Comparative Study on the Origin and Characteristics of Chinese (Manas) and Russian (East Sayan) Green Nephrites

Abstract

Green nephrites are widely pursued for their mild texture and vivid color. In recent years, many Russian green nephrites appeared in China (the world’s largest nephrite market) and competed with the Chinese Manas green nephrites, which are traditionally highly valued. In this study, we compared the appearance, mineralogy and geochemical features (with EPMA and LA-ICP-MS) of Chinese (Manas) and Russian (East Sayan) green nephrites to objectively characterize and distinguish between these two nephrites. Chinese (Manas) and Russian (East Sayan) green nephrites are mined from serpentinized ultramafic units in the northern Tian Shan and East Sayan orogen, respectively. In terms of appearance, the Manas green nephrites are slightly bluish or grayish, whilst their East Sayan counterparts are brighter (duck-egg cyan). The Manas nephrites commonly have a caramel color, crumple structure, characteristic white globules and sinuous veins, green stains and yellow–green veins, together with a local fibrous structure. The East Sayan green nephrites are more transparent, with a gentler fine texture, uniform color, many black spots and a few green spots. Some green nephrites from the Arahushun mine of East Sayan have an ice-like appearance. Microscopic petrography and EPMA analysis indicate that both the Manas and East Sayan green nephrites comprise mainly tremolite with minor actinolite. Minor minerals in the Manas samples include chromite, chlorite-group minerals, and uvarovite; whilst those in the East Sayan samples include actinolite, chromite, chlorite-group minerals, and bornite. Bornite is not found in any other sources of green nephrite, and thus is characteristic of Russian (East Sayan) green nephrites. LA-ICP-MS trace element data in their amphiboles and Single-Factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results suggest that the differences in Cr, Zn, Y, Ba, and Sr contents and values of δEu, Eu/Sm, (La/Yb)N, (La/Sm)N, (Gd/Yb)N, ∑HREE, ∑LREE/∑HREE between the two nephrites are present, and can be used as their origin trace.