Following the Amphibolite to Greenschist Metamorphic Path through the Structural Parameters of Spinels from Amsaga (Mauritania)

We investigated the crystal and structural behavior of several Cr-bearing spinels from the Archean chromitites of Amsaga (Mauritania). The chemical and structural data testified a retrograde metamorphism from amphibolite to greenschist facies, witnessed by relative changes in the amount of all the major oxides (Cr, Al, Mg, Fe2+, Fe3+), the relative proportion of Fe3+/Fetot as well as the structural parameters, including the cell edge and the oxygen coordinate. The general agreement between electron microprobe and Mössbauer data indicates that the analyzed spinels are stoichiometric. The structural data revealed that the oxygen positional parameter of amphibole-bearing samples is the highest observed among Cr-bearing spinels with similar Cr# and Mg#. Consequently, it is suggested that a structural study of detrital Cr-spinels could be important in discriminating an amphibole-chromitite source from an ophiolite source.