MINERAL AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BASALTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF GIZA, EGYPT
Abstract The Sixth of October and El-Haddadine Basalts lie to the west of Cairo, in the neighbourhood of Giza, and occur as lava flows and volcanic cones associated with the initial (Early Miocene) stages of the opening of the Red Sea. On the basis of mineral and whole rock chemistry they are classified as quartz tholeiites, derived from a heterogeneous upper mantle source with a low degree of melting. The heterogeneity probably was caused by interaction of the mantle with a kimberlite melt.