Home Experimental constraints on the stability of baddeleyite and zircon in carbonate- and silicate-carbonate melts
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Experimental constraints on the stability of baddeleyite and zircon in carbonate- and silicate-carbonate melts

  • Fernanda Gervasoni EMAIL logo , Stephan Klemme , Arno Rohrbach , Tobias Grützner and Jasper Berndt
Published/Copyright: April 3, 2017
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 102 Issue 4

Abstract

Carbonatites are rare igneous carbonate-rich rocks. Most carbonatites contain a large number of accessory oxide, sulfide, and silicate minerals. Baddeleyite (ZrO2) and zircon (ZrSiO4) are common accessory minerals in carbonatites and because these minerals host high concentrations of U and Th, they are often used to determine the ages of formation of the carbonatite. In an experimental study, we constrain the stability fields of baddeleyite and zircon in Ca-rich carbonate melts with different silica concentrations. Our results show that SiO2-free and low silica carbonate melts crystallize baddeleyite, whereas zircon only crystallizes in melts with higher concentration of SiO2. We also find that the zirconsilicate baghdadite (Ca3ZrSi2O9) crystallizes in intermediate compositions. Our experiments indicate that zircon may not be a primary mineral in a low-silica carbonatite melt and care must be taken when interpreting zircon ages from low-silica carbonatite rocks.

Keywords: Carbonatite; baddeleyite; baghdadite; zircon; silicate-carbonate melt; experimental petrology

Acknowledgments

We thank Maik Trogisch for his help with sample preparation and Beate Schmitte for her help with the electron microprobe analyses. Further thanks go to C. Sanchez-Valle for her help with the Raman spectroscopy. Thanks also go to A.R. Chakhmouradian, an anonymous reviewer, and the editor for their helpful and constructive comments and suggestions. F. Gervasoni thanks the Brazilian CAPES foundation for a Ph.D. scholarship (BEX 12363/12-0) in Germany.

References cited

Al-Hermezi, H.M., McKie, D., and Hall, A.J. (1986) Baghdadite, a new calcium zirconium silicate mineral from Iraq. Mineralogical Magazine, 50, 119–123.10.1180/minmag.1986.050.355.15Search in Google Scholar

Barker, D.S. (1989) Field relations of carbonatites. In K. Bell, Ed., Carbonatites: genesis and evolution, p. 38–69. Unwin Hyman, London.Search in Google Scholar

Barker, D.S. (1993) Diagnostic magmatic features in carbonatites: implications for the origins of dolomite- and ankerite-rich carbonatites. South African Journal of Geology, 96, 131–138.Search in Google Scholar

Barker, D.S. (2001) Calculated silica activities in carbonatite liquids. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 141, 704–709.10.1007/s004100100281Search in Google Scholar

Belousova, E.A., Griffin, W.L., and Pearson, N.J. (1998) Trace element composition and cathodoluminescence properties of southern African kimberlitic zircons. Mineralogical Magazine, 62, 355–366.10.1180/002646198547747Search in Google Scholar

Belousova, E., Griffin, W., O’Reilly, S.Y., and Fisher, N. (2002) Igneous zircon: trace element composition as an indicator of source rock type. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 143, 602–622.10.1007/s00410-002-0364-7Search in Google Scholar

Boehnke, P., Watson, E.B., Trail, D., Harrison, T.M., and Schmitt, A.K. (2013) Zircon saturation re-revisited. Chemical Geology, 351, 324–334.10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.05.028Search in Google Scholar

Bose, K., and Ganguly, J. (1995) Quartz–coesite transition revisited—reversed experimental-determination at 500–1200 °C and retrieved thermochemical properties. American Mineralogist, 80, 231–238.10.2138/am-1995-3-404Search in Google Scholar

Boyd, F.R., and England, J.L. (1960) Apparatus for phase-equilibrium measurements at pressures up to 50 kilobars and temperatures up to 1750 °C. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 65, 741–748.10.1029/JZ065i002p00741Search in Google Scholar

