BH250-112

BH250-112

Dish Hill Xenolith

BH250-112 – Mantle Xenolith in Basanite, Dish Hill, California

Collected in 2003 during a field trip to the Mojave Desert. Dish Hill is a Quaternary basanite cinder cone near Ludlow, within the eastern Mojave/Cima volcanic field. The cone is well known for its abundant mantle xenoliths, transported to the surface by the basanite magma.

Mineralogy – Xenolith Component

The xenolith portion is dominated by spinel peridotite—primarily lherzolite, with subordinate harzburgite and wehrlite. Characteristic minerals include olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and accessory spinel. Less common xenolith types at Dish Hill include pyroxenites and rare garnet clinopyroxenites.

Mineralogy – Basanite Host Component

The host basanite is fine-grained, with plagioclase, olivine, and pyroxene phenocrysts set in a devitrified groundmass containing volcanic glass and iron oxides. Flow alignment of plagioclase laths is visible, indicating magmatic flow textures prior to eruption.

Notes

Dish Hill xenoliths have been the focus of multiple class projects, with student papers examining their mineralogy, textures, and implications for the composition, evolution, and metasomatic history of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Mojave Desert.

Location: Dish Hill, California, USA

Bereket Haileab

From the rock collection of Bereket Haileab. Sample BH250-112. Housed at Carleton College in Minnesota.

Thin section and hand sample

View on ArcGIS Online here



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TAS diagram of sample BH250-112. <iframe width="100%" height="480" src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qr9725u4ylZ9hWadIu_Jl7qFc7TNTS8n/preview"