Journal Articles Mineralogical Magazine Year : 2015

Corundum (sapphire) and zircon relationships, Lava Plains gem fields, NE Australia: Integrated mineralogy, geochemistry, age determination, genesis and geographical typing

Abstract

Gem minerals at Lava Plains, northeast Queensland, offer further insights into mantle-crustal gemformation under young basalt fields. Combined mineralogy, U-Pb age determination, oxygen isotope and petrological data on megacrysts and meta-aluminosilicate xenoliths establish a geochemical evolution in sapphire, zircon formation between 5 to 2 Ma. Sapphire megacrysts with magmatic signatures (Fe/Mg ∼100–1000, Ga/Mg 3–18) grew with ∼3 Ma micro-zircons of both mantle (δ18O 4.5–5.6%) and crustal (δ18O 9.5–10.1‰) affinities. Zircon megacrysts (3±1 Ma) show mantle and crustal characteristics, but most grew at crustal temperatures (600–800°C). Xenolith studies suggest hydrous silicate melts and fluids initiated from amphibolized mantle infiltrated into kyanite+sapphire granulitic crust (800°C, 0.7 GPa). This metasomatized the sapphire (Fe/Mg ∼50–120, Ga/Mg ∼3–11), left relict metastable sillimanite-corundum-quartz and produced minerals enriched in high field strength, large ion lithophile and rare earth elements. The gem suite suggests a syenitic parentage before its basaltic transport. Geographical trace-element typing of the sapphire megacrysts against other eastern Australian sapphires suggests a phonolitic involvement.
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hal-01769694 , version 1 (18-04-2018)

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F. L. Sutherland, R. R. Coenraads, A. Abduriyim, S. Meffre, P. W. O. Hoskin, et al.. Corundum (sapphire) and zircon relationships, Lava Plains gem fields, NE Australia: Integrated mineralogy, geochemistry, age determination, genesis and geographical typing. Mineralogical Magazine, 2015, 79 (03), pp.545 - 581. ⟨10.1180/minmag.2015.079.3.04⟩. ⟨hal-01769694⟩
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