Canadian Mineralogist Yol. 22, pp. 417421 (1984)

FIELDRELATIONS AND CHEMISTRYOF SAPPHIRINE.BEARING ROCKSFROM THE R'@RNESUNDAREA. FISKENESSET,WESTERN GREENLAND

HOWARD R. WILLIAMS Dewrtnent of Geologicol Sciences,Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3Al

ABSTRACT (1910),has sincebeen found worldwide in hig[-grade met?morphic rocks of diverse composition and his- Two contrasting sapphirine-bearing assemblagesare tory (Hiegins et al. 1979).This paper dessribestlree described: a higbly maguesianone, developed sporadical- more sapphirine-bearing localities some 50 kn east ly at the upper contact of the FisketrEssetComplex in as- of the tlpe locality. Herd et al. (1969) and Herd sociation with layeredultramafic rocks, and the other, more (1973) reinvestigated the Fiskenaessetlocality, iron-rich, in the amphibolite bordering the Complex. Miner- describing it in detail; the sapphirine was found to al assemblagesdescribed (1) are oftwo kincls: iron-poor: be associatedwitl rocks marginal to the Fiskenas- enstatite - phlogopite - olivine - pargasite - - sapphirine (Windley spinel, gedrite - sapphirine - spinel, and enstatite - gedrite set Complex et al. 1973). - phlogopite - sapphirine - spi4el; (2) iron-rich: magnesio- The tlree occurrencesdescribed in this paper have hornblende - sapphirine - spinel - anorthite. Only the iron- similar field relations to the classicFiskenasset lo- poor sapphirine-bearing assemblagesand their associates cality Gig. l). The local geologyis dominatedby a are characterizedby the presenceof accessoryapatite, ru- high-eradequartzofeldspathic gneiss terrane contain- tile and zircon, which may indicate a possible sedimentary ing intercalated layers of amphibolite and outlying origin for at least some of the sapphirine-bearing materi- parts of the Fiskenessetgemplex. Petrographic evi- al. The iron-rich assemblageis found within rocks consi- dence indicates that these rocks failed to enter dered to be entirely of igneous origin. eranulite-facies conditions during late Archean (Williams Keywords: sapphirine, west Greenland, chemistry, petrol- met?morphism 1973). ogy, Fiskenesset Complex. Two types of sapphirine-bearing lithology are described,with contrasting mineralogy and minsl{ chemistry. Both fit into the classification systempro- Souuarnr posed by Herd et al. (L969).

On d6crit deux assemblagese sapphirine du complexe PETRocRAPHY AND MINERALOGY oF SAPPHIRN.IE. de Fiskenesset (Groilnland occidental). Le premier, trts BEARING LITHOLOGIES AND ASSOCIATED ROCKS magndsien, apparalt par ci, par li au contact supdrieur, associ€aux roches ultramafiques stratifides. L'autre, plus Iron-poor assemblages riche en fer, setrouve d4ns les amphibolites en bordure du Two examplesof an iron-poor sapphirine-bearing complexe. On note les assemblagessuivants: (l) dans les between the roches i faible teneur etr fer: enstatite - phlogopite - oli- assemblage occur at the contact vine - pargasite - sapphirine - spinelle, gedrite - sapphi- Fiskenesset Complex and amphibolite (Fig. lb). rine - spinelle,et enstatite- gedrite - phlogopite - sapphirine Four distinct parageneseshave beenrecopized (Ia- - spinelle; (2) dans les roches riches en fer, magn6sio- ble 1). Where present, sapphirine oscurs as rims hornblende - sapphirine - spinelle - anorthite. Seuls les around spinel blasts up to l0 mm acrossin a matrix assemblagesd sapphirine pauvres en fer, et les assembla- containingrelics of olivine and enstatitewithin ged- gesqui leur sont associds,contiennent apatite, rutile et zir- rite and phlogopite. The gedrite and enstatiteare g6a ggmms min6raux accessoires,ce qui fait penser d une straw-colored in hand specimen and predominate origine s6dimentaire pour partie au moins une des roches over oliyine, pargasite and phlogopite, which are ir- d sapphirine. L'assemblage riche en fer, par contre, se and spinel trouve dans desroches dont I'origine est considdrdecomme regularly distributed. Where sapphirine purement ign6e. are present, amphibole and mica commonly radiate from them. Clraduit par la R€daction) In thin section, amphibole and sapphirine are colorless; the spinel is palest blue and phlogopite is Mots-clds: sapphirine, Groihland oocidental, chimisme, pale brown. Grains of amphibole and nica clearly p6trologie, complexe de Fiskenesset. replace olivine and enstatite. However, spinel may be intergrown symplectitically with gedrite, and is commonly rimmed by both gedrite and phlogopite. INTRoDUcTIoN Spinel and olivine are found as large blasts with in- Sapphirine, first described from the Fiskenasset clusions of rutile, zircon and apatite. Anorthitic district of western Greenland in 1809 by Giesecke plagioclaseis rarely found but occurs enclosing eu- 4t7 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST

