AMNH EPS: Tin-bearing granites
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The solubility of tin, chlorine, and water in fluorine- and phosphorus-rich silicate magmas
Tin is an economically-important ore metal that is mined from rocks
associated with fluorine- and phosphorus-enriched granites. Some well-known tin provinces are located
in South America,
Europe, and southeast Asia. We are currently investigating the natural abundances of tin,
water, and chlorine in granitic magmas of the Erzgebirge region of southern
Germany. The concentrations are determined by both electron
and ion probe analyses of silicate melt inclusions trapped within the
quartz crystals of the granites. We are also determining how water,
chlorine, and tin dissolve into fluorine- and phosphorus-bearing
granitic melts. For example, we react cassiterite, the chief ore
mineral of tin, with molten granitic rocks at high temperature and
pressure in the experimental petrology laboratory at the American Museum; we then measure the
composition of the melts at the conclusion of the experiments. This research is providing
information that is needed to understand how tin deposits form and may provide
information on how to locate these deposits.
References
- Paparoni, G., Webster, J.D., and Walker, D. (1997) A new
experimental technique for the determination of tin solubilities in
silicate melts (abs). EOS (in press).
- Webster, J.D. (1997) Degassing of H2O-undersaturated Cl- ± F-, B-, P-, and C-bearing
felsic magmas (abs). 1997 IAVCEI Meeting, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico p.22.
- Paparoni, G. and Webster, J.D. (1997) Preliminary experimental results of water solubility and phase relations in F- and P-rich peraluminous melts (abs). 1997 IAVCEI Meeting, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico p.61.
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© 1997 The American Museum of Natural History.