Brooker, R.A., and Kjarsgaard, B.A. (2011) Silicate-carbonate liquid immiscibility and phase relations in the system SiO2-Na2O-Al2O3-CaO-CO2 at 0.1–2.5 GPa with applications to carbonatite genesis. Journal of Petrology, 52, 1281–1305.10.1093/petrology/egq081Search in Google Scholar

Casillas, R., Nagy, G., Demény, A., Ahijado, A., and Fernández, C. (2008) Cuspidine-niocalite-baghdadite solid solutions in the metacarbonatites of the Basal Complex of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands). Lithos, 105, 25–41.10.1016/j.lithos.2008.02.003Search in Google Scholar

Chakhmouradian, A.R., and Williams, T.C. (2004) Mineralogy of highfield-strength elements (Ti, Nb, Zr, Ta, Hf) in phoscoritic and carbonatitic rocks of the Kola Peninsula, Russia. In F. Wall and A.N. Zaitsev, Eds., Phoscorites and Carbonatites from Mantle to Mine: the Key Example of the Kola Alkaline Province, p. 293–340. Mineralogical Society, London.10.1180/MSS.10.9Search in Google Scholar

Chakhmouradian, A.R., Reguir, E.P., Kressall, R.D., Crozier, J., Pisiak, L.K., Sidhu, R., and Yang, P. (2015) Carbonatite-hosted niobium deposit at Aley, northern British Columbia (Canada): Mineralogy, geochemistry and petrogenesis. Ore Geology Reviews, 64, 642–666.10.1016/j.oregeorev.2014.04.020Search in Google Scholar

Colin, S., Dupre, B., Venturini, G., Malaman, B., and Gleitzer, C. (1993) Crystal structure and infrared spectrum of the cyclosilicate Ca2ZrSi4O12. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 102, 242–249.10.1006/jssc.1993.1028Search in Google Scholar

Dobson, D., Jones, A., Rabe, R., Sekine, T., Kurita, K., Taniguchi, T., Kondo, T., Kato, T., Shimomura, O., and Urakawa, S. (1996) In-situ measurement of viscosity and density of carbonate melts at high pressure. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 143, 207–215.10.1016/0012-821X(96)00139-2Search in Google Scholar

Dul, K., Kolezinski, A., Sitarz, M., and Madej, D. (2015) Vibrational spectra of a baghdadite synthetic analogue. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 76, 1–5.10.1016/j.vibspec.2014.11.001Search in Google Scholar

Eriksson, S.C. (1984) Age of carbonatite and phoscorite magmatism of the Phalaborwa Complex (South Africa). Isotope Geoscience, 2, 291–299.10.1016/0009-2541(84)90172-4Search in Google Scholar

Galuskin, E.V., Pertsev, N.N., Armbruster, T., Kadiyski, M., Zadov, A.E., Galuskina, I.O., Dzierzanowski, P., Wrzalik, R., and Kislov, E. (2007) Dovyrenite Ca6Zr[Si2O7]2(OH)4—a new mineral from skarned carbonate xenoliths in basic-ultrabasic rocks of the Ioko-dovyren Massif, Northern Baikal Region, Russia. Mineralogia Polonica, 38, 15–28.10.2478/v10002-007-0012-ySearch in Google Scholar

Gervasoni, F., Klemme, S., Rocha-Júnior, E.R.V., and Berndt, J. (2016) Zircon saturation in silicate melts: a new and improved model for aluminous and alkaline melts. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 171, 21.10.1007/s00410-016-1227-ySearch in Google Scholar

Gittins, J. (1988) The origin of carbonatites. Nature, 335, 295–296.10.1038/335295a0Search in Google Scholar

Gittins, J., and Jago, B.C. (1998) Differentiation of natrocarbonatite magma at Oldoinyo Lengai volcano, Tanzania. Mineralogical Magazine, 62, 759–768.10.1180/002646198548142Search in Google Scholar

Harmer, R.E., and Gittins, J. (1998) The case for primary, mantle-derived carbonatite magma. Journal of Petrology, 39, 1895–1903.10.1093/petroj/39.11-12.1895Search in Google Scholar