Ftc. l. (a) Map showing sapphirine localities; inset left indicates position of (a) within Greenland. Positions of Figure lb and lc are indicated. Stipple: amphibolite and anorthosite in the Bjdrnound area only. O) Ceological map of tle two iron-poor sapphirineoccurrences. Insets indicate detailedrelationships. (c) Geologicalmap of relatively iron-rich sapphirine occurrence. SAPPHIRINE.BEARING ROCKS FROM WESTERN GREENLAND 4t9

'I. hedral gedrite needlespoikiloblastically. In general, TABLE MINERALASSEI4BLAGES AND HERD CLASSIFICATION SAPPHIRINE-BEARINGAND ASsOCIATED ROCKS these four lithologies show abundant textural evi- OF IRON-POOR dence for rnineral disequilibrium, with particularly Sample Paraqenesls Herd Class complicated textural relationships. 106619 Enstatl te-ph] ogopite-o l i vl ne-pargaslte- AlBn The four lithologies are developedoverlying and sapphirine-sp I nel -zl rcontanorthlte within magnetite- and pleonaste-rich dunites and 'l I nel -ruti e-apatl te C peridotites, which occur as well-layered, discontilu- 106622 Gedrite-sapphi ri ne-sp 106625 Gedrlte-phlogoplte-anorthite No sapph. ous lensesalong the upper anorthositic contact. In- Type 3 terlayered with these ultramafic units are thin lay- 106626 Enstati te-gedrite-ph l ogopi te-sapphirine- AlC ers of marble. High chromium and niqkel splnel -zl rcon-ruti l e concentrations in the ultramafic rocks suggestanl ig- Sanples are ldentified by thelr GreenlandGeological survey neous origin. Locally derived pegmatites of div$rse (G.G.U.)number. Material is housedat the Unlversity of 'granitic' compositions are comm.only associaited Exeter, U.K. with the zoneof contact betweenthe ulhamafic rd,cks and the amphibolite. They range in compositiion from true granite through syenite to subsilicic robks Anorthite-rich plagioclase,magnetite and corundum containing only albite and corundum (plumasife). occur as accessories,in bands parallel to the folia- tion. Corundu'n and magnetite appear to have Iron-rich assembloge formed from the breakdown of spinel, whereaszoi- site formed from the degradation of anorthite. The An exampleof an iron-rich sapphirine-bearingas- generaltexture of amphibole, spinel, sapphirine and (GGU semblage 10479) is found near the nortlbrn anorthite is one of mineral equilibrium, with simple parag(ne- end of Bjdrnesund (Fig. lc), and has the grain-boundaries and triple-point contacts. sis magncio-hornglende - sapphirine- spinel - a4or- thte a magnetite t corundum t zoisite QIerdt[pe B). The sapphirine is contained within a sacchafoi- MINERAL CHEMISTRY OF THE SEPPHNTNS-SEARTNIC dal hornblende-rich rock found withiu fine-grained LITHOLOGIES amphibolites lying structurally above the Fiskenas- set Complex. Composed chiefly of slightly foliated The sapphirine-bearinglithologies and associated pale green granoblastic magnesio-hornblende, the rocks have been analyzed (Table 2). Except for rock contains medium blue, pleochroic sapphirine 106619,there is little evidenceof compositional zon- and olive green aluminous spinel as elongate grains ing; therefore, the compositionsare consideredto up to 1 mm asross.Sapphirine commonly includes represent the typical chemistry of each phase. The spinel and, in some instances, perhaps replaces it. composition of olivine, enstatite and phlogopite in

