internal organization and geochemistry is incompatible with the hypothesis that they are quenched immiscible liquids, as has been suggested in the past by various authors. Varieties and occurrence The variety of mafic igneous rocks that contain varioles are, with rare exceptions, no longer classified as variolites, which is not recommended for usage. Instead, they are designated using the modifier variolitic in conjunction with the major lithology. The major varieties of variolites are variolitic basalts, variolitic pillow lavas and variolitic komatiites. Variolitic pillow lavas, that have been previously identified as variolites and also classified as spilites, are found in the Durance, France; on Mont Genvre, France; in Devonian rocks of Germany; and as cobbles on the beaches of the Strait of Juan de Fuca along the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula. Variolitic basalts and variolitic komatiites occur commonly as Archean lava flows in the greenstone belts of South Africa and the Canadian Shield. Finally, there is a group of spotted volcanic rocks formerly known to French petrographers as the variolites du Drac from the locality in which they are found in Parc National des Ecrins, France. Additional research has found them to be hydrothermally altered basalt volcanic rocks that contain amygdules filled with white calcite and other secondary minerals. References Igneous rocks