Eur. J. Mineral.

2008, 20, 421438

Published online August 2008 Paper presented at the symposium
Granitic Pagmatites: the State of the Art,
Porto, May 2007

Pegmatite genesis: state of the art

Wm. B. Skip SIMMONS* and Karen L. WEBBER

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA
*Corresponding author, e-mail: wsimmons@uno.edu

Abstract: No one universally accepted model of pegmatite genesis has yet emerged that satisfactorily explains all the diverse
features of granitic pegmatites. Genesis from residual melts derived from the crystallization of granitic plutons is favoured by
most researchers. Incompatible components, fluxes, volatiles and rare elements, are enriched in the residual melts. The presence of
fluxes and volatiles, which lower the crystallization temperature, decrease nucleation rates, melt polymerization and viscosity, and
increase diusion rates and solubility, are considered to be critical to the development of large crystals. A number of new concepts
have shed light on problems related to pegmatite genesis.
Cooling rates calculated from thermal cooling models demonstrate that shallow-level pegmatites cool radically more rapidly
than previously believed. Rapid cooling rates for pegmatites represent a quantum shift from the widely held view that the large
crystals found in pegmatites are the result of very slow rates of cooling and crystal growth.
Experimental and field evidence both suggest that undercooling and disequilibrium crystallization dominate pegmatite crys-
tallization. Londons constitutional zone refining model of pegmatite evolution involves disequilibrium crystallization from an
undercooled, flux-bearing granitic melt. The melt is not necessarily fluxrich and the model does not require the presence of an
aqueous vapor phase.
Experimental studies of volatile- and flux-rich melts and fluid inclusion studies suggest that volatile-rich silicate melts may
persist to temperatures well below 500 C and even down to 350 C.
eschweizerbartxxx

Studies of melt inclusions and fluid inclusions have led some researchers to suggest that the role of immiscible fluids must be
considered in any model regarding pegmatite genesis. Fluid saturation is thought to occur early in the crystallization history of
pegmatites. Two types of melt inclusions along with primary fluid inclusions have been found coexisting in pegmatite minerals.
Advances by Petr Cern in pegmatite classification are in wide use and the fractionation trends of Nb, Ta and other HFSE and
K, Rb, Cs, Li, Ga and Tl are now well understood.
How pegmatitic melts are produced, the types of source rocks involved and how melt generation relates to plate tectonic models
are challenging areas for future investigations. Also, the roles of regional zoning, anatexis, and chemical quenching in pegmatite
genesis are areas for future pegmatite research.
Key-words: pegmatite, pegmatite genesis, thermal modelling, chemical quench, classification, regional zoning.

Introduction Although no universally accepted model of pegmatite

Pegmatites are intrusive igneous rocks with very coarse-to
gigantic-sized textures. What typifies the worlds most fa-
mous granitic pegmatites is a combination of gigantic crys-
tal size and extreme enrichment of rare elements. How-
ever, pegmatites actually have the greatest range of grain
sizes known in any rock type, from sub-millimeter to tens
of meters. Pegmatitic textures can develop in any intrusive
igneous rock type from ultramafic, to granitic, to syenitic
in composition. Most commonly, the term is used to refer
to granitic pegmatites and is generally understood to re-
fer to rock of overall granitic composition when it is used
without a qualifying adjective (e.g. gabbroic pegmatite).
Granitic pegmatites are composed predominantly of quartz
and feldspars with accessory mica.
genesis has yet emerged that satisfactorily explains all the
diverse features of granitic pegmatites, genesis from resid-
ual melts derived from the crystallization of granitic plu-
tons is favored by most researchers. Incompatible compo-
nents, fluxes, volatiles and rare elements, concentrate in the
residual melts. The presence of fluxes and volatiles, which
lower the crystallization temperature, decrease nucleation
rates, melt polymerization and viscosity, and increase dif-
fusion rates and solubility, are considered to be critical to
the development of large crystals and pegmatitic textures.
Most pegmatites appear to form from a single intrusive
magmatic event, but undergo a complex internal crystal-
lization history that can result in a large range in grain
sizes; consistent changes in mineral chemistry from wall
zone to cores; increasing concentrations of fluxes, volatiles
and rare elements and, in rare instances, the formation of

0935-1221/08/0020-1833 $ 8.10
DOI: 10.1127/0935-1221/2008/0020-1833 
c 2008 E. Schweizerbartsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, D-70176 Stuttgart
422
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram showing the crystallization of granitic
magma and withdrawn residual silicate liquid at increasing degrees
of consolidation of a melt initially containing 0.2 weight percent
eschweizerbartxxx
water (after Jahns & Burnham, 1969).
pockets containing gem-quality crystals. Additionally, peg-
matites appear to have crystallized from their margins to-
ward their interiors, based on a variety of factors including
geothermometry studies and comb-structure texture with
wedge-shaped crystals oriented perpendicular to pegmatite
margins.
Significant advances in understanding pegmatite genesis
have been made over the last 40 years. In the 1970s and
80s the most widely accepted model of pegmatite gene-
sis was that of Richard Jahns (Jahns, 1955, 1982; Jahns &
Burnham, 1969) who promulgated the idea that pegmatites
evolve from residual granitic melts comprised of coexist-
ing water vapor and silicate melt. Jahns & Burnham (1969)
and Jahns & Tuttle (1963) cited experimental evidence that
pegmatites formed by equilibrium crystallization of coex-
isting granitic melt and hydrous fluid at or slightly below
the hydrous granite liquidus. Jahns & Burnham (1969) also
firmly established the concept that water acted as an incom-
patible phase that increases in the residual melt as crystal-
lization progresses until a discrete water-rich vapor sepa-
rated from the silicate-rich melt (Fig. 1 and 2). In the Jahns
model it is the interaction of the melt and vapor phases that
gives rise to pegmatitic textures and the transition of granite
into pegmatite begins at the point of H2 O-fluid saturation.
The presence of a discrete aqueous vapor phase is thus es-
sential to pegmatite formation and was used to explain the
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
Fig. 2. The relationship between percent crystallization and weight
percent of water in the residual rest liquid (after Jahns & Burnham,
1969).
Table 1. Four main categories of Pegmatite classification (after
Cern, 1991).
Pegmatite Classes
based mainly on depth of formation
Abyssal -AB high grade, high to low pressure
Muscovite -MSC high pressure, lower temperature
Muscovite REL -MSREL transitional between MSC & MSREL
Rare-Element -REL low temperature and pressure
Miarolitic -MI shallow level
large size of crystals in pegmatites. Although more recent
experimental evidence by London (1992, 2005a) suggests
that the presence of a hydrous vapor phase is not essential
to the development of pegmatitic texture, the model pre-
sented by Jahns & Burnham (1969) was a landmark contri-
bution to the understanding of pegmatite genesis.
Newer developments
Pegmatite classification
Modern pegmatite classification schemes are strongly in-
fluenced by the depth-zone classification of granitic rocks
published by Buddington (1959), and the Ginsburg &
Rodionov (1960) and Ginsburg et al. (1979) classifica-
tion which categorized pegmatites according to their depth
of emplacement and relationship to metamorphism and
granitic plutons. Cernys (1991) revision of that classifica-
tion scheme (Table 13) is the most widely used classifi-
cation of pegmatites today. Cerns (1991) pegmatite clas-
sification, which is a combination of emplacement depth,
metamorphic grade and minor element content, (Fig. 3) has
provided significant insight into the origin of pegmatitic
melts and their relative degrees of fractionation. This clas-
sification has been widely accepted and is in general use
today.
Table 2. The four classes of granitic pegmatites showing minor elements, metamorphic environment, relation to granite, structural features and examples (after Cern, 1991).

