Li-bearing, disordered Mg-rich tourmaline from a pegmatite-marble contact in the Austroalpine basement units (Styria, Austria)

Abstract

Pale-blue to pale-green tourmalines from the contact zone of Permian pegmatites to mica schists and marbles from different localities of the Austroalpine basement units (Rappold Complex) in Styria, Austria, are characterized. All these Mg-rich tourmalines have small but significant Li contents, up to 0.29 wt% Li2O, and can be characterized as dravite, with FeO contents of ~ 0.9–2.7 wt%. Their chemical composition varies from X (Na0.67Ca0.19 K0.02☐0.12) Y (Mg1.26Al0.97Fe2+ 0.36Li0.19Ti4+ 0.06Zn0.01☐0.15) Z (Al5.31 Mg0.69) (BO3)3 Si6O18 V (OH)3 W [F0.66(OH)0.34], with a = 15.9220(3), c = 7.1732(2) A to X (Na0.67Ca0.24 K0.02☐0.07) Y (Mg1.83Al0.88Fe2+ 0.20Li0.08Zn0.01Ti4+ 0.01☐0.09) Z (Al5.25 Mg0.75) (BO3)3 Si6O18 V (OH)3 W [F0.87(OH)0.13], with a = 15.9354(4), c = 7.1934(4) A, and they show a significant Al-Mg disorder between the Y and the Z sites (R1 = 0.013–0.015). There is a positive correlation between the Ca content and distance for all investigated tourmalines (r ≈ 1.00), which may reflect short-range order configurations including Ca and Fe2+, Mg, and Li. The tourmalines have XMg (XMg = Mg/Mg + Fetotal) values in the range 0.84–0.95. The REE patterns show more or less pronounced negative Eu and positive Yb anomalies. In comparison to tourmalines from highly-evolved pegmatites, the tourmaline samples from the border zone of the pegmatites of the Rappold Complex contain relatively low amounts of total REE (~8–36 ppm) and Th (0.1–1.8 ppm) and have low LaN/YbN ratios. There is a positive correlation (r ≈ 0.91) between MgO of the tourmalines and the MgO contents of the surrounding mica schists. We conclude that the pegmatites formed by anatectic melting of mica schists and paragneisses in Permian time. The tourmalines crystallized from the pegmatitic melt, influenced by the metacarbonate and metapelitic host rocks.