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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Gabal El-Ineigi fluorite-bearing rare-metal granite with A-type affinity, located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt, is distinguished by its abundance of large fluorite-quartz veins and mafic enclaves. Plagioclase (labradorite to oligoclase), Mg-rich biotite, and Mg-rich hornblende are the main components of mafic enclaves, with significant amounts of fluorite as essential phases, and titanite and Fe-Ti oxides (Nb-free rutile and ilmenite-rutile solid solution) as the main accessories. These enclaves are monzodioritic in composition, Si-poor, and highly enriched in Ca, Fe, Mg, and F compared to the host alkali feldspar F-poor Si-rich granites. Given the conflicting evidence for a restitic, xenolithic, magma mixing/mingling, cumulate, or bimodal origin for these enclaves, we propose that the mafic enclaves and felsic host granites are two conjugate liquids, with contrasting compositions, of a single parental melt. This is inferred by the normalized REE patterns that are similar. As a result, liquid immiscibility is proposed as a probable explanation for this mafic–felsic rock association. These enclaves can be interpreted as transient melt phases between pure silicate and calcium-fluoride melts that are preserved from the early stages of separation before evolving into a pure fluoride (Ca-F) melt during magma evolution. Due to element partitioning related to melt unmixing, the enclaves are preferentially enriched in Ca, F, Li, Y, and REE and depleted in HFSE (such as Zr, U, Th, Ta, Nb, Hf, and Ga) in comparison to the host granites. Furthermore, mafic enclaves exhibit W-type tetrad effects, while host granites exhibit M-type tetrad effects, implying that the REE partitioning, caused by liquid immiscibility, is complementary.

Details

Title
Origin of Amphibole-Biotite-Fluorite-Rich Enclaves from Gabal El-Ineigi Fluorite-Bearing Granite, Central Eastern Desert of Egypt: Insights into Fluoride–Calcium and Silicate Liquid Immiscibility
Author
El-Dokouny, Hanaa A 1 ; Mahdy, Nasser M 2 ; El Hadek, Hany H 3 ; Mabrouk Sami 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Abart, Rainer 5 ; Ahmed, Mohamed S 6 ; Zafar, Tehseen 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sanislav, Ioan V 8 

 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Menoufiya University, Gamal Abd El Nasr St., Shebin El-Kom 32958, Menoufia, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Nuclear Materials Authority, El-Maadi, Cairo P.O. Box 530, Egypt 
 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia 61519, Egypt; [email protected]; Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria 
 Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria 
 Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; [email protected] 
 School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 
 Economic Geology Research Centre (EGRU), College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; [email protected] 
First page
670
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
2075163X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2819476974
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.