Abstract
Abstract. Hydrothermal quartz crystals, which occur in the Rusey Fault Zone (Cornwall, UK), show feathery textures and network-like filamentous textures. Optical hot-cathodoluminescence (CL) analysis and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) investigations on quartz samples revealed that positions exhibiting feathery textures (violet luminescence) contain higher amounts of Al and Li than quartz positions without feathery textures (blue luminescence), while concentrations of Al and Li are significantly lower in feathery textures. Both Al and Li correlate negatively with Si. Raman spectroscopy investigations revealed the presence of a weak peak at 507–509 cm−1 in quartz affected by feathery textures, which we attribute to the presence of ≤ 5 % moganite, a microcrystalline silica polymorph, intergrown with chalcedony. The combined occurrence of feathery textures and network-like filamentous textures in quartz samples from the Rusey Fault Zone points to the presence of a metastable silica precursor (i.e., amorphous silica or silica gel) before or during the crystallization.
Subject
Paleontology,Stratigraphy,Earth-Surface Processes,Geochemistry and Petrology,Geology,Geophysics,Soil Science
Reference58 articles.
1. Adams, S. F.: A microscopic study of vein quartz, Econ. Geol., 15, 623–664, 1920.
2. Andrews, J. R., Day, J., and Marshall, J. E. A.: A thermal anomaly associated with the Rusey Fault and its implications for fluid movements, Proc. Ussher, 9, 68–71, 1996.
3. Braitsch, O.: Über die natürlichen Faser- und Aggregationstypen beim SiO2, ihre Verwachsungsformen, Richtungsstatistik und Doppelbrechnung, Heidelberger Beiträge zur Mineralogie und Petrographie, 5, 331–372, 1957.
4. Brinker, C. J. and Scherer, G. W.: Sol → ggel → glass: I. Gelation and gel structure, J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 70, 301–322, 1985.
5. British Geological Survey: Digital Geological Map of Great Britain 1 : 50 000 scale (DiGMapGB-50) data, Keyworth, Nottingham, tiles ew322, 2013.
Cited by
10 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献