TABLE2. COI4POSITIONOF SAPPHIRINE AND ASSOCIATED MINERALS

n6a2z1 I 066261 I 066191 rc47gg2 Spr # Spl Opx Ged Spr Spl Opx Ged Phl Hbl Opx 0l Spr SPI Hbl si02 tr. 56.1 46,4 14.0 56.4 5l.5 40.3 50.7 58.6 42.7 13.3 tr' 45.7 Ti02 tr. 0.02 0.1 0.3 0.04 tr. 0.03 - 0.6 0.77 0.07 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.2 Al^0^ 66.I 68.3 3,47 17.4 62,5 68.5 3.01 16.4 17.2 9.09 2.11 tr. 63.5 65.0 15.? 18.8 7.16 Fe0 J.l t 0.I 6.54 5.5 ?.4 8.1 6.31 5.27 2.13 1.62 3.82 4.M 5.91 Mn0 0.03 0.03 u.uo 0.03 0.lI 0.06 0.06 0.09 0.12 .16.0 Mso t 9.4 21,9 34.8 25.7 20.4 23.6 35.0 26.8 24.5 21.3 37.3 53.6 17.6 15.5 Ca0 o_ou 0.63 tr. 0.03 0.46 tr. 12.9 0.0s 0.03 0.01 0.02 IL6 Na20 : 1.84 tr. - u.v4 l.1 l tr. tr. l.l4 Kr0 u.uJ 0.02 - 7.8 - 0'16 fnO 0.02 tr. tr. 0.16 0.28 0.05 "'2-3 0.12 0.02 0.02 .l01.0 Tota l 101.8loo.4 97.7 99.3 100.0100.7 100.4 93.4 97.4 101.9 100.8 100.4 99.6 97,1

Mg/(l,tg+Fe)0.92 0.78 0.90 0.89 0.94 0.84 0.91 0.90 0.9s 0.96 0.95 0.96 0.84 0.60 0.80

l. SeeTable I for iron-poor assemblages.2. Iron-rich assenblage..# Analyst,..J.C..Bevan..Abbreviations: ollvlne' Spr sapphlrine, Spl splnel, Opx orthopyroxene,Ged gedrite, Phl -phlogopJte'Hbl hornblende'ul ti.. trirte. foiat'jron'calculaLed as Feb-. Prob6 condilions ts tcalcite The sapphirine compositions, plotted on an - magFetite - pleonaste. Al2O3-SiO2-(MgO+FeO) diagram, lie within the The distinction betweenthe two sapphirine-bearing linear zone (Fig. 3) defined by most previous data groups ofrocks basedon host lithologies and mineral lcl, Hissins et sl. (L979)1. assemblagesis confirmed by the Mg,/Fe ratio of the component minerals. The distribution of iron and DrscussroN magnesium between sapphirine and spinel (Fig. 2) shows that whereas the values of the MgAe ratio The compositional data for the minerals indicate of the coexistingminelds are very different, the dis- that tle sapphirine-bearing rocks are typically aluminous and subsilicic.Whereas rocls of this com- position commonly are also ma$resian, tle assem- blage in specimenLMT99shows that the presenceof iron doesnot preclude the formation of sapphirine. The late-stage nature of both amphibole and mica in the iron-poor rocks suggeststhat they grew dur- ing movementof alkalis from neighboringquartzo- feldspathic rocks into the aluminous lithologies, a process documented by Fowler et al. (1981) a's E having occurred over significant areas in the 'ac Fiskenasset region. 6 o Iron-rich aluminous spinel (pleonaste) and xE magnetite so charasteristic of the layered ultramafic units are not found in the iron-poor sapphirine- bearing rocks, despitetheir very close associationin space (Fig. lb inset). Perhaps this is an indication that the sapphirine-bearing rocks were not derived from them. This is supported by the common presence of rutile, apatite and zircon in the sapphirine-bearing rocks, but not in the ultramafic Xmg Sopphirino rocks. Preservation of undoubted metasedimentsat an identical stratigraphic horizon elsewherein tle (Windley et al. 1973) reinforces the FIc.2. Magnesium-iron region distribution diagram for sapphi- mineralogical protolith rine - spinel pairs. Kp line after Lal et al. (1978). evidence for a sedimentary for the sapphirine-bearing rocks. The relatively iron-rich sapphirine assemblageon the Bjdrnesund shore contains no evidence of a possiblesedimentary origin; in general,the surround- ing lithologies are thought to be the metamorphosed equivalents of a supracrustal volcanis assemblage. The two contasting types of sapphirine-bearing assemblagere+mphasize tle work of Warren $n9), that chemicalrequirements for sapphirine formation are diverse and sufficiently lax to allow the minelnl to form in a variety of aluminous environments at high gradesof metamorphism.

