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Genesis and mechanisms of formation of rare-metal peralkaline granites of the Khaldzan Buregtey massif, Mongolia: Evidence from melt inclusions

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Abstract

Melt inclusions were studied by various methods, including electron and ion microprobe analysis, to determine the compositions of melts and mechanisms of formation of rare-metal peralkaline granites of the Khaldzan Buregtey massif in Mongolia. Primary crystalline and coexisting melt inclusions were found in quartz from the rare-metal granites of intrusive phase V. Among the crystalline inclusions, we identified potassium feldspar, albite, tuhualite, titanite, fluorite, and diverse rare-metal phases, including minerals of zirconium (zircon and gittinsite), niobium (pyrochlore), and rare earth elements (parisite). The observed crystalline inclusions reproduce almost the whole suite of major and accessory minerals of the rare-metal granites, which supports the possibility of their crystallization from a magmatic melt. Melt inclusions in quartz from these rocks are completely crystallized. Their daughter mineral assemblage includes quartz, microcline, aegirine, arfvedsonite, polylithionite, a zirconosilicate, pyrochlore, and a rare-earth fluorocarbonate. The melt inclusions were homogenized in an internally heated gas vessel at a temperature of 850°C and a pressure of 3 kbar. After the experiments, many inclusions were homogeneous and consisted of silicate glass. In addition to silicate glass, some inclusions contained tiny quench zircon crystals confined to the boundary of inclusions, which indicates that the melts were saturated in zircon. In a few inclusions, glass coexisted with a CO2 phase. This allowed us to estimate the content of CO2 in the inclusion as 1.5 wt %. The composition of glasses from the homogeneous melt inclusions is similar to the composition of the rare-metal granites, in particular, with respect to SiO2 (68–74 wt %), TiO2 (0.5–0.9 wt %), FeO (2.2–4.6 wt %), MgO (0.02 wt %), and Na2O + K2O (up to 8.5 wt %). On the other hand, the glasses of melt inclusions appeared to be strongly depleted compared with the rocks in CaO (0.22 and 4 wt %, respectively) and Al2O3 (5.5–7.0 and 9.6 wt %, respectively). The agpaitic index is 1.1–1.7. The melts contain up to 3 wt % H2O and 2–4 wt % F. The trace element analysis of glasses from homogenized melt inclusions in quartz showed that the rare-metal granites were formed from extensively evolved rare-metal alkaline melts with high contents of Zr, Nb, Th, U, Ta, Hf, Rb, Pb, Y, and REE, which reflects the metallogenic signature of the Khaldzan Buregtey deposit. The development of unique rare metal Zr–Nb–REE mineralization in these rocks is related to the prolonged crystallization differentiation of melts and assimilation of enclosing carbonate rocks.

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  1. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry (IGEM), Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnyi per. 35, Moscow, 119017, Russia

    I. A. Andreeva

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Original Russian Text © I.A. Andreeva, 2016, published in Petrologiya, 2016, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 499–514.

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Andreeva, I.A. Genesis and mechanisms of formation of rare-metal peralkaline granites of the Khaldzan Buregtey massif, Mongolia: Evidence from melt inclusions. Petrology 24, 462–476 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869591116050027

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