THE FOUR CLASSES OF GRANITIC PEGMATITES

Typical Minor Metamorphic Relation to Structural
Family Examples

Class
Elements Environment Granite Features
U, Th, Zr, Nb, Ti, Y, (upper amphibolite to) low- to none (segregations of conformable to mobilized Rae and Hearne Provinces, Sask.
REE, Mo high-P granulite facies anatectic leucosome) cross-cutting veins (Tremblay, 1978); Aldan and Anabar
poor (to moderate) 49 kbar Shields, Siberia (Bushev & Koplus,
mineralization 700800 C 1980); Eastern Baltic Shield (Kalita,

Abyssal
1965)
Li, Be, Y, REE, Ti, high-P, Barrovian none quasi-conformable to cross- White Sea region, USSR (Gorlov,

eschweizerbartxxx
U, Th, Nb > Ta amphibolite facies (kyanite- (anatectic bodies) to cutting 1975); Appalachian Province (Jahns et al.,
poor (to moderate) sillimanite) marginal 1952); Rajahstan, India (Shmakin,
mineralization, micas and 58 kbar and 1976)

Muscovite
ceramic minerals 650580 C exterior
Li, Rb, Cs, Be, Ga, low-P, Abukuma amphibolite to (interior to marginal quasi-conformable to cross- Yellowknife field, NWT (Meintzer,
Nb < > Ta,Sn, Hf, B, P, F upper greeenschist facies to) exterior cutting 1987); Black Hills, South Dakota
LCT poor to abundant (andalusite-sillimanite) (Shearer et al., 1987); Cat Lake-
mineralization, gemstock 24 kbar Winnipeg River field, Manitoba (Cern
Pegmatite genesis: state of the art

industrial minerals 650500 C et al., 1981)

Y, REE, Ti, U, Th, Zr, variable interior to marginal interior pods, conformable to Llano Co., Texas (Landes, 1932);
Nb > Ta, F cross-cutting exterior bodies South Platte district, Colorado

Rare - Element
NYF poor to abundant (Simmons et al., 1987); Western Keivy,
mineralization, ceramic Kola, USSR (Beus, 1960)
minerals
Be, Y, REE, Ti, U, Th, Zr, shallow to sub-volcanic interior to marginal interior pods and cross- Pikes Peak, Colorado (Foord, 1982);
NYF Nb > Ta, F 12 kbar cutting dikes Sawtooth batholith, Idaho (Boggs,
poor mineralization, 1986); Korosten pluton, Ukraine

Miarolitic
gemstock (Lazarenko et al., 1973)
423
424 W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber

Table 3. Relationships between Cerns (1991) pegmatite classes, families, types and subtypes, showing the types and subtypes related to
LCT and NYF families.

This classification has four main categories or classes.

eschweizerbartxxx

These are Abyssal (high grade, high to low pressure), Mus-

covite (high pressure, lower temperature), Rare-Element
(low temperature and pressure), and Miarolitic (shallow
level). The Rare-Element Classes are subdivided based
on composition into LCT and NYF families: LCT for
Lithium, Cesium, and Tantalum enrichment and NYF for
Niobium, Yttrium, and Fluorine enrichment (Table 3). The
Rare-Element Class is further subdivided into types and
subtypes according to the mineralogical or geochemical
characteristics. Almost all recent pegmatite descriptions
classify pegmatites according to LCT- and NYFfamilies,
types and subtypes. The classification has provided insight
into the origin of the melts and relative degrees of fraction-
ation. Virtually all recent pegmatite descriptions classify
pegmatites according to LCT- and NYF-types and sub-
types. Another important contribution of the classification
is the petrogenetic component of the classification, which
shows the association of LCT pegmatites with mainly oro- Fig. 3. Pressure and temperature relationships between the four
genic plutons, and NYF pegmatites with mainly anoro- major categories of pegmatite classification, MSC-Muscovite, AB-
genic plutons (Table 4). Furthermore, this classification has Abyssal, RE- Rare-Element and MI- Miarolitic (after Cern, 1991).
proved to be quite successfully, especially in Canada, as an
exploration tool for locating rare element pegmatites with
economic potential. classifying granitic pegmatites of plutonic derivation (Ta-
ble 5).
Recently, Cern & Ercit (2005) published a new revision
of the Cern (1991) classification. They propose a number
of changes that address NYF pegmatite classification and a Geochemical fractionation
petrogenetic classification of pegmatites derived from plu-
tons. New categories of NYF and LCT subclasses are in- In the last two decades, studies mainly by Cern and col-
troduced and the geochemical signatures are expanded. The leagues have documented the geochemical behavior of nu-
modified petrogenetic classification is a family system of merous minor- and trace-element systems in pegmatitic
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art 425

Table 4. Petrogenetic aliations (after Cern, 1991), showing geochemical signature, orogenic aliation, granite bulk composition, source
lithologies and granite type (I, S, A).

Li, Cs, Ta
Synorogenic to late Orogenic
Orogenic LCT Peraluminous parent granites: undepleted
Types upper to middle crust
S and I types
Nb > Ta, Y, F, REE, Ti, Sc, Zr, U, Th
Mainly Anorogenic
Anorogenic NYF Types Sub - to - Metaluminous, Peralkaline
granites: depleted middle to lower crust
A and I types
Mixed Cross-bred LCT& NYF Metaluminous to Peraluminous
Mixed protoliths or assimilation

Table 5. The family system of petrologic classification of granitic pegmatites of plutonic derivation. For the complete classification refer to
Cern & Ercit (2005).

