PETROCHEMISTRY OF A LATE PRECAMBRIAN GARNETIFEROUS GRANITE, PEGMATITEAND APLITE, SOUTHERN ISRAEL

Garnet is a widespread minor accessory mineral in the Late Proterozoic Elat-Quarry granite of southern Israel and is more abundant in the as sociated pegmatite and aplite. All garnets are dominated by almandine and spessartine end-members. Granite-hosted garnets are zoned with rel ative enrichment of Mn in the core and Fe in the rim. The chemistry of the garnet in the pegmatite and aplite are comparable to the rim comp ositions of garnets in the granite, but with a slight Fe-depletion at the rims. Geochemical parameters for the granite indicate fractional c rystallization largely of an S-type source magma to a peraluminous com position. In the highly evolved granite magma, Fe is relatively dimini shed, and only small amounts of biotite can crystallize. Manganese bec omes a compatible element forming Mn-rich garnet (cores), and reducing the Mn content in the magma, subsequently leading to Fe-enriched rims . The greater abundance of garnet in the pegmatite and aplite (and its larger crystal-size in the former) relate to the enhanced presence of a hydrous fluid within the magma. The tendency for garnet crystals to concentrate in bands is much more developed in the pegmatite than in the granite, and is associated with the effects of hydrofracturing (fr acture-filling), and the crystallization of coarse-grained alkaline fe ldspars.