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Comment on “Petrogenesis of gem sapphire in a pegmatite-aplite vein from the Alvand batholith, Western Iran” (2020) by R. Sheikhi Gheshlaghi, M. Ghorbani, A. A. Sepahi, R. Deevsalar and R. Shinjo

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Abstract

Corundum crystals of semi-gem quality (sapphire) formed in a syenitic dyke around the plutonic rocks in the Alvand igneous-metamorphic complex were studied by Sheikhi Gheshlaghi et al. (2020). These authors studied field relations and petrography of a corundum-bearing pegmatite, and proposed a genetic model for corundum formation. Although studies on whole rock chemistry of corundum-bearing pegmatites and oxygen isotope data for corundum by these authors are valuable, some of their reports and findings – such as the sharp contact between corundum-bearing pegmatite and Alvand syenite, the lack of tourmaline group minerals in corundum-bearing pegmatite, the presence of syngeneic quartz inclusion in corundum and the genesis of corundum as a result of kyanite break down – are in contrast with our own observations and findings. Neither the P-T conditions, nor the volatile-bearing minerals present, are in favour of formation of corundum from kyanite breakdown. Based on present authors’ studies, mineral chemistry of corundum in the Alvand area clearly indicates magmatic origin.

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Acknowledgements

F.S.A. thanks University of Tabriz for supporting her studies whose results are discussed herein. Thanks are due to Lukas Baumgartner (Lausanne) for his help and analytical support. Thoughtful reviews by Frederick Lin Sutherland and an anonymous reviewer, and editorial help of Maarten A.T.M. Broekmans and Lutz Nasdala, helped to improve the manuscript. Springer Nature is thanked for permission (#5178700239158) to use an image from Sheikhi Gheshlaghi et al. (2020) as Fig. 1c herein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Tabriz, 29 Bahman Blvd, 5166616471, Tabriz, Iran

    Fariba Sajjadi Alehashem & Mohssen Moazzen

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Central Asia, GBAO, 155 Qimatsho Imatshoev Street, 736000, Khorog, Republic of Tajikistan

    Mohssen Moazzen

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  1. Fariba Sajjadi Alehashem
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Correspondence to Fariba Sajjadi Alehashem.

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Editorial handling: L. Nasdala.

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Sajjadi Alehashem, F., Moazzen, M. Comment on “Petrogenesis of gem sapphire in a pegmatite-aplite vein from the Alvand batholith, Western Iran” (2020) by R. Sheikhi Gheshlaghi, M. Ghorbani, A. A. Sepahi, R. Deevsalar and R. Shinjo. Miner Petrol 116, 337–343 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-022-00782-2

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