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Evolution of pyrochlore in carbonatites of the Amba Dongar complex, India.

Part of: Alkaline rocks - Gregory Yu. Ivanyuk memorial issue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2021

Shrinivas G. Viladkar  and
Natalia V. Sorokhtina Open the ORCID record for Natalia V. Sorokhtina [Opens in a new window]
Shrinivas G. Viladkar
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Bhopal, By-pass Road, Bhauri, Bhopal462066, India
Natalia V. Sorokhtina*
Affiliation:
Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kosygin Street, 19-1, Moscow119991, Russian Federation.
*
*Author for correspondence: Natalia V. Sorokhtina Email: nat_sor@rambler.ru
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Abstract

Pyrochlore-group minerals are common accessory rare-metal bearing minerals in the calcite and ankerite carbonatites of the Amba Dongar complex (India). Pyrochlore from the Amba Dongar carbonatites differs from that in other Indian complexes in Ta, Zr, Ti, rare earth element (REE) and Pb contents, but is similar with respect to Ca, Ba and Sr abundances. The evolution of pyrochlore composition was studied to understand the alteration processes and the formation of late-stage pyrochlores enriched in REE and Pb. The early magmatic pyrochlore are calcio- and niobium-dominant types and were replaced by secondary cation-deficient varieties as a consequence of the action of hydrothermal fluids and supergene weathering. These processes produce changes mainly at the A site, rarely at the B site, and the original F is replaced by OH– groups. Calcium and Na can be extracted from the structure at the alteration stage and charge balance is achieved by the introduction of REE, Th, U, Ba or Sr. At the latest supergene stages, marginal and fractured zones of pyrochlore grains are altered to Pb-rich, Si-rich and cation-deficient hydrated varieties. The magmatic pyrochlore was crystallised in a highly alkaline environment at a high activity of Ca and at temperatures near 600°C, the alteration of pyrochlore began in a hydrothermal environment at temperatures below 350°C. The major compositional changes that are associated with the alteration are summarised by the following reactions: Ca2+ + Nb5+→ REE3+ + Ti4+; Nb5+ + Fe3+ → Ti4+ + Zr4+; and 2Nb5+ + Ca2+ → Ti4+ + Si4+ + U4+.

Keywords

pyrochlorecompositional evolutioncarbonatiteAmba DongarIndia
Type
Article – Gregory Yu. Ivanyuk memorial issue
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , pp. 554 - 567
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

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Footnotes

This paper is part of a thematic set ‘Alkaline Rocks’ in memory of Dr Gregory Yu. Ivanyuk

Guest Associate Editor: Anatoly Zaitsev

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