Family Pegmatite Geochemical Pegmatite Associated Granite bulk Source

subclass signature bulk granites composition* lithologies
composition
LCT REL-Li Li, Rb, Cs, peraluminous synorogenic to peraluminous Undepleted upper-
MI-Li Be, Sn, to late-orogenic S, I or mixed to middle-crust
Ga, Ta>Nb, subaluminous (to anorogenic) S+I types basement gneisses
(B, P, F) largely basement gneisses
heterogeneous
NYF REL - Nb>Ta, Ti Y, subaluminous syn-, late, post- peraluminous depleted middle to
REE MI- Sc, REE, Zr, to to mainly to lower crustal
REE U, Th, F metaluminous anorogenic subaluminous granulites, or
(to eschweizerbartxxx
quasi- and juvenile granitoids
subaluminous homogeneous metaluminous
A and I types
Mixed Cross- mixed metaluminous postorogenic to subaluminous mixed protoliths or
bred: LCT to moderately anorogenic; to slightly assimilation of
& NYF peraluminous heterogeneous peraluminous supracrustals by
NYF granites

*Peraluminous, A/CNK > 1; subaluminous, A/CNK 1; metaluminous, A/CNK < 1 at A/NK > 1; subalkaline, A/NK 1; peralkaline,
A/NK < 1, where A = Al2 O3 , CNK = CaO + Na2 O + K2 O, and NK = Na2 O + K2 O (all in molecular values; Cern 1991).

