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The miarolitic pegmatites from the Königshain: a contribution to understanding the genesis of pegmatites

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Abstract

In this paper, we show that the crystallization of miarolitic pegmatites at Königshain started at about 700°C, in melts containing up to 30 mass% water. Such high water concentration at low pressures (1–3 kbar) is only possible if the melts are peralkaline. Such peralkaline melts are highly corrosive, and reacted with the wall rock—here the granite host—forming the graphic granite zone, in part via a magmatic–metasomatic reaction. With cooling, the water concentration in some melt fractions increased up to 50 mass% H2O. The melt-dominated system ends below 600°C and passes into a fluid-dominated system, the beginning of which is characterized by strong pressure fluctuations, caused by the change of OH and CO3 2− in the melt, to molecular water and CO2. We note two generations of smoky quartz, one crystallized above the β–α-transition of quartz (≈573°C), and one below, both of which contain melt inclusions. This indicates that some melt fraction remains during at least the higher-temperature portion of the growth of minerals into the miarolitic cavity, contradicting the view that minerals growing into a pegmatite chamber only do so from aqueous fluids. We show that the Königshain miarolitic pegmatites are part of the broad spectrum of pegmatite types, and the processes active at Königshain are representative of processes found in most granitic pegmatites, and are thus instructive in the understanding of pegmatite formation in general, and constraining the composition and characteristics of pegmatite-forming melts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their appreciation to Mrs. H. Steiger for the performing of numerous high-pressure re-homogenization experiments and G. Berger for the preparation of numerous thick sections, both from the GFZ Potsdam. We thank D. Voznyak (Kiev, Ukraine) for the provision of important papers to problems of the crystallization in chamber pegmatites. We would like to thank Mr. W. Lange (Zittau) for fruitful discussion in the granite quarry “Melaune” in the Königshain Mountain and Mr. Maiwald from the ProStein GmbH & Company KG for the permission to visit the quarry. The Editor and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Rainer Thomas & Dieter Rhede

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 7001, Australia

    Paul Davidson

  3. Oberlausitzische Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften e.V, Neuer Weg 6, Neschwitz/Bautzen, Germany

    Michael Leh

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  1. Rainer Thomas
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Correspondence to Rainer Thomas.

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Communicated by J. Hoefs.

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Thomas, R., Davidson, P., Rhede, D. et al. The miarolitic pegmatites from the Königshain: a contribution to understanding the genesis of pegmatites. Contrib Mineral Petrol 157, 505–523 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-008-0349-2

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