Search

Central Brazil hosts Paleo-Mesoproterozoic A-type granitic suites related to the Goiás Tin Province (GTP) that contain Sn (±W, Nb-Ta, REE) mineralization associated with greisen, veins, and small pegmatite bodies. The Pedra Branca granite massif (1.77-1.74 Ga) is the main representative of GTP, marked by important cassiterite (±wolframite) contents. The cassiterite contains SnO2 = 96-100 wt. %, with the sum FeOtotal, TiO2, WO3, Ta2O5, Nb2O5, In2O3, and UO2 content below 4 wt.%, while wolframite contains WO3 = 71.5-74.5 wt.%, FeOtotal = 14.3-17.4 wt.% and MnO = 6.3-9.9 wt.%, as well as Sn, Ca, Ti, Ta, Nb, Pb, In, and U as trace elements. The δ18O data on the quartz-cassiterite pair (quartz = 9.4-10.4‰, cassiterite = 2.6-2.9 ‰) from greisen reveal a magmatic-hydrothermal signature with calculated crystallization temperatures between 410 and 485°C. However, during the Neoproterozoic Brasiliano/Pan-African Orogeny (800-500 Ma), all lithologies and ore sites were subjected to flattening, fragmentation, and mylonitic deformation. Fluid inclusion data revealed the presence of low-salinity aqueous solutions with homogenization temperatures between 215 and 100°C related to Neoproterozoic deformation. Finally, during the Phanerozoic, prolonged erosive produced Sn (±W)-rich alluvium around the Pedra Branca granitic massif. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beryl is usually found in granite-pegmatite systems. The addition of chromophore elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe) into the crystalline structure favors color changes in beryl and thus generates some of the world's expensive gems such as emerald, morganite, heliodor and aquamarine. The Massangana polyphasic batholith is a well-known cassiterite, wolframite and gems deposit in the Rondônia state. These metals and blue-gems (topaz and aquamarine) are located in feldspar-rich pegmatite granite bodies. The aquamarine crystals show color ranging from light- to medium-blue and display concentric growth zones. Electron-probe microanalyses revealed that the Fe is the main chromophore element, occupying the octahedral Al-site, while Na had an important role in the charge balance, inserted in the channel sites together with H2O. The irregular supply of Fe and Na during the nucleation and growth of aquamarine was the main cause for the color change. A fluid inclusion study indicated that the aquamarine growth under an aqueous fluid system (H2O-NaCl), with low salinity, low density and total homogenization temperature between 243o-315o C, is compatible with final temperatures in the pegmatite pocket zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Geologia USP: Série Científica is the property of Geologia USP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Fazenda Bonfim emerald deposit, State of Rio Grande do Norte, is within the regional geological domain known as Seridó Mobile Belt, Borborema Tectonic Province. It was formed from metasomatic fluids interaction at along lithological contacts between Be-rich albite-granite intrusions and Cr (±V)-rich mafic-ultramafic host-rocks, enclosed in the lens-shaped "hornfels" phlogopite schist. Emerald crystals display relatively high contents of Mg and Na, as well as trace amounts of Ca, K, Cs, Li, P, Sc, Ti, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Ga and Rb. Cr is the main chromophore element, followed by Fe and some V. Display also concentric growth zones and randomly-oriented mineral micro-inclusions, indicative for static growth. This zoning is linked to cationic substitution of alkalis accompanied by Cr loss, which favors irregular coloration of crystals. Metasomatic fluids contemporaneous with emerald growth are aqueous (H2O+NaCl), with low to moderate salinity and low density, although trace amounts of CO2 ± CH4 were also observed. These fluids showed a field-trapped between 375-430°C and 200-600 bars, based on combination of fluid inclusions isochores. In addition, oxygen isotope data (d18O = 6.9-7.4‰) suggest an igneous-metasomatic source for fluids and emerald components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Igarapé Manteiga W-Sn deposit is formed by a granite stock that intrudes in the Paleoproterozoic basement. The mineralization is encapsulated in an alumino-siliceous hydrothermal carapace formed by greisen, vein-veinlets and breccia, developed in the apex zone of a granite stock. At this site, wolframite, cassiterite and sulfides-minerals, as well as siderite, monazite, xenotime, hematite and others, are spread out or in massive clusters associated with quartz, topaz, zinnwaldite and fluorite. Wolframite is not zoned and relatively rich in Fe, and poor in Nb and Ta. Cassiterite exhibits growth-zones with light-yellow to dark-orange colors, and is rich in Ta, and poor in Ti, W, Mn and U. Oxygen and sulfur (δ18O and δ34S) isotope data on the ore- and sulfide-minerals indicates that it is a magmatic source, with closing temperatures from 230°C to 480°C. The hydrothermal phase was cyclical and protractedly active, promoting greisenization and hydrofracturing. The lowering of temperature and the change in the composition of fluids (from oxidized to reduced) controlled the precipitation of the hydrothermal mineral assemblage. The 40Ar-39Ar analyses reveal a plateau age of 988 Ma, interpreted as the closure time for the hydrothermal processes responsible for mineralization, which is linked to the final magmatic evolution of the Rondônia Intrusive Suite (995-991 Ma). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Geology is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Mesoproterozoic K'Mudku event (1490 - 1147 Ma) is represented by a britlle-ductile shear belt that cuts across the Paleoproterozoic units in the southernmost Guyana shield, central-north Amazon craton. This event produced mylonitization and cataclasites at low/medium- to high-grade metamorphic, and local within-plate magmatism. In the Amazonas State, Brazil, A-type magmatism chronologically associated to K'Mudku has been reported for the Pedra do Gavião and Samaúma syenogranites. However, the spatial relationship between K'Mudku event and A-type magma generation are not yet adequately clarified in the region. The Pedra do Gavião syenogranite is a high-K alkaline, metaluminous, reduced A-type granite with a post-collisional to within-plate geochemical signature. It has U-Pb zircons crystallization age of 1218 Ma and inherited zircons with ages between 1820 and 1720 Ma, which, together with the Sm-Nd data, suggest melting of Paleoproterozoic basement rocks of the Cauaburi Complex (1810 - 1780 Ma) regional unit. These data demonstrate that the effects of the A-type magmatism associated to the end of the Grenvillian-Sunsas orogeny, reported primarily in the southwestern margin of the Amazon craton, may also be extended for the central-northern part of the Amazon craton. Probably the generation or emplacement mechanisms of A-type magma occurred with some degree of involvement in the final stages of the K'Mudku event. However, this tectonic framework conception still needs more geological and geophysical investigations. Therefore, these news data should instigate to the return of geological research in the region, as well as to debate on the tectonic evolution and A-type granites production during the Ectasian- Stenian period in the central-north Amazon craton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]