CORUNDUM-GROUP MINERALS IN ROCKS OF THE KHIBINY ALKALINE PLUTON, KOLA PENINSULA

Abstract

Five minerals of the corundum group have been identified in the Khibiny pluton with certainty. Corundum proper and karelianite occur only in hornfels after volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Xenoliths of hornfels mark the ring faults that bound foidalite within the field of foyaite. Hematite occurs in hydrothermally altered nepheline syenite and crosscutting hydrothermal veins related to the ring faults. Minerals of the ilmenite-pyrophanite series are present in all rocks of the pluton, including veins. Accessory ilmenite in foyaite varies from the manganese variety and pyrophanite in the inner and outer parts of the pluton to manganese-free ilmenite in zone of the Main Ring Fault. In xenoliths of volcanic rocks and alkaline ultramafic rocks, ilmenite is enriched in magnesium. The zoning in distribution of the above-mentioned minerals and the character of variation in their compositions from margins of the pluton to its center are consistent with the petrochemical zoning formed as a result of foyaite alteration of near ring faults.