Serpentine Saddle is part of the Humboldt Ranges, bordering the Otago and Southland Districts. The saddle specifically is 20 kilometres as the crow flies east of Milford Sound, in very remote country, just within the Southland District.

(Christie, 1992) states the area shows chromite segregations up to one metre thick, and several metres long, with chromite disseminated.

(Hyslop, 1978) states: 'The Dun Mountain ophiolite at Serpentine Saddle consists of a coherent, but tectonically thinned sequence comprising east-west serpentinite melange, with tectonic inclusions of chromitite and serpentised dunite and wehrlite, altered sometimes pervasively sheared hornblende, gabbros, and microgabbros, foliated amphibolite, and two generations of mafic and felsic dykes; a discontinuous tectonic zone of pillowed and possibly massive metabasalts; a breccia sequence dominantly derived from ultramafics of these lithologies.'

Regions containing this locality

Pacific Plate

Tectonic Plate

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Strunz Dana Chemical Elements

Mineral List

ⓘ Chromite

ⓘ 'Crossite'

ⓘ 'Hornblende'

ⓘ 'Serpentine Subgroup'

1 valid mineral.

Rock Types Recorded

Note: this is a very new system on mindat.org and data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!

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Alphabetical List Tree Diagram

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Chromite

Formula: Fe²⁺Cr³⁺₂O₄

Reference: Railton, G.T., Watters, W.A. (1990) Minerals of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 104, 89 pages.

ⓘ 'Crossite'

Reference: Railton, G.T., Watters, W.A. (1990) Minerals of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 104, 89 pages.

ⓘ 'Hornblende'

Reference: Hyslop, K.J. (1978) Geology of the Serpentine Saddle Area, Western Otago (Unpub. thesis, BSc Hons.), Otago University

ⓘ 'Serpentine Subgroup'

Formula: D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn

Reference: Hyslop, K.J. (1978) Geology of the Serpentine Saddle Area, Western Otago (Unpub. thesis, BSc Hons.), Otago University

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘ	Chromite	4.BB.05	Fe²⁺Cr³⁺₂O₄
Unclassified Minerals, Rocks, etc.
ⓘ	'Crossite'	-
ⓘ	'Hornblende'	-
ⓘ	'Serpentine Subgroup'	-	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn

List of minerals arranged by Dana 8th Edition classification

Group 7 - MULTIPLE OXIDES
AB₂X₄
ⓘ	Chromite	7.2.3.3	Fe²⁺Cr³⁺₂O₄
Unclassified Minerals, Mixtures, etc.
ⓘ	'Crossite'	-
ⓘ	'Hornblende'	-
ⓘ	'Serpentine Subgroup'	-	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn

List of minerals for each chemical element

H	Hydrogen
H	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
O	Oxygen
O	ⓘ Chromite	Fe²⁺Cr₂³⁺O₄
O	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Mg	Magnesium
Mg	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Al	Aluminium
Al	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Si	Silicon
Si	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Cr	Chromium
Cr	ⓘ Chromite	Fe²⁺Cr₂³⁺O₄
Mn	Manganese
Mn	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Fe	Iron
Fe	ⓘ Chromite	Fe²⁺Cr₂³⁺O₄
Fe	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Ni	Nickel
Ni	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn
Zn	Zinc
Zn	ⓘ Serpentine Subgroup	D₃[Si₂O₅](OH)₄ D = Mg, Fe, Ni, Mn, Al, Zn

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Permian 251.902 - 298.9 Ma ID: 3184258	Paleozoic volcanic and intrusive rocks Age: Phanerozoic (251.902 - 298.9 Ma) Comments: Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt; Dunne Mountain Ophiolite Belt Lithology: Fault-bound remnant; mafic-intermediate volcanic rocks; spilite Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]
Early Permian 272.95 - 298.9 Ma ID: 1312118	Livingstone Volcanics Group south of the Alpine Fault Age: Cisuralian (272.95 - 298.9 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Livingstone Volcanics Group Description: Predominantly mafic volcanic rocks, dikes, and microgabbro with volcaniclastic sediments; locally sheared and converted to melange. Comments: Eastern Province (Dun Mountain-Maitai Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Basic igneous rock, gabbro, sedimentary rock, melange Reference: Edbrooke, S.W., Heron, D.W., Forsyth, P.J., Jongens, R. (compilers). Geology Map of New Zealand 1:1 000 000. GNS Science Geological Map 2. [12]
Kungurian - Artinskian 272.95 - 290.1 Ma ID: 1365868	Undifferentiated Livingstone Volcanics Group basalt and gabbro Age: Cisuralian (272.95 - 290.1 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Livingstone Volcanics Group Description: Undifferentiated spilitised basaltic volcanics and pillow lava, gabbro, dolerite, and sheeted dike complex; volcaniclastics. Comments: Basement (Eastern Province) igneous rocks. Age based on U-Pb dating Lithology: Major:: {spilite},Minor:: {basalt, dolerite, gabbro, volcanic breccia} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

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Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A)

Hyslop, K.J. (1978) Geology of the Serpentine Saddle Area, Western Otago (Unpub. thesis, BSc Hons.), Otago University.

Railton, G.T., Watters, W.A. (1990) Minerals of New Zealand. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 104, 89 pages.

Christie, A.B., Brathwaite, R.L. (1992) Mineral Commodity Report 3-Chromium. Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd.

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