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Peridotites characterized by the texture of elongated olivine crystals, are found in the Higo metamorphic belt mainly composed of psammitic gneiss. The peridotite mainly consists of olivine, orthopyroxene, tremolite, serpentine, and talc. Spinifex-like olivine crystals, partly altered to serpentine and magnetite, consist of randomly oriented plates parallel to (010). The elongated olivine crystals in same handspecimen are chemically homogeneous, and the compositional zonation of the crystals has not been observed by microprobe analysis. However, the chemical composition of olivine ranges from FO83 to FO92 in different handspecimens. The NiO content of olivine varies from 0.2 to 0.5 weight per cent and the MnO content from 0.1 to 0.2 weight per cent. The NiO and MnO contents are about the same as those of komatiitic olivines. On the other hand, the olivines in the Higo perioditite contain a negligible amount of CaO and remarkabIly differ from those of extrusive peridotite (komatiite). The rocks are free from clinopyroxene and contain large and prismatic orthopyroxene. The extremely Ca-depleted orthopyroxenes (En89-En92) are interlocked with tabular olivines in each other. The Al2O, and Cr2O3 contents of orthopyroxenes are relatively lower than those of orthopyroxenes in alpine peridotites.
From the mineral assemblages of peridotites and metamorphic rocks, and from the chemical composition of olivine and orthopyroxene, it is suggested that the peridotite bodies suffered from the regional metamorphism of amphibolite facies (approximately 700°C, 3-4kb). This conclusion is also supported by the data concerning Mg-Fe2+ distribution between olivine and chromian spinel in the Higo peridotite.
