Cu- and Mn-bearing tourmalines from Brazil and Mozambique: crystal structures, chemistry and correlations

Author(s)
Andreas Ertl, Gerald Giester, U. Schüssler, H. Brätz, M Okrusch, Ekkehart Tillmanns
Abstract

Cu- and Mn-bearing tourmalines from Brazil and Mozambique were characterised chemically (EMPA and LA-ICP-MS) and by X-ray single-crystal structure refinement. All these samples are rich in Al, Li and F (fluor-elbaite) and contain significant amounts of CuO (up to ~1.8 wt%) and MnO (up to ~3.5 wt%). Structurally investigated samples show a pronounced positive correlation between the distances and the (Li + Mn2+ + Cu + Fe2+) content (apfu) at this site with R 2 = 0.90. An excellent negative correlation exists between the distances and the Al2O3 content (R 2 = 0.94). The samples at each locality generally show a strong negative correlation between the X-site vacancies and the (MnO + FeO) content. The Mn content in these tourmalines depends on the availability of Mn, on the formation temperature, as well as on stereochemical constraints. Because of a very weak correlation between MnO and CuO we believe that the Cu content in tourmaline is essentially dependent on the availability of Cu and on stereochemical constraints.

Organisation(s)
Department of Mineralogy and Crystallography
External organisation(s)
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
Journal
Mineralogy and Petrology
Volume
107
Pages
265-279
No. of pages
15
ISSN
0930-0708
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-012-0234-6
Publication date
2013
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105116 Mineralogy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/9cee6524-bbed-4bb5-835f-159324febf78