462
ISSN 1028-334X, Doklady Earth Sciences, 2007, Vol. 413A, No. 3, pp. 462–468. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2007.
Original Russian Text © I.S. Peretyazhko, E.A. Tsareva, V.Ye. Zagorsky, 2007, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2007, Vol. 413, No. 6, pp. 791–797.
The chemical properties of cesium allow accumula-
tion of this element in the late silicic derivatives of igne-
ous complexes, in particular, in rare-metal granites,
pegmatites, and related metasomatic rocks. However,
the Cs content can be high enough only in pegmatites
to form its own mineral (pollucite), which occasionally
occurs in considerable amounts. In other rocks, Cs con-
centrates largely in micas and feldspars. The possible
maximal level of Cs accumulation in the melt remains
poorly studied. Important new information has been
obtained from the study of volcanic glass and melt
inclusions (MI) in minerals. The rhyolitic glass concen-
trates 220–870 ppm Cs, occasionally up to 3770 ppm
[1]. To date, the highest Cs
2
O content (1.2–5.5 wt %)
has been detected in MIs captured by quartz from miar-
olitic pegmatite of the Malkhan field of the central
Transbaikal region [2, 3] and the southwestern Pamirs
(Leskhozovskaya and Vezdarinskaya veins). These
inclusions contain products of crystallization of the late
pegmatitic melt [3] and the inferred high-temperature
meltlike gels [4]. While studying ongonite of the Ary-
Bulak Massif, we detected MIs filled with a residual
glass that contains up to 17 wt % Cs. This is reliable
evidence in favor of the existence of natural melts
extremely enriched in Cs. In this communication, we
describe these unusual inclusions and discuss Cs distri-
bution in ongonites.
The Ary-Bulak Massif is a dome-shaped stock
exposed over ~0.8 km
2
among the Devonian volca-
nosedimentary rocks [5]. The massif is composed
largely of porphyritic ongonite. A zone of aphyric rock
50–100 m wide occurs only near the southwestern con-
tact zone. Beyond this zone, an ongonite variety with
anomalously high contents of CaO (3.3–21.8 wt %) and
F (2.7–16 wt %) has been found near the same locality.
The high CaO (7.8–18 wt %) and F (7.1–15.5 wt %)
contents are inherent to aphyric rocks as well. Prosopite
CaAl
2
F
4
(OH)
4
has been identified in this rock for the
first time as an abundant mineral (6–26 wt %). It was
established that interstices between minerals of the
groundmass of the Ca- and F-rich rocks are filled with
submicrometric intergrowths of “fluoritic” and “K-feld-
spathic” phases. The “fluoritic” phase is a partly devit-
rified calcium fluoride melt with the following admix-
tures (wt %): O (3–12), Al (0.5–3.3), Si (0.2–1.5), Sr (0.3–
0.5, occasionally up to 1.0–1.3), Na (up to 0.5), and S
(up to 0.3). The “K-feldspathic” phase is commonly
close in composition to sanidine (rims around tabular
albite crystals) but characterized by local enrichment in
Ca (1.5–4.0 wt %). We provided evidence for the joint
crystallization of immiscible aluminosilicate and cal-
cium fluoride melts in the presence of HF-bearing
aqueous fluid during formation of Ca- and F-rich rocks
[6, 7].
The Cs content in rocks from the Ary-Bylak Massif
varies from 48 to 386 ppm. The lowest average Cs con-
tent is characteristic of the porphyritic ongonite with
the “fluoritic” phase (87 ppm, average of 4 samples).
Porphyritic ongonite from the central part of the massif
contains 104 ppm Cs (average of 35 samples [8]). The
aphyric rocks are distinguished by a high dispersion of
Cs contents ranging from 82 to 386 ppm (average
159 ppm, based on 9 samples). The main amount of Cs
is concentrated in feldspars (largely, sanidine). Mica of
the biotite–zinnwaldite series is the only mineral with
high Cs content (0.2–0.5 wt % Cs
2
O, on average; up to
2–3 wt % in the narrow outer rims of some phenoc-
rysts). However, the percentage of mica phenocrysts
does not exceed fractions of a percent. The elevated Cs
content (up to 250–300 ppm) in the groundmass indi-
cates that this element was gained in the ongonite melt
at the final stage of its crystallization.
Quartz phenocrysts in porphyritic ongonite contain
numerous MIs. Anomalously high Cs contents were
detected in some melt inclusions filled with a residual
glass. Such unusual melt inclusions have been found in
every fourth thoroughly studied rock samples taken
A First Finding of Anomalously Cs-Rich Aluminosilicate Melts
in Ongonite: Evidence from Melt Inclusion Study
I. S. Peretyazhko, E. A. Tsareva, and V. Ye. Zagorsky
Presented by Academician M.I. Kuz’min May 18, 2006
Received May 29, 2006
DOI: 10.1134/S1028334X07030324
Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry, Siberian Division,
Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Favorskogo 1a,
Irkutsk, 664033 Russia; e-mail: pgmigor@igc.irk.ru
GEOCHEMISTRY