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The distribution of the rare earth elements within the Carnmenellis pluton, Cornwall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

N. L. Jefferies*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, The University, North Park Road, Exeter, Devon

Abstract

The Carnmenellis pluton is a post-orogenic granite of Hercynian age, comprised largely of porphyritic biotite granites which possess LREE enriched patterns with slight negative Eu anomalies. Electron microprobe and ICP spectrometry data are presented for monazite, which occurs as an accessory mineral in all granite types, and it is demonstrated that this mineral is the principal host for LREE in the biotite granites. HREE are strongly partitioned into the accessory minerals xenotime, apatite, and zircon; only Eu substitutes significantly into the essential minerals. The behaviour of the REE during granite differentiation is controlled by the behaviour of the radioactive accessory minerals, which limits the usefulness of these elements in the petrogenetic modelling of granitic rocks.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1985

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Footnotes

*

Present address: Chemical Technology Division, Building 10.5, AERE, Harwell, Oxfordshire.

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