Harrison, T.M., and Watson, E.B. (1983) Kinetics of zircon dissolution and zirconium diffusion in granitic melts of variable water content. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 84, 66–72.10.1007/BF01132331Search in Google Scholar

Heaman, L.M., and LeCheminant, A.N. (1993) Paragenesis and U-Pb systematics of baddeleyite (ZrO2). Chemical Geology,110, 95–126.10.1016/0009-2541(93)90249-ISearch in Google Scholar

Hoskin, P.W.O., and Schaltegger, U. (2003) The composition of zircon and igneous and metamorphic petrogenesis. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 53, 27–62.10.1515/9781501509322-005Search in Google Scholar

Jamtveit, B., Dahlgren, S., and Austrheim, H. (1997) High-grade contact metamorphism of calcareous rocks from the Oslo Rift, Southern Norway. American Mineralogist, 82, 1241–1254.10.2138/am-1997-11-1219Search in Google Scholar

Kjarsgaard, B., and Hamilton, D. (1988) Liquid immiscibility and the origin of alkali-poor carbonatites. Mineralogical Magazine, 43–55.10.1180/minmag.1988.052.364.04Search in Google Scholar

Klemme, S., and Meyer, H.P. (2003) Trace element partitioning between baddeleyite and carbonatite melt at high pressures and high temperatures. Chemical Geology, 199, 233–242.10.1016/S0009-2541(03)00081-0Search in Google Scholar

Klemme, S., and O’Neill, H.St.C. (1997) The reaction MgCr2O4 + SiO2 = Cr2O3 + MgSiO3 and the free energy of formation of magnesiochromite (MgCr2O4). Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology,130, 59–65.10.1007/s004100050349Search in Google Scholar

Klemme, S., van der Laan, S.R., Foley, S.F., and Günther, D. (1995) Experimentally determined trace and minor element partitioning between clinopyroxene and carbonatite melt under upper mantle conditions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters,133, 439–448.10.1016/0012-821X(95)00098-WSearch in Google Scholar

Kono, Y., Kenney-Benson, C., Hummer, D., Ohfuji, H., Park, C., Shen, G., Wang, Y., Kavner, A., and Manning, C.E. (2014) Ultralow viscosity of carbonate melts at high pressures. Nature Communications, 5, 5091.10.1038/ncomms6091Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Le Maitre, R.W., Ed. (2002) Igneous Rocks: a classification and glossary of terms. Cambridge University Press, U.K.10.1017/CBO9780511535581Search in Google Scholar

Mariano, A.N. (1989) Nature of economic mineralization in carbonatites and related rocks. In K. Bell, Ed., Carbonatites: genesis and evolution, pp. 428–447. Unwin Hyman, London.Search in Google Scholar

Marr, R.A., Baker, D.R., and Williams-Jones, A.E. (1998) Chemical controls on the solubility of Zr-bearing phases in simplified peralkaline melts and application to the Strange Lake Intrusion, Quebec-Labrador. Canadian Mineralogist, 36, 1001–1008.Search in Google Scholar

Matsubara, S., and Miyawaki, R. (1999) Baghdadite from the Akagane mine, Iwate Prefecture, Japanese Bulletin of the National Science Museum, Serie C, 25, 65–72.Search in Google Scholar

Minarik, W.G., and Watson, E.B. (1995) Interconnectivity of carbonate melt at low melt fraction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 133, 423–437.10.1016/0012-821X(95)00085-QSearch in Google Scholar

Mitchell, R.H. (2005) Carbonatites and carbonatites and carbonatites. Canadian Mineralogist, 43, 2049–2068.10.2113/gscanmin.43.6.2049Search in Google Scholar

Reischmann, T., Brügmann, G.E., Jochum, K.P., and Todt, W.A. (1995) Trace element and isotopic composition of baddeleyite. Mineralogy and Petrology, 53, 155–164.10.1007/BF01171953Search in Google Scholar

