Mineral chemistry and genesis of monazite-(Sm) and monazite-(Nd) from the Blue Beryl Dyke of the Julianna pegmatite system at Piława Górna, Lower Silesia, Poland

Abstract

Monazites are one of the most interesting groups of accessory mineral components of crystalline rocks due to the information on geochemical evolution of the crystallisation environment coded in their chemical compositions, in addition to comprising one of the most valuable objects for geochronology studies. This paper presents monazite-(Sm) and monazite-(Nd) from the Blue Beryl Dyke of the Julianna system of rare-element pegmatites at Piława Górna, Lower Silesia, Poland. These monazites are unique due to their unusually high Sm and Nd contents, reaching 33.22 wt.% Sm2O3 and 34.12 wt.% Nd2O3, respectively. We consider the most significant factors of the enrichment in Sm and Nd to be the occurrence of highly fractionated pegmatite-forming melts during the final stages of solidification and associated hydrothermal fluids that were strongly enriched in rare earth element REE–Cl and REE–F complexes. Local disequilibria allowed for the rapid growth of accessory phases under supercooling conditions associated with the scavenging of selected elements, leading to their local depletion, which was not balanced by diffusion processes. As a consequence, the depletion of light rare earth elements (LREE) led to the incorporation of available middle rare earth elements (MREE, Sm–Dy) in the case of Sm and Nd, which could occupy an acceptable structural position in minerals of the monazite group.