melts. The fractionation patterns of Nb, Ta and other HFS
elements in numerous pegmatite systems have been well
documented, especially in LCT pegmatites (Cern, 1989a,
2005; Breaks et al., 2005). The fractionation patterns of K,
Rb, Cs, Li, Ga and Tl in feldspars, micas, beryl and other
minerals have also been described by Cern (2005). The
enrichment trends of alkali elements in feldspars and mi-
cas have proven valuable in understanding pegmatite petro-
genesis and the internal fractionation of pegmatites. These
relationships and trends have also proven to be especially
helpful in geochemical exploration for pegmatites (Breaks
et al., 2005; Trueman & Cern, 1982). Examples of some
of the more significant trends documented by Cern for the
columbite group minerals, feldspars, beryl and micas are
shown in Fig. 48. In general, in columbite group miner-
als Mn/Fe and Ta/ Nb increase with fractionation, but pat-
terns are strongly related to the composition of the peg-
matite and fluorine also plays an important role in the shape
of the trends for Nb and Ta (Fig. 4 and 5). Rb and Cs in-
crease with fractionation in feldspars, micas and other min-
erals. The trends are apparent in minerals between groups
of pegmatites and within individual pegmatites from mar-
gins toward cores, with the most fractionated portions of
pegmatites containing the greatest enrichments. In complex
pegmatites with replacement units, enrichments generally
reach their highest levels in minerals within the replace-
ment units. Linnen (1998, 2005) has shown experimen-
tally that manganotantalite is more soluble in granitic melts
than manganocolumbite and that the addition of Li and F
enhances the solubility of manganotantalite in the melts,
which helps explain the tendency of Ta-rich phases to oc-
cur in the most highly fractionated assemblages (Linnen &
Cuney, 2005).
Exomorphic reactions
Exomorphic haloes of Be (emerald), B (tourmaline) and Li
(holmquistite) are well established examples of wallrock
426
alteration associated with pegmatites in a number of loca-
tions (Simmons, 2007a). In addition, LCT pegmatites have
been shown to have exomorphic haloes of alkali enrich-
ment in the surrounding wallrocks. Li, Rb, and Cs enrich-
ments have been shown to be associated with rare element
pegmatites and soil geochemistry has been successfully
used to locate buried rare element pegmatites (Galeschuk
& Vanstone, 2005).
Temperatures of formation
The proposed temperatures of the final stages of pegmatite
crystallization have declined over the last few decades. The
Jahns model suggested that pegmatites crystallize at or near
the hydrous minimum melt temperatures of about 600 C
(Jahns & Burnham, 1969). Based on stable isotopic studies,
Taylor et al. (1979) proposed temperatures of emplacement
of pegmatite melts at about 700 C to final temperatures
of 525 C in the pockets in San Diego County, California
pegmatites.
Two-feldspar thermometry using reintegrated perthite
compositions from the intermediate zones of pegmatites
in the South Platte, Colorado NYF district gave tempera-
tures of 550500 C (Simmons et al., 1987). Two-feldspar
thermometry of feldspars showing no evidence of exsolu-
tion from the Little Three pegmatite, California (Morgan
& London, 1999) gave temperatures of 400435 C near
the margins to 350390 C near the pegmatite pocket zone
and a sharp decrease to 240275 C in the pockets where
eschweizerbartxxx
K-feldspar is perthitic (Fig. 9). Nabelek et al. (1992a,b)
reported equilibration temperatures of about 350 C for
coexisting quartz and K-feldspar in the cores of several
Black Hills, South Dakota, pegmatites. Sirbescu & Nabelek
(2003a,b) suggest that the Li-bearing Tin Mountain peg-
matite, Black Hills, South Dakota, crystallized from fluid-
rich, compositionally complex melts at 400350 C
with the low crystallization temperatures resulting from
the combined fluxing eects of Li, B, P, H2 O and carbon-
ate anions. Their determinations are based on microther-
mometric data on primary fluid inclusions cogenetic with
crystallized-melt inclusions.
Volatiles and fluxes in pegmatite melts
Londons experimental work has shown that water satu-
ration, as proposed by Jahns & Burnham (1969) is nei-
ther necessary nor likely in the early crystallization of peg-
matites (London, 1992, 2005a and references therein). His
experiments have shown that other fluxes such as B, F, P
and Li in addition to H2 O play a critical role in the forma-
tion of rare element pegmatites.
The presence of these fluxes alter the melt by appreciably
lowering the crystallization temperature, decreasing nucle-
ation rates, decreasing melt polymerization, decreasing vis-
cosity, increasing diusion rates, and increasing solubility
(London, 1992, 2005a; Simmons et al., 2003). The fluxes
act as network modifiers that prevent or hinder the forma-
tion of nuclei and increase the diusion rates of ions to
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
the few nuclei that do survive and begin to grow. Thus,
network modifiers act to prevent nuclei formation and at
the same time increase the eectiveness of diusion. These
two eects combine to facilitate ion migration over greater
distances and promote the growth of the few nuclei that do
manage to form, resulting in fewer, much larger crystals.
Fluid and melt inclusions
Melt inclusions (MI), small blebs of melt that are trapped in
crystallizing minerals at magmatic temperatures and pres-
sures that become essentially solid at surface temperatures,
may record parental melt compositions at the time of host
mineral growth (Roedder, 1979, 1984; Lowenstern, 1995)
and they may monitor the chemical changes of the residual
liquid during magma evolution (Pettke, 2006). Fluid inclu-
sions (FI) entrap fluid that remains in large part fluid at
surface temperatures (Roedder, 1984). Recent studies per-
taining to FI and MI are extensive (e.g. Lowenstern, 1995,
2003; Sobolev, 1996; Peretyazhko et al., 2000; Hauri et al.,
2002; Bodnar & Student, 2006). Many additional refer-
ences pertaining to igneous systems can be found in Roed-
der (1984, 2003), Samson et al. (2003) and Kontak et al.
(2004). Challenges involved in interpreting MI from fel-
sic plutons are discussed in detail by Webster & Thomas
(2006). Thomas et al. (2003, 2006a) looks specifically
at MI in felsic aplite and pegmatite systems. Sirbescu &
Nabelek (2003 a and b) focus on FI in pegmatites.
The study of FI and their characterization as either pri-
mary or secondary is not always straightforward and can
lead to very dierent interpretations of the same pegmatite.
For example, London (1985, 1986) describes FI from petal-
ite, eucryptite, spodumene, and coexisting quartz from the
Tanco Pegmatite, Bernic Lake, Manitoba. Spodumene oc-
curs both as fine-grained intergrowths with quartz result-
ing from the breakdown of petalite (SQUI) and as coarse-
grained crystals embedded in massive quartz. Both types
of spodumene and quartz trapped an abundance of FI that
were uniform within each host mineral phase but very
dierent between them. FI hosted by spodumene typi-
cally contained a low-salinity aqueous liquid plus vapor
(at 25 C) and a consistent assemblage of daughter min-
erals including albite, cookeite, pollucite-analcime solid
solution, quartz, an unidentified carbonate and lithium
tetraborate, Li2 B4 O7 , described as the new mineral species
diomignite by London et al. (1987). The minimum pos-
sible entrapment temperature determined from this min-
eral assemblage was 470 C (London, 1985). The identity
of diomignite, described as an abundant and widely dis-
tributed highly birefringent phase in crystal-rich FI in spo-
dumene, was established by several analytical techniques
(no definitive chemical analysis was performed) and con-
firmed by identical Gandolfi X-ray diraction patterns for
diomignite and synthetic Li2 B4 O7 (London et al., 1987).
The FI in quartz are described as being quite distinct from
those in spodumene in that the inclusions contained only
liquid and vapor phases at 25 C, had few crystalline
solids, were comparatively CO2 -rich and the aqueous com-
ponent was comparatively saline (London, 1985). Accord-
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art
Fig. 4. Fractionation trends of Ta/(Ta+Nb) vs. Mn/(Mn+Fe) of columbite group minerals in pegmatites: A-Greer Lake field, Canada; B-
Black Hills, South Dakota and Himalaya pegmatite, California; C-Yellowknife field, NWT, Canada; Altai field, China; Cross Lake field,
Manitoba (after Cern et al., 1986).
eschweizerbartxxx
Fig. 5. Tantalum and Manganese enrichment trends in fluorine-rich
and fluorine-poor pegmatites (after Cern, 1989b).
Fig. 6. K/Rb vs. Cs weight percent of blocky K-feldspar in peg-
matites of the Winnipeg River district, southeastern Manitoba,
Canada (after Cern, 1989b).
ing to London (1985) the two very dierent types of liquids
trapped by spodumene (a dense, hydrous, alkali borosil-
