『Abstract
Over 700 apatite grains from a range of rock types have been
analysed by laser-ablation microprobe ICOMS for 28 trace elements,
to investigate the potential usefulness of apatite as an indicator
mineral in mineral exploration. Apatites derived from different
rock types have distinctive absolute and relative abundances of
many trace elements (including rare-earth elements (REE), Sr,
Y, Mn, Th), and chondrite-normalised trace-element patterns. The
slope of chondrite-normalised REE patterns varies systematically
from ultramafic through mafic/intermediate to highly fractionated
granitoid rock types. (Ce/Yb)cn is very high
in apatites from carbonatites and mantle-derived lherzolites (over
100 and over 200, respectively), while (Ce/Yb)cn
values in apatites from granitic pegmatites are generally less
than 1, reflecting both HREE enrichment and LREE delpetion. Within
a large suite of apatites from granitoid rocks, chemical composition
is closely related to both the degree of fractionation and the
oxidation state of the magma, two important parameters in determining
the mineral potential of the magmatic system. Apatite can accept
high levels of transition and chalcophile elements and As, making
it feasible to recognise apatite associated with specific types
of mineralisation. Multivariate statistical analysis has provided
a user-friendly scheme to distinguish apatites from different
rock types, based on contents of Sr, Y, Mn and total REE, the
degree of LREE enrichment and the size of the Eu anomaly. The
scheme can be used for the recognition of apatites from specific
rock types or styles of mineralisation, so that the provenance
of apatite grains in heavy mineral concentrates can be determined
and used in geochemical exploration.
Keywords: apatite; Apatite trace elements; Apatite discriminant
diagrams; Apatite classification; Apatite regression tree』
1. Introduction
2. Sampling
2.1. Granitoid rocks
2.2. Granite pegmatites
2.3. Larvikite (syenite)
2.4. Dolerite
2.5. Carbonatites
2.6. Apatite-iron ore deposits
2.7. Mantle-derived peridotite xenoliths
3. Analytical techniques
3.1. Cathodoluminescence microscopy
3.2. Cameca VAMEBAX SX50 electron microprobe
3.3. Laser ablation ICPMS microprobe
4. Results
5. Discussion
5.1. Patterns in the data
5.2. Discriminant plots
5.3. Statistical analysis (CART)
5.4. Oxidation state
5.5. Apatite as an indicator mineral
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References