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Columbite-tantalite group minerals are the most common Nb-Ta minerals. Columbite-tantalite is particularly suitable for U-Pb dating due to its high U and low common Pb contents. In situ isotopic dating of columbite-tantalite by LA-ICP-MS or SIMS requires certified reference material to properly account for potential matrix effects linked to substitutions between Nb and Ta and between Mn and Fe. Our study has two objectives: i) establish a database of reference materials for in situ U-Pb isotopic dating of columbite-tantalite minerals and ii) test the capability of SIMS to in situ U-Pb date columbite-tantalite minerals of different chemical composition. Tests of in situ U-Pb dating demonstrate that SIMS can easily be used to date columbite-tantalite minerals with errors and precisions overlapping the reference ID-TIMS age. There are, however, significant matrix effects for non-matching Nb-Ta-Fe-Mn compositions of sample and reference material. Matrix effects are highly correlated with the Ta/(Ta+Nb) ratio of columbite-tantalite, due to the significant difference in the atomic mass of Nb and Ta. The Mn/(Mn+Fe) ratio does not significantly contribute to the observed matrix effect as the two elements have similar atomic masses. The linear correlation between Ta/(Nb+Ta) and ((206 Pb/ 238 U) SIMS /(206 Pb/ 238 U) ID-TIMS) obtained for columbite-tantalite minerals of known ID-TIMS age demonstrates that the SIMS matrix-effect can be properly accounted for by using the chemical composition as determined by EMPA. The ability to measure 204 Pb by SIMS also allows the use of reference materials with a small common lead contribution and to calculate accurate and precise ages for columbite-tantalite minerals with contributions of common lead.

International audienceIn the Tanco pegmatite, one of the world's major Ta deposits, tantalum mineralization shows a complexity that reflects the complex petrogenesis of its host pegmatite. Micas are common in most of the pegmatite units and are intimately associated with the successive stages of Ta mineralization, from the wall zone to the central zones where micaceous replacement is pervasive. Different generations of micas, both primary and secondary, associated with Ta oxides, were selected for electron microprobe and laser ablation ICP-MS investigation. Their chemical trends are used to constrain the magmatic versus hydrothermal processes that played a role in their crystallization and their associated Ta mineralization. Micas range from dioctahedral muscovite to trioctahedral lepidolite through Al↔Li substitution. Unexpectedly, the most evolved compositions (low K/Rb ratios and high Li contents) occur in the wall zone; they are interpreted to reflect nonequilibrium crystallization from an undercooled melt, with or without boundary layer effects. In the central zones, the fine-grained mica–quartz assemblage hosts some coarser-grained Li-muscovite, which has the highest Ta contents (up to 400 ppm). These Li–F–a-rich micas are interpreted to originate from a magmatic metasomatic event, which was also at the origin of the MQM-style Ta mineralization at Tanco. However, the Li–Ta-poor, muscovite end-member compositions of fine-grained alteration micas suggest crystallization from an aqueous fluid, during a metasomatic (hydrothermal) event involving late pegmatitic fluids. The low Ta concentrations (around 50 ppm) of this fine-grained muscovite suggest that this fluid transported at least small amounts of Ta

Aquesta és una còpia de la versió author's accepted manuscrit d'un article publicat a la revista Mineralogy and petrology Abstract The Cap de Creus granitic pegmatites in the eastern Catalan Pyrenees were dated using in situ U-Pb geochronology by laser ablation ICP-MS on zircon and columbite-group minerals (CGM), which are present in the different types of pegmatites from type I (K-feldspar pegmatites, least evolved) to type IV (albite pegmatites, most evolved) and therefore allow dating the different ManuscriptClick here to download Manuscript publication_text_v9. doc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 pegmatitic pulses. In a type III pegmatite where zircon and CGM are co-genetically associated in the same sample, both minerals were dated using zircon and tantalite reference materials, respectively, to avoid laser-induced matrix-dependent fractionation. In one sample, xenotime genetically associated with zircon was also dated. Two ages were obtained for type I and three ages for type III pegmatites. Three of these 5 ages range from 296.2 ± 2.5 to 301.9 ± 3.8 Ma and are allocated to the primary magmatic stage of crystallization and therefore to the emplacement event.Two younger ages (290.5 ± 2.5 and 292.9 ± 2.9 Ma) obtained on secondary zircon and xenotime, respectively, are interpreted as late post-solidus hydrothermal remobilization. There is no age difference between type I and type III pegmatites. The mean 299 Ma primary magmatic age allows the main late Carboniferous deformation event to be dated and is also synchronous with other peraluminous and calc-alkaline granites in the Pyrenees. However, the youngest ages around 292Ma imply that tectonics was still active in Early Permian times in the Cap de Creus area. IntroductionThe Cap de Creus peninsula (NE Spain) in the easternmost end of the Pyrenean Axial Zone is a remarkable center of interest for geologists because of its well-exposed outcrops that reveal a complex tectonic, metamorphic and magmatic history. Several episodes of deformation and regional metamorphism are accompanied by calc-alkaline and peraluminous magmatism and affected a late Proterozoic series of metasediments and metavolcanics during the Variscan orogeny. An important group of mineralized granitic pegmatites is associated with these tectonic events.The study of granitic pegmatites in Europe is gaining interest because these highly fractionated rocks are important sources of industrial minerals and strategic metals such as Li and the high field strength elements Nb-Ta and Sn (Linnen et al. 2012). In Europe rare-element granitic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 ...