Petrogenesis of rare-element pegmatites in the Olary Block, South Australia, part 1. Mineralogy and chemical evolution

Abstract

Rare-element pegmatites within the Proterozoic Olary Block are of the berylcolumbite-phosphate type and probably related to the crystallisation of syn- to posttectonic peraluminous, S-type granitoids. The pegmatites are typically zoned and possess an inner quartz core, or a series of cores, an asymmetrical intermediate zone of coarse-grained muscovite, quartz, microcline and minor plagioclase, and an outer border zone of fine- to medium-grained microcline, quartz, plagioclase and muscovite. The zones contain abundant beryl and F-apatite, with additional species such as tourmaline, ferrocolumbite, samarskite, Nb-rutile and triplite-zwieselite nodules. These rare-element minerals occur preferentially at the contact between the intermediate zone and the quartz core. Hydrothermal alteration of triplite-zwieselite led to the development of secondary, microcrystalline bermanite, leucophosphite and phosphoferrite-kryzhanovskite. Paragenetic relationships of these phosphates suggest a sequence of hydrothermal transformations in an oxidising, low-temperature environment (< 250°C). A prominent feature of this succession is the decrease in Mg and Ca, and an increase in Fe3+/Fe2+, Mn3+/Mn2+, and H2O. High aHF, low pH and Al mobility occurred during the development of the secondary phosphates as shown by associated fluorite, sellaite and thomsenolite/pachnolite. Increasing Ca activities at a late hydrothermal stage led to the replacement of prexisting triplitezwieselite by additional F-apatite. Finally, weathering-related cyrilovite, lipscombite and crandallite-group minerals were formed by percolating meteoric waters under increasing fo2