BH250-112c
Title
BH250-112c
Subject
Lherzolite Mantle Xenolith
Description
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.
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.
Creator
Bereket Haileab
Source
From the rock collection of Bereket Haileab. Sample 112c. Housed at Carleton College in Minnesota.
Type
Thin section
Relation
Collection
Citation
Bereket Haileab, “BH250-112c,” BH250 Mineralogy Teaching Collection, accessed April 25, 2026, https://bereket-haileab.geology.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/133.