Rubidium mineralization in rare-element granitic pegmatites of the Voron’i tundras, Kola Peninsula, Russia

Abstract

Rare-element pegmatites in the Voron’i tundras, Kola Peninsula, Russia, contain late abundant Rb mineralization. Individual Rb minerals are Rb-dominant feldspars and micas that form continuous solid solution series with K analoques. The feldspars contain from 17 to 86 mol % RbAlSi₃O₈ (5.5–25 wt % Rb₂O) and 1–5 mol % CsAlSi₃O₈, and the muscovite contains 2.6–9.4 wt % Rb₂O. The Li micas are members of the lepidolite-polylithionite series and their Rb-dominant analogues. They form a continuous series of solid solutions with the Rb concentrations varying from 0.09 to 0.54 apfu., K concentrations varying from 0.82 to 0.33 apfu, and Cs concentrations varying from 0.02 to 0.18 apfu The maximum Rb₂O concentration in the newly found mineral voloshinite, an Rb analogue of lepidolite, is 12.2 wt %. The Rb-rich feldspars and micas sometimes crystallized directly or were formed via cation exchange with the young fluid. The Rb minerals are spatially and genetically closely associated with pollucite. It is supposed that initially Rb was contained in a high-temperature pollucite solid solution and was released from it at decreasing temperature as a result of a reaction with the aqueous fluid and notably enriched the latter. It is shown that Rb mineralization is generally typical of pollucite-bearing pegmatites.