Synthesis, properties and stability of end member boromuscovite, KAl2[BSi3O10](OH)2

Abstract

End member boromuscovite, with nearly the ideal composition, was synthesized as a single phase from mixtures of its own composition, or with excess boron and water, at high pressures of between 15 and 30 kbar at 700 °C. The mica synthesized consists of a mixture of 2M1 and 1M polytypes with the cell dimensions of 2M1: a=5.071(4), b=8.786(4), c=19.830(89) A, β=95.84(12)°, V=878.5(1.4) A3; and 1M: a=5.059(5), b=8.819(6), c=10.025(17) A, β=101.39(57)°, V=438.4(1.3) A. The IR spectrum shows characteristic differences relative to that of muscovite. DTA registers an endothermic peak due to dehydration breakdown above 680 °C. Seeded experiments indicate that boromuscovite is a high-pressure phase requiring minimum pressures of 3 to 10 kbar at temperatures that concomitantly increase from 300 to 750 °C. At lower pressures, the anhydrous solid assemblage K-feldspar + Al-borate (probably Al4B2O9) coexists with a vapor rich in boric acid. The conversion of this assemblage to boromuscovite is connected with increases in the coordination number of B from [3] to [4], and of Al from [4] to [6]. Above 10 kbar, the boromuscovite stability field is limited along its high-temperature side by congruent (or incongruent?) melting of the mica, starting near 750 °C and 10 kbar and increasing to about 900 °C at 50 kbar, although, at such very high pressures a supercritical fluid may be present. Because, even in the presence of excess-boron fluid, the synthetic mica shows invariable X-ray properties, it is concluded that one B atom per formula unit represents the maximum, and – contrary to olenitic tourmalines – no further substitution of Si by B linked with addition of hydrogen takes place. In contrast to muscovite, KAl2[AlSi3O10](OH)2, end member boromuscovite is not stable under normal P–T conditions of the Continental Crust along a 30 °C/km geotherm, and especially not during the intrusion of acidic igneous rocks including their pegmatites, which may explain its scarcity in nature. However, it may form in the waning hydrothermal stages of deep-seated (>10.5 km) pegmatites and – providing sufficient boron is available – in HP/LT subduction zone environments, where it may carry boron to considerable depths.