Caracterização cristaloquímica, mineralógica e gemológica do berilo do pegmatito mendonça, Distrito de Berilândia, Quixeramobim/CE.

Abstract

Beryl samples from Mendonça pegmatite, located in the district of Berilândia, Quixeramobim-CE, were analyzed. This pegmatite belonging to the Pegmatitic District of Solonópole-Banabuiú (DPSB), is located in the center-west portion of the State of Ceará, and embedded in the paragneiss basement of the Borborema Province, Ceará Central Domain. It is a pegmatite type mixed, differentiated, complexed, little fertile and its mineralogy presents industrial and gem minerals composition variety, among which, aquamarine, a variety of the beryl group that occurs in blue and green colors, is the focus of this work. The highest concentrations of industrial beryl occur forming pockets. The aquamarine does not occur forming isolated crystals, but rather as dispersed cores and included in the crystals of industrial beryl. A crystallochemical, mineralogical and gemological characterization of blue and green beryls was carried out, where their intrinsic characteristics were analyzed, from the most basic, such as physical properties, to more advanced ones, such as crystalline structure, unit cell parameters, fluid components (H2O types I II and III, CO2, CH4), chromophores elements/ color causes, chemical composition, as well as the presence and nature of impurities, and substitutions in its structure. The methodology used in its characterization was refractometer, hydrostatic balance, optical and gemological microscopes, single-crystal and powder x-ray diffraction (DRX), micro energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), molecular absorption spectroscopy in the infrared region by Fourier transform (FTIR), Molecular absorption spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared region (UV-Vis-NIR) and raman spectroscopy. According to the substitutions in its crystalline structure, it was possible to verify the presence of fluid components of H2O type I, II, III and CO2, and the data necessary to determine the polytypes of beryl. Bands attributed to chromophores as well as their ionic charge and positions were also demonstrated. In the chemical compositional analysis, alkaline elements such as Cs, Rb and Na were detected in the channels. The presence of iron as a chromophore element in the beryl structure, resulting in its blue coloration, allows us to call blue beryl samples of aquamarines, even if they do not present an ideal gemological quality for market standards.