Inclusions of silicate and sulfate melts in chrome diopsidefrom the Inagli deposit, Yakutia, Russia

Abstract

Melt inclusions were studied in chrome diopside from the Inagli deposit of gemstones in the Inagli massif of alkaline ultrabasic rocks of potassic affinity in the northwestern Aldan shield, Yakutia, Russia. The chrome diopside is highly transparent and has an intense green color. Its Cr2O3 content varies from 0.13 to 0.75 wt %. Primary and primary-secondary polyphase inclusions in chrome diopside are dominated by crystal phases (80-90 vol %) and contain aqueous solution and a gas phase. Using electron microprobe analysis and Raman spectroscopy, the following crystalline phases were identified. Silicate minerals are represented by potassium feldspar, pectolite [NaCa2Si3O8(OH)], and phlogopite. The most abundant minerals in the majority of inclusions are sulfates: glaserite (aphthitalite) [K3Na(SO4)2], glauberite [Na2Ca(SO4)2], aluminum sulfate, anhydrite (CaSO4), gypsum (CaSO4 × 2H2O), barite (BaSO4), bloedite [Na2 Mg(SO4)2 × 4H2O], thenardite (NaSO4), polyhalite [K2Ca2 Mg(SO4)4 × 2H2O], arcanite (K2SO4), and celestite (SrSO4). In addition, apatite was detected in some inclusions. Chlorides are probably present among small crystalline phases, because some analyses of aggregates of silicate and sulfate minerals showed up to 0.19-10.3 wt % Cl. Hydrogen was identified in the gas phase of polyphase inclusions by Raman spectroscopy. The composition of melt from which the chrome diopside crystallized was calculated on the basis of the investigation of silicate melt inclusions. This melt contains 53.5 wt % SiO2, considerable amounts of CaO (16.3 wt %), K2O (7.9 wt %), Na2O (3.5 wt %), and SO3 (1.4 wt %) and moderate amounts of Al2O3 (7.5 wt %), MgO (5.8 wt %), FeO (1.1 wt %), and H2O (0.75 wt %). The content of Cr2O3 in the melt was 0.13 wt %. Many inclusions were homogenized at 770-850°C, when all of the crystals and the gas phase were dissolved. The material of inclusions heated up to the homogenization temperature became heterogeneous even during very fast quenching (two seconds) producing numerous small crystals. This fact implies that most of the inclusions contained a salt (rather than silicate) melt of sulfate-dominated composition. Such inclusions were formed from salt globules (with a density of about 2.5 g/cm3) occurring as an emulsion in the denser (2.6 g/cm3) silicate melt from which the chrome diopside crystallized. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. 2008