiba alkaline province (∼82 Ma), tectonically associated with a NW-trending linear structure bordering the Sao Francisco craton, consists of a wide variety of igneous forms and magma types. It includes several alkaline-carbonatite complexes, some of which are quite important economically.The Salitre complex is represented by two interconnected oval-shaped bodies, N-S-aligned and variable in size, emplaced into Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks. It consists mainly of syenites showing clear evidence of fenitization, ultramafic rocks (clinopyroxenites, mica-bearing clinopyroxenites, locally referred to as bebedourites, dunites, glimmerites, and per-ovskitites), radial dikes of trachytes/tinguaites, and carbonatites as small veins and also forming an elongated plug, approximately 500 m2 in area, associated with the Salitre I intrusion. In a few cases the carbonatitic rocks grade into phoscorites because of an increase in magnetite content. Texturally, the ultramafites are described as adcumulates, but meso- and orthocumulate rock types also are found. Clinopyroxene, olivine, phlogopite, perovskite, and apatite represent the main cumulus phases, sphene being less common. Intercumulus material consists of the same minerals in addition to melanite. Fresh rocks are rarely present at the surface; thus the entire set of data derives almost entirely from borehole samples.Incompatible-element distributions normalized to primordial mantle for the different ultramafic rock types exhibit many similarities, showing patterns clearly dominated by the abundance of perovskite and phlogopite. Syenitic rocks and carbonatites generally are less enriched than the cumulates.Distribution patterns of REE display LREE enrichment and strong LREE/HREE fractionation typical of alkaline suites; higher REE concentrations are related to the perovskitic rocks.Smooth, almost linear patterns are indicated for all the rock types excluding the syenites (which show a characteristic U-shaped distribution curve, probably the result of the removal of sphene and amphibole). It should also be noted that the dunitic rocks in general are more fractionated than the clinopyroxenitic ones.On the basis of texture and mineralogy, the Salitre ultramafites are interpreted as being formed by accumulative processes. No distinctive layering is evident in the rocks at the borehole scale. The crystallization sequence of the main rock-forming minerals of the ultramafites shows perovskite and opaques (Cr-spinel) as early phases, followed by olivine, clinopyroxene, and finally phlogopite; the last mineral is clearly a two-generation phase, the latest being related genetically to the fenitization processes.Geological, petrographic, and mineralogical evidence for the Salitre rocks indicates a highly complex origin involving multistage crystallization processes from an initial ultrapotassic magma source. This may explain the absence of ijolitic rocks over the entire Alto Paranaiba province, which is contrary to the situation in other alkaline complexes of southern Brazil (e.g., Jacupiranga, Juquia). Carbonatitic rocks are interpreted as resulting from an unmixing process that developed during the evolution of the parental magma.

Summary Microprobe analyses of olivines, orthopyroxenes and clinopyroxenes of the Ivrea-Verbano basic formation reveal that in the Balmuccia Periodotites (regarded as residual mantle) the phases are more magnesian than in the overlaying ultramafic-mafic series (interpreted as a cumulitic complex formed by fractionation of mantle-derived magma).