The granite-pegmatite connection : insight from mica trace element chemistry
Résumé
Micas are ubiquitous minerals within granitic and pegmatitic rocks. The
presence and the composition of micas are believed to depend strongly
on the magma they crystallised from. We studied major and trace
elements, using both electron microprobe and Laser Ablation ICP-MS,
within primary micas (biotite, muscovite and lepidolite) from the different
granitic phases of the St Sylvestre leucogranite complex (Western
French Massif Central), and associated pegmatitic plugs intrusive in the
granite. The granite can be biotite-only, biotite-muscovite or muscoviteonly.
Compositions of granitic micas do not vary significantly except
for the muscovite-only facies that has a slightly higher F-rich content.
Pegmatitic biotite is quite homogenous within single bodies but records
a considerable compositional change within the entire pegmatitic field
ranging from F-poor (similar to granite) towards F-rich. Pegmatitic muscovite
appears rather homogeneous in major element composition with
only a slightly higher Li-mica content than most granitic muscovite.
Trace elements contents in muscovite are lower than in biotite but compositional
trends are very similar to trends observed in biotite contents.
While the variation observed within micas from the pegmatite can be
related to a magmatic differentiation, facies variation within the granite
may be related to changes in magma parameters such as f(O2) and thus
are probably not related to differentiation processes. From here it appears
that granite and pegmatite, even though spatially associated, may
follow different evolutions and may not be genetically linked despite
common characters. Differences of trace element concentration between
biotite and muscovite in pegmatite can either be the consequence of partition
coefficient between biotite and muscovite or a diachronous crystallisation
of muscovite and biotite. Additionally the reduced variability
in muscovite structural formulae emphasizes a lack of sensitivity of
muscovite with respect to magmatic differentiation.