Formation Conditions and 40Ar/39Ar Age of the Gem-Bearing Boqueirão Granitic Pegmatite, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

The BoqueirAo granitic pegmatite, alias Alto da Cabeca pegmatite, is situated in Borborema Pegmatitic Province (BPP) in Northeast Brazil. This pegmatitic province hosts globally important reserves of tantalum and beryllium, as well as significant quantities of gemstones, including aquamarine, morganite, and the high-quality turquoise-blue Paraiba Elbaite. The studied lithium-cesium-tantalum BoqueirAo granitic pegmatite intruded meta-conglomerates of the Equador Formation during the late Cambrian (502.1 +/- 5.8 Ma; Ar-40/Ar-39 plateau age of muscovite). The pegmatite exhibits a typical zonal mineral pattern with four defined zones (Zone I: muscovite, tourmaline, albite, and quartz; Zone II: K-feldspar (microcline), quartz, and albite; Zone III: perthite crystals (blocky feldspar zone); Zone IV: massive quartz). Huge individual beryl, spodumene, tantalite, and cassiterite crystals are common as well. Microscopic examinations revealed that melt inclusions were entrapped simultaneously with fluid inclusions, suggesting the magmatic-hydrothermal transition. The magmatic-hydrothermal transition affected the evolution of the pegmatite, segregating volatile compounds (H2O, CO2, N-2) and elements that preferentially partition into a fluid phase from the viscous silicate melt. Fluid inclusion studies on microcline and associated quartz combined with microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy gave an insight into the P-T-X characteristics of entrapped fluids. The presence of spodumene without other LiAl(SiO3)(2) polymorphs and constructed fluid inclusion isochores limited the magmatic-hydrothermal transition at the gem-bearing BoqueirAo granitic pegmatite to the temperature range between 300 and 415 degrees C at a pressure from 1.8 to 3 kbar.