THE HYDROUS COMPONENT of SILLIMANITE 8R3
American Mineralogist, Volume 74, pages812-817, 1989 The hydrous componentof sillimanite ANroN Brn-LNo* Gnoncn R. RossvreN Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,California Institute of Technology,Pasadena, California 91125, U.S.A. Eow.q.nnS. Gnnw Department of Geological Sciences,University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, U.S.A. Ansrnlcr Polarized infrared spectra of a suite of sillimanite samplesfrom high-grade regionally metamorphosedrocks and associatedquartz veins and pegmatites(upper-amphibolite to pyroxene granulite facies), from xenoliths in basaltic rocks, and from alluvial deposits indicate that hydroxyl is the dominant hydrous speciesbound in sillimanite. Absorption bands at 3556, 3329, 3300, and 3248 cm-L are characteristic of many of the samples. Heating experiments indicate that only above 700'C is weight loss primarily due to loss 'C. of structurally bound OH. Complete dehydration required heating to 1400 The max- imum content of bound OH in the sillimanites was 0.02 wto/oHrO equivalent. The inten- sities of the OH features generally decreasewith increasing temperatures estimated for metamorphism, consistentwith the expectationthat water activities decreasewith increas- ing temperature. However, notable exceptionsto this trend suggestthat secondaryhydra- tion at the unit-cell scaleis also a viable explanation for OH incorporation in sillimanite. INrnooucrrol,l ExpnnrvrnNTAl DETAILS Trace amounts of water have been reported in a num- The sillimanites listed in Table I originate from high- ber of nominally anhydrous minerals, including the grade regionally metamorphosed rocks and associated AlrSiO, polymorphs. Sillimanite analysesindicate up to quartz veins and pegmatites, from xenoliths in basaltic 0.72wto/oHrO (Aramakiand Roy, 1963;Deer etal., 1982', rocks, and from alluvial deposits (Rossmanet al., 1982 Beranet al., I 983).
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