Rodionov, N.V., Belyatsky, B.V., Antonov, A.V., Kapitonov, I.N., and Sergeev, S.A. (2012) Comparative in-situ U-Th-Pb geochronology and trace element composition of baddeleyite and low-U zircon from carbonatites of the Palaeozoic Kovdor alkaline-ultramafic complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia. Gondwana Research, 21, 728–744.10.1016/j.gr.2011.10.005Search in Google Scholar

Savva, E.V., Belyatsky, B.V., and Antonov, A.V. (2010) Carbonatitic zircon—geochemical analysis. Acta Mineralogica-Petrographica, Abstract Series, 6, 576.Search in Google Scholar

Shiraga, K., Kusachi, I., Kobayashi, S., and Yamakawa, L. (2001) Baghdadite from Fuka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, 96, 43–47.10.2465/jmps.96.43Search in Google Scholar

Sweeney, R.J. (1994) Carbonatite melt compositions in the Earth’s mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 128, 259–270.10.1016/0012-821X(94)90149-XSearch in Google Scholar

Tichomirowa, M., Whitehouse, M.J., Gerdes, A., Götze, J., Schulz, B., and Belyatsky, B.V. (2013) Different zircon recrystallization types in carbonatites caused by magma mixing: Evidence from U–Pb dating, trace element and isotope composition (Hf and O) of zircons from two Precambrian carbonatites from Fennoscandia. Chemical Geology, 353, 173–198.10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.11.004Search in Google Scholar

Wallace, M.E., and Green, D.H. (1988) An experimental determination of primary carbonatite magma composition. Nature, 335, 343–346.10.1038/335343a0Search in Google Scholar

Watson, E.B., and Harrison, T.M. (1983) Zircon saturation reviseted: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magmas types. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 64, 295–304.10.1016/0012-821X(83)90211-XSearch in Google Scholar

Yaxley, G.M., Crawford, A.J., and Green, D.H. (1991) Evidence for carbonatite metasomatism in spinel peridotite xenoliths from western Victoria, Australia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 107, 305–317.10.1016/0012-821X(91)90078-VSearch in Google Scholar

Received: 2016-5-31
Accepted: 2016-11-21
Published Online: 2017-4-3
Published in Print: 2017-4-1

© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Review: Minerals in the Human Body
  2. Mineral precipitation and dissolution in the kidney
  3. Special Collection: Nanominerals and Mineral Nanoparticles
  4. Luogufengite: A new nano-mineral of Fe2O3 polymorph with giant coercive field
  5. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  6. Column anion arrangements in chemically zoned ternary chlorapatite and fluorapatite from Kurokura, Japan
  7. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  8. Magmatic graphite inclusions in Mn-Fe-rich fluorapatite of perphosphorus granites (the Belvís pluton, Variscan Iberian Belt)
  9. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  10. Barometric constraints based on apatite inclusions in garnet
  11. Special collection: Olivine
  12. A comparison of olivine-melt thermometers based on DMg and DNi: The effects of melt composition, temperature, and pressure with applications to MORBs and hydrous arc basalts
  13. Special collection: Dynamics of magmatic processes
  14. Water transfer during magma mixing events: Insights into crystal mush rejuvenation and melt extraction processes
  15. Special collection: Rates and depths of magma ascent on earth
  16. A new clinopyroxene-liquid barometer, and implications for magma storage pressures under Icelandic rift zones
  18. The S content of silicate melts at sulfide saturation: New experiments and a model incorporating the effects of sulfide composition
  20. Bond valence and bond energy
  22. Fluvial transport of impact evidence from cratonic interior to passive margin: Vredefort-derived shocked zircon on the Atlantic coast of South Africa
  24. Iron partitioning in natural lower-mantle minerals: Toward a chemically heterogeneous lower mantle
  26. Identifying biogenic silica: Mudrock micro-fabric explored through charge contrast imaging
  28. Compressibility and high-pressure structural behavior of Mg2Fe2O5
  30. Thermo-elastic behavior of grossular garnet at high pressures and temperatures
  32. Experimental constraints on the stability of baddeleyite and zircon in carbonate- and silicate-carbonate melts
  34. Polarized FTIR spectroscopic examination on hydroxylation in the minerals of the wolframite group, (Fe,Mn,Mg)[W,(Nb,Ta)][O,(OH)]4
  36. Tourmaline-rich features in the Heemskirk and Pieman Heads granites from western Tasmania, Australia: Characteristics, origins, and implications for tin mineralization
  38. Ca L2,3-edge near edge X-ray absorption fine structure of tricalcium aluminate, gypsum, and calcium (sulfo)aluminate hydrates
  40. Fluorwavellite, Al3(PO4)2(OH)2F·5H2O, the fluorine analog of wavellite
  42. New Mineral Names
  43. Book Review
  44. Book Review: Geochemical Rate Models: An Introduction to Geochemical Kinetics
  45. Book Review
  46. Book Review: Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History
  47. Erratum
  48. Calibration of Fe XANES for high-precision determination of Fe oxidation state in glasses: Comparison of new and existing results obtained at different synchrotron radiation sources
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2017-5870
Keywords for this article
Carbonatite; baddeleyite; baghdadite; zircon; silicate-carbonate melt; experimental petrology

