- journal_title：American Mineralogist
- Contributor：Erwin Krenn ; Daniel E. Harlov ; Fritz Finger ; Bernd Wunder
- Publisher：Mineralogical Society of America
- Date：2012-11-01
- Format：text/html
- Language：en
- Identifier：10.2138/am.2012.4005
- journal_abbrev：American Mineralogist
- issn：0003-004X
- volume：97
- issue：11-12
- firstpage：1881
- section：Articles
The REE enrichment process in fluorapatite and the REE redistribution among fluorapatite, monazite, and allanite were studied in a series of three sets of experimental runs at P-T conditions of 0.5 to 4 GPa and 650 to 900 °C. The first two sets of experimental runs utilized fluorapatite as a P-source, synthetic monazite or allanite as the REE sources, albite, quartz, and NaF-H2O or NaCl-H2O. The third set of runs was carried out with powdered Ca3(PO4)2, allanite, quartz, (±Al2O3), and a NaF-H2O solution.
In all runs REE-bearing fluorapatite with up to 28 wt% ∑REE2O3 formed at the expense of monazite or allanite; either as narrow zones at the margin of synthetic fluorapatite in runs 1 and 2 or as discrete grains in run 3. The REE-enrichment of fluorapatite in melt-bearing runs is explained in terms of the high solubility of monazite in the presence of alkali-rich melts together with the high partitioning values for REEs among fluorapatite and alkali-rich melts. The formation of REE-enriched fluorapatite in melt-absent runs implies that the solubility of monazite and the REE-uptake of fluorapatite are similarly high in both alkali-rich melts and fluids and depends foremost on the activity of alkalis in fluids or melts.
The results from this study show the importance of fluorapatite as a REE-carrier in rocks whose petrogenesis involved alkali-bearing fluids/melts. In metamorphic rocks, alkali-enriched fluids or melts will likely form under higher-grade conditions, explaining the preferential occurrence of REE-enriched fluorapatite in granulite and eclogite-facies rocks.