海蓝宝石的宝石矿物学特征及全球产地微量元素对比分析

Gemmological and Mineralogical Characteristics of Aquamarine and Comparative Analysis of Trace Elements from Global Origins

  • 摘要: 海蓝宝石是一种含Fe的宝石级蓝色绿柱石,是除祖母绿外绿柱石族的第二大宝石。近年来,海蓝宝石在市场上受到越来越多珠宝商的追捧和消费者的青睐,成为价格涨幅最高的宝石之一,极具经济价值和观赏价值。宝石的产地来源是影响其市场价格的重要因素之一,前人的研究内容主要集中于笼统的、单一产地海蓝宝石的颜色评价、宝石学性质以及包裹体成分等方面的探究1-8,但对不同产地海蓝宝石之间的鉴别特征研究仍相对欠缺,仅有个别产地的非全面对比9-12。因此,海蓝宝石的产地鉴别体系仍在探索阶段,需要更多的系统性资料和数据支撑。化学成分是产地鉴别的重要依据之一,矿物的成因探究、成矿机制及其形成环境变化等都会对其微量元素产生影响,故不同产地海蓝宝石的微量元素及其含量分析将有助于成矿过程的复写,也为产地鉴别提供更精准的数据支持。本次研究收集了全球12个产地的海蓝宝石(蓝色绿柱石)样品,如阿富汗、巴西、马达加斯加、莫桑比克、尼日利亚、纳米尼亚Erongo Volcanic Complex、巴基斯坦Skardu、越南NghệAn、越南Thanh Hoa、中国四川雪宝顶、中国云南元阳以及中国西藏错那洞等地区(图 1)。我们选取海蓝宝石样品的颜色均为浅蓝色-深蓝色,部分样品带有微弱绿色调。其中,越南、巴西样品的蓝色的饱和度高、明度适中,中国四川样品只带有轻微蓝色调,莫桑比克样品偏绿蓝色;所有海蓝宝石样品为不透明-透明,以半透明-透明为主,中国四川、莫桑比克、巴西、越南样品基本透明,莫桑比克样品的透明度较差;海蓝宝石样品的晶体粒径大小1~6 cm,具有长柱状、短柱状、板状以及致密的块状等多种形态,不同产地样品的结晶习性存在差异,如越南样品均为长柱状,尼日利亚、巴西、马达加斯加、中国西藏、中国云南样品以短柱状为主,中国四川样品为厚板状,阿富汗样品呈薄板状,莫桑比克样品都为致密块状。以上12个产地海蓝宝石样品均富含有形态各异的流体包裹体,例如,中国四川样品常见锯齿状三相流体包裹体(图 2a),中国云南样品存在短针状三相流体包裹体(图 2b),中国西藏样品可见具有彩虹干涉色的薄流体包裹体(图 2c)。使用拉曼光谱仪对流体包裹体成分进行测试,得到流体包裹体中液相成分均以H2O为主,气体部分为CO2与少量N2。CO2是C的最高价态,包裹体中流体中的CO2和H2O组分是氧化的最终产物,且所测试的流体包裹体从形态判断都为原生包裹体,所以可推断海蓝宝石样品可能在富流体的氧化环境中成矿13;阿富汗样品存在大量电气石共生的现象(图 2d),指示其成矿流体中存在大量B元素;纳米比亚样品中的萤石包裹体说明流体中有F元素的富集(图 2e);尼日利亚样品存在大量原生的磁黄铁矿包裹体,对应流体富S元素(图 2f),这三种元素都是流体活动性强的元素,也可以从侧面说明这些产地的海蓝宝石形成于富流体的环境中。从外观和包裹体特征上看,很多产地海蓝宝石样品非常相似,不能很好地将其区分,但不同产地样品中的微量元素及其含量存在一定差异。受成矿环境的影响,在绿柱石晶体的结晶过程中会发生各元素的类质同象替代。使用电子探针及LA-ICP-MS对各产地样品进行主、微量元素测试。晶格中Al-O八面体的Y位占位的Al3+不饱和,最主要的替代元素为Fe,Fe2+-Fe3+的电荷转移是绿柱石呈绿蓝色调的主要原因。例如,越南ThoungXuan和NghệAn两个地区的海蓝宝石样品中Fe含量最高,其蓝色的饱和度相对较高;Be与Li为负相关关系,指示Be-O四面体T2占位上的Be2+部分被Li+取代,为“四面体”替代,如中国四川样品中Li含量最高和纳米比亚Erongo样品中Li含量为最低,样品之间Li含量最多相差两个数量级。在海蓝宝石通道中会有碱金属离子(Rf+:Na+、K+、Li+、Rb+、Cs+)来平衡电荷,如纳米比亚Erongo、马达加斯加、尼日利亚等样品中碱金属的含量普遍较低,属于“低碱型绿柱石”,莫桑比克样品中Rb含量明显高于其他产地,中国四川、阿富汗与莫桑比克样品中的碱金属含量远高于其他产地海蓝宝石中的碱金属总量。基于对各产地元素含量的测试数据,我们引入了XGBoost(Extreme Gradient Boosting)算法框架尝试对数据进行模拟训练。XGBoost通过迭代优化,能够更加精准地捕捉各微量元素与产地之间的复杂关系。在模拟训练过程中,模型最终准确率达到0.93,并识别出如Yb、Sc、Mn等此前未受足够关注的微量元素在海蓝宝石产地鉴别中的潜在贡献。机器学习能够挖掘出传统统计分析难以发现的隐藏特征,进一步提升海蓝宝石产地鉴别的准确性。

     

