Breccia pipes are cylindrical or irregular bodies of brecciated rock that may show cross-cutting or gradational relations to the country rock. They are sometimes associated with igneous bosses or volcanic pipes, or show extensive mineralization. Others have no evidence of associated igneous or hydrothermal activity. Breccia pipes are almost certainly polygenetic and include collapse-breccias formed by subsidence, explosion-breccias formed by explosion of magmatic gases, and intrusive breccias formed by the mobilization of explosion-breccias (Bowes and Wright, 1961; Wright and Bowes, 1968). The first two types have many features in common. The blocks are normally disoriented and may be of mixed origin. There is very often a gradational zone of shattered but unmoved rock around the breccia pipes that may be of considerable width, depending on the strength of the country rock. The matrix of the breccia is of comminuted rock similar to that forming the phenoclasts, except in those cases...
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© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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Wright, A.E. (1989). Breccia pipe . In: Petrology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_27
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