42444646sO AcKNowLEDGEIVIENTS moleo/o AlrO" Provision of exploratory microprobe facilities at Ftc. 3. Sapphirine compositions (microprobe data) from the British Museum (Natural History) is gratefully Table 2 plotted in a portion of the (Mg,Fe)O - AlzO: - SiO2 ternary system. Line joins ideal compo- acknowledged. Analytical work was completed sitions 2:2:1 and 7:9:3, and repraents the locus of com- during tenure of an IUC Fellowship at Leicester positions involving MgSi = AlAl solid solution. Solid University. Rob Wilson gave invaluable analytical circlesrepresent compositions from HiWjnset al, (1979), assistance,and Peter Brown produced the diagrams. from whose work the figure is adapted. Open circles This paper is pubtshed with the permission of the represent compositions of Bjdrnesund sapphirine. Director of the Geological Survey of Greenland. SAPPHIRINE.BEARING ROCKS FROM WESTERN GREENLAND 421

RSFERENcES Lar,, R.K., AcrenvANo,D., Surenr, F. & Har,orn, S.K. (1978): Chemographic relationships in Fowun, M.8., Wnuaus, H.R. & WrNpr.ev,B.F. sapphirine-bearingrocks from Sonapahar,Ass4m, (1981):The metasomaticdevelopment of zoned India. Contr. Mineral- Petrologlt el, rc9-$7. ultramafic balls from Fiskenasset,west Greenland. Minerol. Mag. 4, l7l-177. WennnN,R. G. (1979):Sapphirine-bearing rocks with sedimentaryand volcanogenicprotoliths from the Gnsncre,K.L. (1910):Karl Ludwig Gieseckesminer- Arunta Block. Nature n8, $9-161. alogisches Reisejournal ueber Groenland, 1806-1813.Medd. Grdnland 35, Wnuaus, H.R. (193): The Geologt of an Areo to the NE of Bjdrnesund, nearFiskenesset, West Green- HERD,R.K. (1973):Sapphirine and kornerupineoccur- Iand.Ph.D. thesis,Univ. Exeter,Exeter, lngland. renceswithin the FiskenressetComplex. Grdnlands Geol. Unders.,Rep. 51,65-71. Wnrolry, 8.F., Heno, R.K. & BowonN,A.A. (1973): The FiskenessetComplex, West Greenland. I. A -, WrNomy, B.F. & Grnsr.nR,M. (1969):The preliminary studyof the stratigraphy,petrology and mode of occrurence and petrogenesis of the whole rock chemistry. Grdnlands Geol. Unders., sapphirine-bearingand associatedrocks of west Bull.lM. Greenland. Grdnlands Geol. Unders,, Rep. 24,

Hrccrxs,J.8., Rnnn, P.H. & HERD,R.K. (1929):Sap- phirine. I. Crystal chemicalcontributions. Coafr. ReceivedApril 6, 1983,revised manuscript accepted Mineral. Petrologlt 68, 349-356. November 10, 1983.