    Abstract: Aquamarine is aniron-bearing blue beryl, which is the second most important gemstones in the beryl family except for emeralds. In recent years, aquamarine has been increasingly favored by more and more jewelers and consumers, which has become one of the gemstones with the highest price increase, showing significant economic and ornamental value. The origins of gemstones is one of the important factors affecting its market value. Previous studies on aquamarine have predominantly focused on the assessment of colour, gemmological properties, and inclusion compositions from the single source1-8. However, the comparative researches on the identification features of aquamarines from different origins are still lacking, with only a few non-comprehensive comparisons available for individual sources9-12. Therefore, the origin identification system for aquamarine is still in the exploratory stage, necessitating more systematic data. The chemical composition is a crucial criterion for origin identification. The genesis of minerals, metallogenic mechanisms, and changesin the formation environment all influence trace elements and their contents. Therefore, the analysis of trace elements of aquamarines from different localities will assist in reconstructing the mineralization process and provide more accurate data for origin determination.In this study, aquamarine (blue beryl) samples from 12 localities were collected, such as Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Namibia (the Erongo Volcanic Complex), Pakistan (Skardu), Vietnam (NghêAn and Thanh Hoa), and three regions in China: Xuebaoding in Sichuan Province, Yuanyang in Yunnan Province, and Cuonadong in Xizang(Fig. 1). The selected aquamarine samples range in colour from light blue to deep blue, with some showing a faint green hue. Among them, samples from Vietnam and Brazil exhibit high colour saturation and moderate brightness, while those from Sichuan Province, China display only a slight blue tint. Samples from Mozambique have a more greenish-blue colour. The transparency of the aquamarine samples vary from opaque to transparent, mainly semi-transparent to transparent. Notably, all samples from Sichuan Province, China, Mozambique, Brazil, and Vietnam are basically transparent, although those of samples from Mozambique are poor. The crystal size is between 1 cm to 6 cm, with a variety of morphologies, including long columnar, short columnar, plate-like, and compact massive morphologies. The aquamarine samples from different origins show variations in crystal habits.For example, the samples from Vietnam are long columnar; samples from Nigeria, Brazil, Madagascar, Xizang, and Yunnan in China are mainly short columnar; the samples from Sichuan, China are predominantly thick tabular, while Afghanistan samples are tabular, and Mozambique samples are mostly compact massive in shape.The aquamarine samples from different origins are rich in various fluid inclusions.The jagged three-phase fluid inclusions (Fig. 2a) are common in samples from Sichuan Province, China, while short needle-like three-phase fluid inclusions(Fig. 2b) are present in samples from Yunnan Province, China. The thin fluid inclusions with rainbow interference colour (Fig. 2c) can be seen in samples from Xizang, China. The composition of fluid inclusions was analyzed using Raman spectrometer. The liquid phase of the fluid inclusions predominantly consists of H2O, with CO2 and minor N2 in the gaseous part CO2, being the highest valence state of carbon, indicates that the CO2 and H2O components in the fluid inclusions are the final oxidation products. Given that the tested fluid inclusions are morphologically primary, it can be inferred that aquamarine likely forms in a fluid-rich oxidizing environment13. There is a large number of tourmaline co-existence in the samples from Afghanistan (Fig. 2d), indicating a high concentration of boron in the mineralizing fluids; the presence of fluorite inclusions in the Namibian samples indicate an enrichment of fluorine in the fluids (Fig. 2e), while the samples from Nigeria contain abundant primary pyrrhotite inclusions, corresponding to a fluid enriched in sulfur (Fig. 2f). These three elements, boron, fluorine and sulfur, are all showing high fluid mobility, further corroborating the formation of aquamarine in a fluid-rich environment.From the characteristics of appearance and inclusions, aquamarine samples from various origins are very similar, and cannot be well distinguished. However, there are certain differences in the trace elements and their contents among different localities.Influenced by the mineralization environment, isomorphous substitution of various elements occurs during the crystallization process of beryl crystals. EPMA and LA-ICP-MS are used to conduct major and trace element analysis on samples from various origins. In the crystal lattice of aquamarine, the Y-site of the Al-O octahedron is unsaturated with Al3+. The primary substituting element is Fe, and the charge transfer between divalent and trivalent iron is the main reason for the green-blue hue of beryl. Aquamarines from Thoung Xuan and NghêAn in Vietnam have the highest Fe contents, and their colour exhibit relatively high blue saturation. There is a negative correlation between Be and Li, indicating that Be2+ in the Be-O tetrahedron at the T2 site is partially replaced by Li+, which is known as "tetrahedral" substitution. The highest Li content is found in aquamarines from Sichuan Province, China, while Namibian Erongo aquamarines have the lowest average Li content, with Li content varying by up to two orders of magnitude between samples. Alkali metal ions (Rf+: Na+, K+, Li+, Rb+, Cs+) are present in the channels of aquamarine to balance the charge. Samples from most localities such as Namibia's Erongo, Madagascar, and Nigeria generally have low alkali metal contents, categorizing them as "low-alkali beryl". In contrast, Rb content in samples from Mozambique is significantly higher than that of other localities. The average alkali metal content in Sichuan Province, China, Afghanistan and Mozambique is far exceeding the total alkali metal content of other localities.Based on the elemental content test data from various origins, we introduced the XGBoost (Extreme Gradient Boosting) algorithm framework to attempt data modeling and training. Through iterative optimization, XGBoost can more accurately capture the complex relationships between trace elements and their geographic origins. During the simulation training, the model achieved a final accuracy of 0.93 and identified previously underappreciated trace elements, such as Yb, Sc, and Mn, as having potential contributions to the provenance identification of aquamarine. Machine learning has the capability to uncover hidden features that traditional statistical analysis might miss, thereby further enhancing the accuracy of aquamarine provenance identification.

     

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