Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
-
Thomas Götte
,
Thomas Pettke
Abstract
Relationships between cathodoluminescence spectra and trace element contents of hydrothermal α-quartz including hydrogen species are characterized for crystals from Gigerwald (Switzerland) and Rohdenhaus (West Germany) grown under highly different physico-chemical conditions and related to growth fabrics visualized by classical cathodoluminescence microscopy.
Distinct emission bands at 395, 448, 503, 569, and 648 nm determine the spectral characteristics of cathodoluminescence images. Aluminum, Li, and H are the most important trace elements as determined by LA-ICP-MS and IR spectroscopy, reaching up to 6000 μmol/mol Al3+, 3300 μmol/mol Li+, and 5000 μmol/mol H+. Germanium, B, and Na are present at less than a few μmol/mol concentrations. A large amount of H is present in structurally bound water. AlOH-defects are also common, whereas LiOH- and SiOH-defects play only a minor role.
Fast grown zones contain Li+ and H+ concentrations too low to compensate the charge deficit if all measured Al substitutes for Si4+ in the quartz structure. This indicates the occurrence of intrinsic defects such as oxygen deficiency centers, which are assumed to affect the luminescence properties. Lithium abundances correspond to [AlO4|Li]-defects, correlated to the unstable intensity at 395 nm, but the correlation is different for both localities. This is inconsistent with a simple causal relationship between Al-Li-centers and the emission at 395 nm. Conversion of [AlO4|Li]-defects to [AlO4]0-defects by natural irradiation is a possible explanation for this discrepancy. The increase of the intensity at 648 nm is not proportional to SiOH concentration as suggested in the literature, indicating that other precursor defects such as peroxy-linkages are more important. The decay of the intensity at 395 nm is much more rapid than the increase at 648 nm, excluding a coupling between these processes.
Trace element incorporation in slowly grown hydrothermal quartz crystals is a direct function of fluid chemistry and temperature for a specific growth sector. Because quartz grows during extended periods of hydrothermal activity, changes in trace element inventory as visualized by cathodoluminescence may identify significant changes in growth conditions, which likely remain unrecognized during sample characterization with conventional microscopy.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
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Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
- Fast ion conduction character and ionic phase-transition in silver sulfosalts: The case of fettelite [Ag6As2S7][Ag10HgAs2S8]
- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
- Formation conditions for triple-chain silicates
- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
- PVT equation of state of epsilon iron and its densities at inner core conditions
- Pressure-induced structural phase transition of the iron end-member of ringwoodite (g-Fe2SiO4) investigated by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
- Non-bridging oxygen and high-coordinated aluminum in metaluminous and peraluminous calcium and potassium aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 17O and 27Al MAS NMR results
- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
- Cranswickite MgSO4·4H2O, a new mineral from Calingasta, Argentina
- Ambrinoite, (K,NH4)2(As,Sb)8S13·H2O, a new mineral from Upper Susa Valley, Piedmont, Italy: The first natural (K,NH4)-hydrated sulfosalt
- Single-crystal Raman spectroscopy of natural schafarzikite FeSb2O4 from Pernek, Slovak Republic
- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
- Icosahedrite, Al63Cu24Fe13, the first natural quasicrystal
- Sulfides from martian and lunar basalts: Comparative chemistry for Ni, Co, Cu, and Se
