INCLUSIONS IN CHRYSOLITE FROM THE KOVDOR MASSIF: GENETIC AND GEMMOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

Gem-quality chrysolite (peridot) from a phlogopite deposit related to the Kovdor ultrabasic-alkaline massif in the Kola Peninsula, Russia, was studied using a variety of techniques (optical mineralogical microscopy, chemical, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and photoluminescence) to determine its chemical composition, the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio, refraction indexes, density, as well as to examine inclusions in it. Much attention was devoted to the microprobe identification of crystalline inclusions in the host chrysolite (apatite, tetraferriphlogopite, amphibole, and magnetite), its exsolution products (diopside and magnetite), and the daughter phases of melt inclusions in this mineral (which were subdivided into primary and secondary genetic types). The daughter phases of these melt inclusions are silicates (forsterite, diopside, tetraferriphlogopite, clinohumite, and serpentine), various carbonates (Ca-dominated carbonates are characteristic of the primary inclusions, whereas Mg-rich carbonates were found only in the secondary inclusions), magnetite, djerfisherite (alkali sulfide), and Ba-Sr-REE carbonates. The presence of melt inclusions testifies to a magnatic genesis of the gem, and the simultaneous occurrence of these inclusions with crystalline inclusions can be used as an additional identification feature of gem chrysolite from the Kovdor Massif. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc. 2006.