icate fluid) and quartz (an aqueous fluid with low solute
concentrations) of the intergrowths could not have coex-
isted coincident with the breakdown of petalite and thus
were generated at dierent times during pegmatite evolu-
427
Fig. 7. Na/Li vs. Cs weight percent for late beryl from granite peg-
matites: A- barren and beryl-type pegmatites; B- beryl-columbite
and beryl-columbite-phosphate pegmatites; C- albite-spodumene
and complex pegmatites; D- Li, Cs, Ta-rich complex pegmatites-
spodumene, petalite, amblygonite and lepidolite subtypes (modified
from Cern, 2002).
tion. The interpretation of the inclusion data by London
(1985, 1986) is that the FI in quartz are secondary, whereas
the FI in spodumene are representative of the primary liq-
uid, a dense, hydrous, borosilicate fluid, which played an
important role in the internal evolution of the Tanco peg-
matite and the concentration and development of rare-metal
ore units. The included solids in spodumene-hosted FI are
interpreted as daughter minerals and the daughter miner-
als plus the aqueous fluid together represent the products
of a single, homogeneous phase (hydrous borosilicate liq-
uid). Spodumene-hosted FI data was combined with the ex-
perimentally calibrated phase relationships in the lithium
aluminosilicate system (London, 1984) to define emplace-
ment conditions, cooling histories and fluid evolution in the
Tanco pegmatite.
Anderson et al. (2001) examined hundreds of crystal-
rich FI in spodumene from three pegmatite localities in-
cluding Bikita and Kamativi, Zimbabwe and Tanco, Bernic
Lake, Manitoba by optical examination and laser Ra-
man spectroscopy. They concluded that 96 % of the high
428
Fig. 8. K/Rb vs. Cs wt. % in micas across Tanco pegmatite. Dashed
boundaries are approximately between muscovite (ms), lithian mus-
covite (Li-ms) and lepidolite (lpd) zones (after Cern, 2005).
eschweizerbartxxx
Fig. 9. Two-feldspar temperatures for the Little Three pegmatite-
aplite dike, California with respect to height above the base of the
footwall aplite (after Morgan & London, 1999).
birefringence grains in over 500 FI, including FI in a
wafer of spodumene from the Tanco pegmatite reported
to contain the type specimen of diomignite, are in fact
zabuyelite (Li2 CO3 ). No phase yielding the Raman spec-
trum of Li2 B4 O7 (diomignite) was observed.
An estimate of the bulk composition of the fluid en-
trapped in spodumene at Tanco was obtained by averag-
ing the composition of hundreds of coeval fluid inclusions,
additionally, the composition of individual fluid inclusions
was determined using a variety of analytical techniques in-
cluding laser Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray flu-
orescence and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-
mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Anderson et al. (2001)
concluded that FI in both spodumene and quartz from inter-
growths (SQUI) at Tanco trapped a low-salinity, alkali-rich,
aqueous carbonic fluid. The FI in spodumene are believed
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
to be secondary in origin and were trapped within healed
fractures and cleavage planes. The solid phases, domi-
nantly quartz and zabuyelite, represent reaction products
between a host spodumene crystal and trapped low-density,
aqueous carbonic fluid during the late stages of pegmatite
evolution, and not an equilibrium assemblage that crys-
tallized from a hydrous borosilicate melt as proposed by
London (1985, 1986). Anderson et al. (2001) suggest the
apparent absence of diomignite (even in the type speci-
men) and the failure to detect significant concentrations of
boron in the inclusions have important implications regard-
ing models for the internal evolution of rare-element peg-
matites. Additionally, P-T estimates of entrapment for spo-
dumene FI (475 C and 2.75 kbar) at Tanco are no longer
valid.
Fluid inclusions with daughter crystals of orthoboric acid,
sassolite (H3 BO3 ) were found and described for the first
time by Smirnov et al. (1999). They suggest that dif-
ficulty in identifying sassolite, which must include Ra-
man spectroscopic work, prevented previous identification.
Peretyazhko et al. (2000) and Smirnov et al. (2005) report
that boric acid solutions with daughter sassolite crystals
were found in topaz, tourmaline, quartz, beryl, danburite
and adularia from 31 miarolitic pegmatites from central
and eastern Transbaikalia, the middle Urals, central and
southwestern Pamirs, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Cali-
fornia, Elba and Madagascar. The maximum H3 BO3 con-
tent found in FI in pegmatites was 27 wt.%. However, boric
acid solutions occurred in a wide range of physiochemical
conditions and Peretyazhko et al. (2000) suggest that in-
clusions of boric acid solutions will be found worldwide
in all tourmaline-bearing and some topaz-beryl miarolitic
pegmatites. Thomas (2002) found sassolite as a daughter
mineral phase in MI in pegmatites of the Ehrenfriedersdorf
complex, Germany.
Due to the very small size of MI, an in-situ analyti-
cal technique is necessary to obtain compositional data.
The study of MI has advanced tremendously with the ad-
vent of sophisticated and accurate analytical techniques en-
abling the study of volatile-rich phases in igneous rocks
(see Thomas et al., 2005 for a discussion of MI analyti-
cal techniques). Thomas (2000, 2002) and Thomas et al.
(2006a) utilized confocal laser Raman microprobe spec-
troscopy, which made possible the study of very small MI
from a wide variety of pegmatite minerals including quartz,
feldspar, topaz, tourmaline, beryl, garnet, and micas. Their
work has resulted in the determination of H2 O concentra-
tions of 0.5 to over 35 wt.% in glassy MI as small as 3 m
with an accuracy of 0.2 wt.% H2 O.
Quartz crystals from the F-, B- and P-rich pegmatites
of the Ehrenfriedersdorf tin-tungsten deposit, Erzgebirge,
Germany, continuously trapped two dierent types of MI
during cooling and growth, a H2 O-poor, P2 O5 -, F- and
silicate-rich melt (Type A) and a H2 O- and B-rich, silicate-
poor melt (Type B) (Thomas et al., 2000). The two types
of MI are interpreted as coexisting melts that were trapped
simultaneously on both sides of a two-melt solvus. Wa-
ter concentration in the type A inclusions increases from
2.4 to 16.2 wt.% with increasing homogenization tempera-
tures from 500 to 700 C whereas water concentration in
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art
the type B inclusions decreases from 43.8 to 27.8 wt.%
over the same temperature range. Complete miscibility is
attained at the critical point of 712 C and 21.5 wt.% H2 O
at 1 kbar. Thomas et al. (2000) conclude that at the criti-
cal point conditions detailed above, a P-, B-, and F-bearing
silicate melt may dissolve unlimited quantities of H2 O and
that upon cooling, the silicate melt will separate into two
melts each of which has very dierent physical properties
that will readily separate from one another and fractionate
incompatible elements dierently.
Veksler & Thomas (2002) conducted experiments with
a synthetic peraluminous pegmatite (H2 O-saturated, 0.1
0.2 GPa) spiked with 5 wt.% each of P2 O5 , B2 O3 and F,
1 wt.% each Rb2 O and Cs2 O and 0.5 wt.% Li2 O, to simu-
late the most enriched compositions found in natural MI
in pegmatite quartz (Thomas et al., 2000). Aluminosili-
cate melt, low-density hydrous fluid, and hydrosaline melt
strongly enriched in Na3 AlF6 and H3 BO3 components,
were observed coexisting in all experimental charges.
Thomas et al. (2006a) and Veksler & Thomas (2002) sug-
gest that evidence for the stable coexistence of three im-
miscible phases aluminosilicate melt (consisting of SiO2 ,
Al2 O3 , FeO, K2 O, Na2 O, Li2 O and other, less abundant
oxides), hydrosaline melt (borates, phosphates, fluorides
and chlorides of alkaline and alkaline earth elements), and
lower salinity aqueous fluid (volatiles, primarily H2 O and
CO2 ) both experimentally and in MI and FI from pegmatite
minerals should be considered an important factor con-
tributing to the internal dierentiation of pegmatite bodies.
eschweizerbartxxx
Rapid cooling rates and disequilibrium crystallization
Pegmatites by definition have crystals that average 2 cm
or more in diameter. In actuality, many pegmatites display
an enormous range in crystal size from mm-size crystals
up to large crystals that are 10s of meters in length. It
has often been assumed (particularly in introductory level
geology textbooks) that crystal size in igneous rocks is
a direct indicator of crystal growth rates and magmatic
cooling history, i.e., small crystals grow quickly from a
rapidly cooling magma producing fine-grained (aphanitic)
textures, whereas large crystals grow more slowly from a
slowly cooling magma, producing coarse-grained (phaner-
itic) textures. Clearly this paradigm does not hold in many