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Review: Minerals in the Human Body
  2. Mineral precipitation and dissolution in the kidney
  3. Special Collection: Nanominerals and Mineral Nanoparticles
  4. Luogufengite: A new nano-mineral of Fe2O3 polymorph with giant coercive field
  5. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  6. Column anion arrangements in chemically zoned ternary chlorapatite and fluorapatite from Kurokura, Japan
  7. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  8. Magmatic graphite inclusions in Mn-Fe-rich fluorapatite of perphosphorus granites (the Belvís pluton, Variscan Iberian Belt)
  9. Special Collection: Apatite: A Common Mineral, Uncommonly Versatile
  10. Barometric constraints based on apatite inclusions in garnet
  11. Special collection: Olivine
  12. A comparison of olivine-melt thermometers based on DMg and DNi: The effects of melt composition, temperature, and pressure with applications to MORBs and hydrous arc basalts
  13. Special collection: Dynamics of magmatic processes
  14. Water transfer during magma mixing events: Insights into crystal mush rejuvenation and melt extraction processes
  15. Special collection: Rates and depths of magma ascent on earth
  16. A new clinopyroxene-liquid barometer, and implications for magma storage pressures under Icelandic rift zones
  18. The S content of silicate melts at sulfide saturation: New experiments and a model incorporating the effects of sulfide composition
  20. Bond valence and bond energy
  22. Fluvial transport of impact evidence from cratonic interior to passive margin: Vredefort-derived shocked zircon on the Atlantic coast of South Africa
  24. Iron partitioning in natural lower-mantle minerals: Toward a chemically heterogeneous lower mantle
  26. Identifying biogenic silica: Mudrock micro-fabric explored through charge contrast imaging
  28. Compressibility and high-pressure structural behavior of Mg2Fe2O5
  30. Thermo-elastic behavior of grossular garnet at high pressures and temperatures
  32. Experimental constraints on the stability of baddeleyite and zircon in carbonate- and silicate-carbonate melts
  34. Polarized FTIR spectroscopic examination on hydroxylation in the minerals of the wolframite group, (Fe,Mn,Mg)[W,(Nb,Ta)][O,(OH)]4
  36. Tourmaline-rich features in the Heemskirk and Pieman Heads granites from western Tasmania, Australia: Characteristics, origins, and implications for tin mineralization
  38. Ca L2,3-edge near edge X-ray absorption fine structure of tricalcium aluminate, gypsum, and calcium (sulfo)aluminate hydrates
  40. Fluorwavellite, Al3(PO4)2(OH)2F·5H2O, the fluorine analog of wavellite
  42. New Mineral Names
  43. Book Review
  44. Book Review: Geochemical Rate Models: An Introduction to Geochemical Kinetics
  45. Book Review
  46. Book Review: Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History
  47. Erratum
  48. Calibration of Fe XANES for high-precision determination of Fe oxidation state in glasses: Comparison of new and existing results obtained at different synchrotron radiation sources
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 30.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am-2017-5870/html
Scroll to top button