Apatite as probe for the halogen composition of metamorphic fluids (Bamble Sector, SE Norway)

• Halogen composition of replaced apatite formed during a regional metasomatic event (Bamble Sector, SE Norway) reveals information about the composition and evolution of the hydrothermal fluid. Infiltration and pervasive fluid flow of highly saline fluids into gabbroic bodies lead to scapolitization and amphibolitization, where magmatic Cl-rich apatite reacts with the hydrothermal fluid to form OH- and/or F-rich apatite. Apatite from highly altered samples adjacent to the shear zone has highest F (up to 15,000 µg/g) and lowest Br (4–25 µg/g) concentrations, whereas apatite from least altered samples has very low F (30–200 µg/g) and high Br (30–85 µg/g). In addition, individual replaced apatite grains show a zonation in F with high concentrations along rims and cracks and low F in core regions. Iodine concentrations remain rather constant as low values of 0.18–0.70 µg/g. We interpret all observed compositional features of replaced apatite to be the result of a continuous evolution of the fluid during fluid–rock interaction. Due to its high compatibility, F from the infiltrating fluid is incorporated early into recrystallized apatite (close to shear zone and rims of individual apatite grains). In contrast, Br as an incompatible halogen becomes enriched in the fluid and is highest in the most evolved fluid. Using experimental partition data between replaced apatite and fluid, we calculated F concentrations of the evolving fluid to decrease from 60 to <1 µg/g and Br to increase from ~1200 to ~5000 µg/g; I concentrations of the fluid are constant in the order of 370 µg/g. Although Cl is expected to show a similar behavior as Br, replaced apatite has constant Cl concentrations throughout the alteration sequence (~1 wt.%), which is likely the result of a rather constant Cl activity in the fluid. Chlorine stable isotope values of individual apatite grains are heterogeneous and range from −1.2 to +3.7 ‰. High δ 37Cl values are generally correlated with OH-rich zones of replaced apatite, whereas low δ 37Cl values are measured in F-rich zones of replaced apatite and in Cl-apatite of probably magmatic origin. Though apatite δ 37Cl values follow the general bulk trend, the individual δ 37Cl signature seems to reflect the highly localized composition of interfacial fluid at the reaction front. Our observations suggest that apatite can be used as a fluid probe for F, Br, and I to detect a compositional evolution of the fluid, which can be quantified by using experimentally derived partition coefficients. Partitioning of Cl and Cl stable isotopes between highly saline fluids and apatite is complex and likely controlled by more unknown factors than just the Cl concentration.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

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