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The role of mineral nanoparticles at a fluid-magnetite interface: Implications for trace-element uptake in hydrothermal systems

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Published/Copyright: April 27, 2019
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 104 Issue 8

Abstract

The migrating fluid-mineral interface provides an opportunity for the uptake of trace elements as solid solutions in the newly formed crystal lattice during the non-equilibrium growth of the crystal. However, mineral nanoparticles could precipitate directly from the interfacial fluid when it evolves to a supersaturated situation. To better understand the role of mineral nanoparticles in this scenario, this study focuses on a well-documented magnetite with oscillatory zoning from a skarn deposit by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our results show that the Al concentration in magnetite measured on a micrometer-scale is caused by three different effects: Al solid solution, Al-rich nanometer-sized lamellae, and zinc spinel nanoparticles in the host magnetite. Here, we propose a genetic relationship among the three different phases mentioned above. At first, a continuous increase of the Al concentration in the interfacial fluid can be incorporated into the crystal lattice of magnetite forming a solid solution. During cooling in a later stage, aluminum in magnetite is oversaturated and exsolution of hercynite (Al-rich lamellae) occurs from the host magnetite. If the Al concentration at the fluid-magnetite interface still increases during further growth of magnetite, the substitution of Fe by Al has gradually reached saturation so that aluminum cannot be incorporated in the magnetite crystal structure any longer. Using the magnetite lattice as a template, nucleation of abundant zinc spinel nanoparticles occurs. This will, in turn, lead to a gradual depletion of Al concentration in the interfacial fluid until the available ions for zinc spinel nucleation and growth have been used up. As a result, the migrating fluid-magnetite interface will enrich the Al concentration in the interfacial fluid until the available ion concentration is sufficient for nucleation of zinc spinel phase again. The fluidmineral interface in this mechanism has been repeatedly utilized during crystal growth, providing an efficient way for the uptake of trace element from a related undersaturated bulk fluid.

Keywords: Fluid-mineral interface; mineral nanoparticle; hydrothermal magnetite; uptake of trace element

Acknowledgments

We thank Hang Zhang and Yuheng Guo for their assistance in the field and sample preparation, Anja Schreiber for FIB sample preparation, as well as a part of TEM result from JEOL Application Lab, Tokyo. We appreciate the associate editor Aaron Celestian for his handling of this manuscript and feel grateful for constructive comments and editorial suggestions from E. Bruce Watson and an anonymous reviewer.

  1. Funding: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (grant 41272079) and the National Basic Research Program of China (grant 2012CB416802).

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Received: 2019-02-11
Accepted: 2019-05-03
Published Online: 2019-04-27
Published in Print: 2019-08-27

© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  3. Experimental investigation of FeCO3 (siderite) stability in Earth’s lower mantle using XANES spectroscopy
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  5. Monazite and xenotime solubility in hydrous, boron-bearing rhyolitic melt
  6. Solving the iron quantification problem in low-kV EPMA: An essential step toward improved analytical spatial resolution in electron probe microanalysis—Olivines
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  8. Formation of saponite by hydrothermal alteration of metal oxides: Implication for the rarity of hydrotalcite
  9. Near end-member shenzhuangite, NiFeS2, found in Muong Nong-type tektites from Laos
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  11. The role of mineral nanoparticles at a fluid-magnetite interface: Implications for trace-element uptake in hydrothermal systems
  12. Melting temperature depression due to the electronic spin transition of iron
  13. Epidote spherulites and radial euhedral epidote aggregates in a greenschist facies metavolcanic breccia hosting an UHP eclogite in Dabieshan (China): Implication for dynamic metamorphism
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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2019-6996
Keywords for this article
Fluid-mineral interface; mineral nanoparticle; hydrothermal magnetite; uptake of trace element

Articles in the same Issue

  1. MSA Presidential Address
  2. Metamorphism and the evolution of subduction on Earth
  3. Experimental investigation of FeCO3 (siderite) stability in Earth’s lower mantle using XANES spectroscopy
  4. Comparison of fluid processes in coexisting wolframite and quartz from a giant vein-type tungsten deposit, South China: Insights from detailed petrography and LA-ICP-MS analysis of fluid inclusions
  5. Monazite and xenotime solubility in hydrous, boron-bearing rhyolitic melt
  6. Solving the iron quantification problem in low-kV EPMA: An essential step toward improved analytical spatial resolution in electron probe microanalysis—Olivines
  7. Transition metals in komatiitic olivine: Proxies for mantle composition, redox conditions, and sulfide mineralization potential
  8. Formation of saponite by hydrothermal alteration of metal oxides: Implication for the rarity of hydrotalcite
  9. Near end-member shenzhuangite, NiFeS2, found in Muong Nong-type tektites from Laos
  10. Pressure-induced velocity softening in natural orthopyroxene at mantle temperature
  11. The role of mineral nanoparticles at a fluid-magnetite interface: Implications for trace-element uptake in hydrothermal systems
  12. Melting temperature depression due to the electronic spin transition of iron
  13. Epidote spherulites and radial euhedral epidote aggregates in a greenschist facies metavolcanic breccia hosting an UHP eclogite in Dabieshan (China): Implication for dynamic metamorphism
  14. A new (Mg0.5Fe0.53+)(Si0.5Al0.53+)O3 LiNbO3-type phase synthesized at lower mantle conditions
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