Colorless to white or pink trapezohedra of analcime, to 8 mm in diameter, are very abundant
with some crystals up to 2 cm across, in the highly vesicular Eocene olivine basalt flows of the
Older Basalt found along the coastline of the Mornington Peninsula between Flinders and Cape
Schanck, particularly at Cairns Bay (= Simmons Bay) and Little Bird Rock (BirCh, 1976;
Coulsell, 1980; Birch, 1988b; Hall, 1989). Analcime is the first zeolite to crystallize in the cavities
(preceded only by montmorillonite) and is commonly covered by gmelinite/chabazite intergrowths,
natrolite, thomsonite, copper, aragonite, calcite, or dolomite (Birch, 1988b). Rarely,
tiny analcime crystals are found on natrolite and calcite (Hall, 1989). Analcime, cowlesite,
levyne-offretite, chabazite, and montmorillonite are found in vesicular basalt at Carins Bay, near
Flinders (Birch, 1988a). In the Cairns Bay and Little Bird Rock areas, it is believed that zeolites
forming near the surface of an older basalt flow were covered and reheated by a younger flow
(Rew, 1969). The reheating partly dissolved existing zeolites and redeposited new minerals as
the solutions cooled.
References:
Tschernich, R. (1992): Zeolites of the World, p.49
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Map Reference: 38°29'12"S , 144°58'0"E
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Mineral List:23 entries listed. 20 valid minerals.
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