Mineralogy and Geochemical Evolution of the Little Three
American Mineralogist, Volume 71, pages 406427, 1986 Mineralogy and geochemicalevolution of the Little Three pegmatite-aplite layered intrusive, Ramona,California L. A. SrnnN,t G. E. BnowN, Jn., D. K. Brno, R. H. J*rNs2 Department of Geology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 E. E. Foono Branch of Central Mineral Resources,U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225 J. E. Snrcr,nv ResearchDepartment, Gemological Institute of America, 1660 Stewart Street,Santa Monica, California 90404 L. B. Sp.c,uLDrNG" JR. P.O. Box 807, Ramona,California 92065 AssrRAcr Severallayered pegmatite-aplite intrusives exposedat the Little Three mine, Ramona, California, U.S.A., display closelyassociated fine-grained to giant-texturedmineral assem- blageswhich are believed to have co-evolved from a hydrous aluminosilicate residual melt with an exsolved supercriticalvapor phase.The asymmetrically zoned intrusive known as the Little Three main dike consists of a basal sodic aplite with overlying quartz-albite- perthite pegmatite and quartz-perthite graphic pegmatite. Muscovite, spessartine,and schorl are subordinate but stable phasesdistributed through both the aplitic footwall and peg- matitic hanging wall. Although the bulk composition of the intrusive lies near the haplo- granite minimum, centrally located pockets concentratethe rarer alkalis (Li, Rb, Cs) and metals (Mn, Nb, Ta, Bi, Ti) of the system, and commonly host a giant-textured suite of minerals including quartz, alkali feldspars, muscovite or F-rich lepidolite, moderately F-rich topaz, and Mn-rich elbaite. Less commonly, pockets contain apatite, microlite- uranmicrolite, and stibio-bismuto-columbite-tantalite.Several ofthe largerand more richly mineralized pockets of the intrusive, which yield particularly high concentrationsof F, B, and Li within the pocket-mineral assemblages,display a marked internal mineral segre- gation and major alkali partitioning which is curiously inconsistent with the overall alkali partitioning of the system.
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