pegmatites, particularly when looking at genetically re-
lated coarse-grained pegmatites and fine-grained aplites in
pegmatite-aplite dikes, without invoking great variability
in the cooling history within an individual pegmatite body
(i.e., rapid followed by slow cooling and crystallization).
Pegmatites display striking variability in terms of size
of the pegmatite itself, from thin sheet-like dikes with
diameters in terms of < 1 m to 20 m or so, to ellip-
soidal or teardrop shaped pegmatites, many of which show
pronounced large-scale zonation and often display well-
developed quartz cores. The country rock into which peg-
matites are emplaced also varies widely from brittle, rela-
tively cold, country rock to hotter migmatitic terranes. In
most dikes or sills, variations in grain size are small (2 to
3 orders of magnitude), and grain size generally increases
429
uniformly from dike margin to center (Cashman, 1990).
In contrast, most sheet-like pegmatite-aplite dikes display
changes in crystal size from < 0.1 mm in aplites, to > 10 cm
(or indeed meter size) for crystals in the hanging wall, core
zone, and pockets. In addition, the grain size does not al-
ways increase consistently from the margins to the core.
Pegmatite-aplite dikes typically have a fine-grained foot-
wall, coarse-grained hanging wall, and a core zone with
miarolitic cavities. Footwall aplites can be layered or non-
layered, layered aplites can alternate with pegmatite, and
aplites can occur in an irregular distribution throughout the
footwall. Clearly, changes in grain size of 5 or more or-
ders of magnitude, and an irregular distribution of grain
size with respect to the dike margins and centers, indi-
cate that crystallization parameters such as nucleation and
growth rates are not consistent during the crystallization
history of many pegmatites.
Another striking feature of pegmatites is the textural het-
erogeneity they display with respect to crystal morpholo-
gies. The experimental studies of Swanson & Fenn (1986,
1992), MacLellan & Trembath (1991) and Fenn (1977,
1986) on quartz and feldspar crystallization in granitic
melts demonstrated that skeletal and graphic morpholo-
gies reflect rapid crystal growth from a highly under-
cooled melt. The experimental work of Lofgren (1974,
1980) demonstrated that crystal morphology varied from
euhedral to skeletal to radial with increasing degree of
liquidus undercooling. London (1992) found that mineral
zoning patterns, sharp changes in grain size, mineral tex-
tures, and oriented fabrics that typify pegmatites could
all be replicated experimentally from undercooling vapor-
undersaturated Macusani glass and that at progressively
larger liquidus undercooling of a hydrous silicate melt,
crystal orientations changed from random to increasingly
anisotropic, oriented (comb structure) fabrics.
Thus the textural relationships of minerals in pegmatites
reflect the degree of pegmatite undercooling, nucleation
rate and growth rate. Strong undercooling is required to ex-
plain the textural characteristic of many pegmatites, includ-
ing skeletal and dendritic crystal morphologies, elongated,
and sometimes wedge-shaped crystals, and the develop-
ment of comb structure along the contacts between peg-
matite and country rock. More elongate crystal forms (nee-
dle like, skeletal, branching, wedge-shaped) are favored
by rapid rates of cooling, larger degrees of undercooling,
higher growth rates and fewer nucleation sites, whereas
tabular to equant forms are favored by slower cooling rates,
smaller degrees of undercooling, lower growth rates, and
abundant nucleation sites.
Yet even with textural evidence that seems to clearly in-
dicate rapid crystal growth rates, it wasnt until the cooling
histories were quantitatively evaluated for the Harding peg-
matite, New Mexico (Chakoumakos & Lumpkin, 1990);
the George Ashley, Mission, Stewart and Himalaya dikes,
San Diego County, California (Webber et al., 1997, 1999);
and the Little Three dike, Ramona, California (Morgan &
London, 1999) that it became clear that these pegmatites
cooled rapidly (in days to months, not in thousands to
millions of years as previously believed) thus constrain-
ing crystal growth rates to the cooling history of the peg-
430
Fig. 10. Layering in the George Ashley aplite (line rock). The dark
layers are enriched in garnet, and the light layers in albite and quartz.
K-spar megacrysts are in the center of some of the nested loops.
matites. Based in part on textural relationships, it is now
thought that many shallow-level pegmatites cooled ex-
tremely rapidly.
Thermal model
Many pegmatites can be likened to sheet-like structures.
As such, the cooling history of these dikes can be mod- eschweizerbartxxx
eled with well established conductive cooling models for
thin sheets. In considering cooling models, a number of pa-
rameters must be evaluated, including the width of the dike
(which can easily be measured), the emplacement temper-
ature of the pegmatitic magma (which can be determined
from phase equilibria) and the temperature of the coun-
try rock (which can be constrained using estimated depths
of emplacement and reasonable geothermal gradients for
the study area, observations of any reactions or lack of re-
actions between the country rock and magma, etc.). Peg-
matites of the Pala and Mesa Grande Pegmatite Districts,
San Diego County (SDC), California are typically thin,
sheet-like, composite pegmatite-aplite dikes. Aplitic por-
tions of many SDC dikes display pronounced mineralog-
ical layering referred to as line rock, characterized by
fine-grained, garnet-rich bands alternating with albite- and
quartz-rich bands (Fig. 10). Thermal modeling was con-
ducted on four dikes in SDC including the 1 m thick Hi-
malaya dike, the 2 m thick Mission dike, the 8 m thick
George Ashley dike, and the 25 m thick Stewart dike. Cal-
culations were based on conductive cooling equations ac-
counting for latent heat of crystallization, a melt emplace-
ment temperature of 650 C into 150 C fractured, gabbroic
country rock at a depth of 5 km, and an estimated 3 wt.%
initial H2 O content in the melt. Cooling time to < 550 C
at the center of each dike was determined (Webber et al.,
1997, 1999, results shown in Table 6 and Fig. 11).
Based on these calculations, growth rates for large peg-
matitic minerals such as the 10 cm long Himalaya hang-
ing wall, comb-structure tourmaline crystals may have
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
Fig. 11. Cooling curve for the George Ashley dike calculated with
latent heat of crystallization, emplacement temperature of 650 C
into 150 C country rock. Half-width of the dike is plotted with the
dike center at 0. The position of the contact between the country
rock and the dike is shown. The interval where layered aplite (line
rock) occurs within the dike is between the 2 heavy lines (Webber
et al., 1997).
been on the order of 10 5 cm/s (Fig. 12). The cooling
times presented in Table 6 indicate that the dikes cooled
and crystallized rapidly, with variable nucleation rates but
high overall crystal-growth rates. Initial high nucleation
rates coincident with emplacement and strong undercool-
ing can account for the millimeter-size aplite grains. Lower
nucleation rates coupled with high growth rates can explain
the decimeter-size minerals in the hanging walls, cores, and
miarolitic cavities of the pegmatites. The presence of tour-
maline and/or lepidolite throughout these dikes suggests
that high melt concentrations of incompatible (or fluxing)
components such as B, F, and Li ( H2 O), aided in the de-
velopment of large pegmatitic crystals that grew rapidly
in the short times suggested by the conductive cooling
models.
In order to evaluate the eect on cooling times with
variations in country rock temperatures and pegmatite
emplacement temperatures, Webber et al. (2005) modified
the initial cooling parameters used for the SDC pegmatites
including the Himalaya, George Ashley and Stewart, and
added the Animikie Red Ace (ARA) pegmatite, Wiscon-
sin a thin dike emplaced into hotter country rock (Fal-
ster et al., 1997, 2005). The results presented in Table 6
illustrate that even though modifying the initial parameters
increases cooling times, the results are still rapid.
Even the very large, 100 m thick Tanco pegmatite appears
to have cooled quite rapidly. Cern (2005) recently sug-
gested that the Tanco pegmatite very likely solidified quite
rapidly, in decades to a maximum of a few hundreds of
years. In order to quantitatively evaluate this, Webber &
Simmons (2007), using the cooling model outlined above
and the parameters reported by Cern (2005) (thickness of
100 m; emplacement temperature of 700 C; emplacement
depth of 10 km; and country rock temperatures of 25 C
to 300 C calculated that the Tanco pegmatite cooled to
450 C in 7001000 years.
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art 431

