Arsenic-rich fergusonite-beta-(Y) from Mount Cervandone (Western Alps, Italy): Crystal structure and genetic implications

Abstract

An As-rich variety of fergusonite-beta-(Y) occurs as greenish yellow pseudo-bipyramidal crystals up to 1 mm in length in centimeter-sized secondary cavities within sub-horizontal pegmatite dikes at Mount Cervandone (Western Alps, Italy). The mineral is associated with quartz, biotite, potassium feldspar, and orange-yellow barrel-shaped hexagonal crystals of synchysite-(Ce) up to 2 mm in length. Fergusonite-beta-(Y) crystallized during the Alpine metamorphism under amphibolite-facies conditions, as a result of interaction between As-enriched hydrothermal fluids, circulating through the pegmatite dikes, and precursor accessory minerals in the pegmatites enriched in high-field-strength elements. These pegmatites are of NYF (niobium-yttrium-fluorine) geochemical type and served as the principal source of Be, Y, Nb, Ta, and rare-earth elements (REE) that were liberated and redeposited as rare Be-As-Y-REE minerals, including the As-rich fergusonite-beta-(Y). The latter mineral crystallizes with monoclinic symmetry [ a = 5.1794(14), b = 11.089(3), c = 5.1176(14) A, β = 91.282(8)°, V = 293.87(14) A 3 , space group I 2/ a ] and has the empirical formula (Y 0.70 Dy 0.07 Er 0.05 Ca 0.05 Gd 0.02 U 0.02 Yb 0.01 Tb 0.01 Th 0.01 Nd 0.01 ) ∑0.95 (Nb 0.68 As 5+ 0.27 W 0.06 Ta 0.01 Si 0.01 ) ∑1.03 O 4 . The crystal structure of fergusonite-beta-(Y) has been refined using a thermally untreated single crystal to R 1 = 6.6% for 441 observed reflections with F o /σ F o > 4. The incorporation of As in the structure of monoclinic fergusonite-type phases is discussed in the context of the data available for synthetic analogs.