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Margarite, corundum, gahnite and zincohögbomite in a blackwall, Raleigh Terrane, Eastern Piedmont Province, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

B. E. Owens ,
H. E. Belkin  and
J. M. Zerolis
B. E. Owens*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA
H. E. Belkin
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, National Center, Mail Stop 956, Reston, Virginia 20192, USA
J. M. Zerolis
Affiliation:
1388 Alabama Street, San Francisco, California 94110, USA
*
* E-mail: beowen@wm.edu
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Abstract

We report an unusual occurrence of margarite, corundum, gahnite and zincohögbomite from the Raleigh terrane in the Piedmont Province of Virginia. The assemblage occurs in a chlorite-rich blackwall associated with a small metamorphosed ultramafic rock body. The blackwall is dominated by chlorite, but also contains distinctive clusters (1–4 mm across) that typically consist of ragged Zn-rich spinel grains surrounded by masses of randomly oriented margarite. Also spatially associated with spinel are smaller grains of corundum and högbomite. In most cases, spinel and högbomite are sufficiently enriched in Zn to be called gahnite and zincohögbomite, respectively. Some högbomite grains are distinctly banded in back-scattered electron images, primarily reflecting variations in Zn-content. Textures suggest that högbomite formed at the expense of spinel (although locally the reverse relationship holds), and högbomite compositions mimic those of spinel. Margarite appears to be a later phase, and textures imply formation via reactions with spinel, corundum and, possibly, chlorite. This occurrence of Zn-rich spinel and högbomite is clearly related to the bulk composition of the blackwall rock, which contains >2500 ppm Zn. The origin of this Zn-rich composition is unclear, but could be due to a small amount of sphalerite or zincian-staurolite in the protolith.

Keywords

blackwallmargaritecorundumgahnitehögbomite
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 77 , Issue 7 , October 2013 , pp. 2913 - 2929
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2013

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