Table 6. Calculated conductive cooling times for three pegmatites in San Diego County, California and the Animikie Red Ace pegmatite,
Wisconsin. Pegmatite emplacement temperature and country rock temperature was varied in the conductive cooling equations to observe
the eect on cooling times.

Pegmatite Width Emplacement Country Rock Cools To Time

Temp C Temp C Temp C
Himalaya, SDC, CA 1m 650 C 150 C 550 C 5 days
Himalaya, SDC, CA 1m 650 C 150 C 400 C 20 days
Himalaya, SDC, CA 1m 600 C 300 C 400 C 50 days
George Ashley, SDC, CA 8m 650 C 150 C 550 C 340 days
George Ashley, SDC, CA 8m 650 C 150 C 400 C 3 yrs
George Ashley, SDC, CA 8m 600 C 300 C 400 C 10 yrs
Stewart, SDC, CA 25 m 650 C 150 C 550 C 9 yrs
Stewart, SDC, CA 25 m 650 C 150 C 400 C 30 yrs
Stewart, SDC, CA 25 m 600 C 300 C 400 C 75 yrs
Animikie Red Ace, WI 1m 600 C 400 C 500 C 20 days
Animikie Red Ace, WI 1m 600 C 400 C 450 C 50 days

eschweizerbartxxx

Fig. 12. Photograph of the upper Himalaya dike exposed in the Himalaya Mine. Large wedge-shaped schorl crystals, some over 10 cm in
length, can be seen growing out in a comb structure from the pegmatite hanging wall-country rock contact. The dike has a width of 1 m.

Chemical quenching slowly than shallow-level pegmatites. The mechanism for

Metastable undercooled melts can also be produced by the
removal of a fluxing component by a crystallizing phase,
instead of by rapid thermal cooling. The remaining melt
is then undercooled since it is no longer fluxed by the re-
moved component. This process is referred to as a chemical
quench.
Pegmatites hosted in deeper seated metamorphic terranes
also occasionally show comb structures and wedge-shaped
crystals which are indicative of rapid crystallization, al-
though it is clear that, thermally, they must cool more
rapid crystallization of deeper seated pegmatitic melts,
which cool more slowly, may be a chemical quench. This
process involves removal of a fluxing component, such as B
or F, from a melt by a crystallizing phase which then initi-
ates rapid crystallization, since the melt is no longer fluxed
by that component. For example, crystallization of tourma-
line or fluorine-bearing phases can result in melt that is sud-
denly undercooled even though the surrounding rocks and
the melt itself remain at about the same temperature.
The Ip pegmatite in Minas Gerais, Brazil, (Fig. 13)
which has a well-developed comb structure of extremely
432
Fig. 13. The large Ip pegmatite, Minas Gerais, Brazil shows a
spectacular tourmaline comb structure. Some of the wedge-shaped
schorl crystals exceed 2 m in length. Large and rapid undercooling
initiates heterogeneous nucleation along the hanging wall contact.
This produces radially flaring crystals, with their fast-growth axes
pointed toward the melt that are able to sustain growth as the crystal-
lization front advances. The result is highly oriented comb-structure
tourmaline.
skeletal and elongated schorl crystals oriented perpendic-
ular to the pegmatite-country-rock contact, is an exam-
ple of a large deeper seated pegmatite that is inferred to
have crystallized rapidly as a result of chemical quenching
eschweizerbartxxx
(Simmons et al., 2003).
Constitutional zone refining
Rapid crystallization from a strongly undercooled melt pro-
duces a boundary layer of excluded phases ahead of the
crystallizing front. A constitutional zone refining model
of pegmatite formation proposed by Morgan & London
(1999) and London (2005a,b) involves disequilibrium crys-
tallization from a flux-bearing granitic melt that is under-
cooled by about 100300 C. The melt is not necessarily
flux rich and the presence or absence of an aqueous vapor
phase is not required (London, 2005a).
A lag time between cooling and the initiation of crys-
tallization produces a supersaturated melt. When nucle-
ation and crystallization commence, excluded fluxes and
volatiles accumulate in a boundary layer ahead of the crys-
tallization front (London, 2005). The solidus of the bound-
ary layer is lowered by the fluxes and, as crystallization
continues, this boundary layer liquid becomes progres-
sively enriched in fluxes, water and other incompatible el-
ements relative to the bulk melt composition (Fig. 14).
Boundary layers advancing from the wall zones inward
may merge, especially in thin dikes. In the final stages of
crystallization an aqueous vapor phase may evolve, giv-
ing rise to the formation of miarolitic cavities and evolved
suites of pegmatitic minerals (London, 2005a).
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
Fig. 14. Backscattered electron image of experiment PEG-25, a
metaluminous haplogranite (200 MPa H2 O minimum composition)
+3 wt.% B2 O3 . A boundary layer of melt (quenched to glass) is at
crystal growth front boundary. Crystal growth direction shown by
arrow. Composition of bulk melt (point 2) and the B2 O3 and H2 O
enriched boundary layer (point 1) is respectively: SiO2 , 68.94 and
50.88; Al2 O3 , 12.01 and 7.79; Na2 O, 5.10 and 6.66; K2 O 3.37 and
2.90; B2 O3 2.93 and 18.30 and H2 O 7.61 and 13.42 wt.% (after Lon-
don, 2005a).
Origin of line rock
In the past, numerous theories have been advanced to ex-
plain the origin of line rock, fine-grained layered aplite,
in composite pegmatites-aplite dikes. These dikes are typ-
ically thin, low-angle to subhorizontal, sheet-like dikes
with aplitic portions mainly in the foot wall that dis-
play pronounced mineralogical layering characterized by
fine-grained, garnet- or tourmaline-rich bands alternating
with albite- and quartz-rich bands. The contrast in crystal
size between the coarse-grained pegmatite and fine-grained
aplite has been the subject of numerous investigations.
Jahns & Tuttle (1963) suggested that aplite layering could
be explained by the periodic loss of water vapor, a viable
mechanism for quenching by relief of pressure (shifts of the
alkali feldspar-quartz field boundary with changes of va-
por pressure related to epizonal degassing). London (1992)
proposed that significant undercooling could also produce
layering and he was able to experimentally produce rhyth-
mic layering of quartz and alkali feldspar in experiments
with no fluctuations in pressure (London, 2005a). Kleck
(1996) proposed gravitational crystal settling as an ex-
planation for the George Ashley line rock. Webber et al.
(1997, 1999) proposed a mechanism of diusion controlled
oscillatory nucleation and crystallization from a strongly
undercooled melt for the formation of line rock in San
Diego Co., CA pegmatite-aplite dikes. They suggested that
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art
the initiation of line rock formation could be caused by
a number of triggers, including a thermal, chemical or
pressure quench. Morgan & London (1999) proposed con-
stitutional zone refining for the Little Three pegmatite, Cal-
ifornia. Frindt & Haapala (2004) proposed that diusion-
controlled oscillatory nucleation and rapid growth from
undercooled melt, coupled with changes in vapor pressure
could explain the layered aplites and undercooling textures
from the Gross Spitzkoppe stock, Namibia.
We believe that aplite line rock forms by oscillatory nu-
cleation and crystallization that can be initiated by a high
degrees of undercooling alone or by an external forcing fac-
tor such as pressure reduction produced by dike dilatancy
(fracture propogation). Any event that results in strong un-
dercooling has the potential to initiate line-rock formation.
Emplacement of melt into relatively cool country rocks
(thermal quench), or a chemical quench resulting for ex-
ample from crystallization of tourmaline that eectively
removes boron from the melt (Rockhold et al., 1987), or
dike rupture or dike dilatancy (pressure quench), can all in-
crease the degree of melt undercooling and act as a trigger
to destabilize the crystallization dynamics of the pegmatite
system. Such events can initiate rapid heterogeneous nucle-
ation and oscillatory crystal growth, the development of a
layer of excluded components in front of the crystallization
front, and the formation of line rock.
Areas for future research
eschweizerbartxxx
Classification and origin of pegmatitic melts
A number of new modification to Cerns (1991) classi-
fication, which was based on a combination of depth of
emplacement, metamorphic grade and minor element con-
tent have been proposed over the last few years (Zagorsky,
et al., 1999; Wise, 1999; Pezzotta, 2001; see Simmons,
2005 for an overview). Many pegmatites fall nicely into
Cerns categories, but during the last decade various in-
vestigations have revealed pegmatites that dont fit well
into these categories. Most notably pegmatites of the NYF
aliation have required a more detailed classification as
more studies revealed a greater diversity of NYF peg-
matites. One problem is the classification of some peg-
matites as NYF that contain little or no yttrium or others
that contain little or no niobium. Many pegmatites from
Madagascar described by Pezzotta (2001) that are hyper-
enriched in Cs dont fall into these categories. Addition-
ally, a number of pegmatites show mixed NYF and LCT
characteristics and the origin of these are not addressed in
the classification. Cerns classification also fails to address
the possibility of pegmatites forming by direct anatexis.
Moreover, attempts to relate pegmatite types or subtypes to
magma genesis or tectonic regimes, as has been attempted
in granite classifications, are not satisfactory (Simmons,
2005, 2007a,b).
Wise (1999) introduced a new expanded classification
of NYF pegmatites. His classification relates pegmatites
with NYF geochemistry to A-type granite plutons. He re-
lated these pegmatites to post-tectonic to anorogenic plu-
433
tons formed in continental or oceanic rift zones. His classi-
fication has three main categories based on aluminum satu-
ration of the parent granite, peralkaline, metaluminous, and
peraluminous. Within each group, pegmatite types are dis-
tinguished by mineralogical and geochemical characteris-
tics. This classification is comprised of 6 types and 9 sub-
types. His classification relates NYF pegmatite mineralogy
to variations in the alkalinity of the parental granitic melts.
Cerny & Ercit (2005) introduced a revised petrogenetic
classification in which three families are distinguished: an
NYF family with progressive accumulation of Nb, Y and
F (besides Be, REE, Sc, Ti, Zr, Th and U), fractionated
from subaluminous to metaluminous A- and I-granites that
are generated by a variety of processes involving depleted
crust and/or mantle contribution; a peraluminous LCT fam-
ily marked by prominent accumulation of Li, Cs and Ta
(besides Rb, Be, Sn, B, P and F) derived mainly from S-
granites, less commonly from I-granites; and a mixed NYF
+ LCT family of diverse origins (e.g., NYF plutons con-
taminated by digestion of undepleted supracrustals).
Ercits (2005) report on REE-enriched granitic peg-
matites elaborates on the Cerny & Ercit (2005) classifi-
cation. He reports that Cern rejects the use of the term
LCT and NYF in a purely geochemical sense for in-
dividual pegmatites as opposed to granite-pegmatite suites
(families). LCT, NYF and Mixed are families of granitic
pegmatite suites.
In examining more than 500 pegmatite descriptions, Ercit
(2005) found a low degree of correlation between acces-
sory mineralogy and depth of emplacement for NYF peg-
matites. He proposed that NYF pegmatites belong to the
Abyssal, Muscovite-Rare-Element class, as well as the
Rare-Element and Miarolitic classes. He also subdivided
the abyssal class into two subdivisions: the LREE-enriched
and the HREE-enriched types. The Rare Element Class
consists of the Rare Earth type and the Allanite-Monazite,
Euxenite and Gadolinite subtypes. This paper discusses
numerous details and problems of the systems of REE-
enriched pegmatites. Clearly much future research will be
devoted to REE-enriched pegmatites.
Martin & De Vito (2005) contend that the depth zone
classification cannot account for the two main geochemi-
cal categories of pegmatites: LCT and NYF. They propose
that the tectonic setting determines the nature of the par-
ent magma and the derivative rare-element enriched mag-
mas. Thus, LCT pegmatites are generated in compressional
tectonic settings (orogenic suites) and NYF from exten-
sional tectonic settings (anorogenic suites). Mixed NYF
and LCT are proposed to be the result of contamination,
either at the magmatic or postmagmatic stage, in which the
evolved NYF rocks get soaked with a fluid bringing in
not only Li and B, but also Ca and Mg from the host rock,
such that part of the pegmatite body may contain dravitic,
elbaitic and liddicoatitic tourmaline, danburite, and other
exotic species such as microlite, fersmite, londonite and
pezzottaite. They propose that some of the exotic Mada-
gascar pegmatites with a hybrid or mixed NYF / LCT
character may be caused by remelting of just-formed NYF
pegmatites by such metasomatic fluids. They also propose
that pegmatites may form by anatexis from both crustal and
434
mantle rocks, which may have been previously metasomat-
ically altered.
It is clear that a trend toward a petrogenetic classification
is emerging. We feel that a petrogenetic classification that
can relate pegmatites to tectonic regimes and the related
magma generating processes is ultimately essential in order
to advance our understanding of pegmatite genesis within
the larger-scale earth processes. This is an area for much
needed future research.
Chemical quenching in deeper seated pegmatites
Some pegmatites that formed in deeper seated metamor-
phic terranes may show skeletal and comb textures indica-
tive of rapid crystallization even though it is clear that they
must cool more slowly than shallow level pegmatites. As
discussed above, the mechanism for rapid crystallization
of deeper seated pegmatitic melts, which cool more slowly,
may be the removal of a fluxing component, such as boron
or fluorine, from the melt by a crystallizing phase. Chem-
ical quenching can initiate rapid crystallization since the
melt is no longer fluxed by that component. Crystallization
of tourmaline or fluorine-bearing phases can result in melt
that is suddenly undercooled even though the surrounding
rocks and the melt itself remain at about the same tempera-
ture. Comb structures and tapered crystals, seen in numer-
ous pegmatites, may have resulted from rapid crystalliza-
tion initiated by a chemical quench. Evaluating the role of
this process is another area for future research. eschweizerbartxxx
Regional zoning
The mechanism of regional zonation described by Cerny
(1991) for orogenic LCT pegmatites is a problematic pro-
cess that needs more research. Regional zoning does not
appear to occur in NYF pegmatite fields. The typical LCT
pegmatite zoning pattern is concentric around an inferred
parental pluton with the least fractionated pegmatites ad-
jacent to the parental pluton, and the most fractionated
pegmatites distal to the parental pluton. How pegmatites
can be derived from a source pluton by periodic escape of
pegmatitic melt such that the earlier proximal pegmatites
are the simpler less fractionated pegmatites, and the later,
more distal pegmatites are the most fractionated and com-
plex, remains to be satisfactorily explained. We see sev-
eral problems. If less fractionated pegmatitic melts escape
early from a fractionating pluton as proposed by Cerny
(1991), it would seem that those melts would remove con-
stituents that should remain in the pegmatitic melt in order
to achieve the high levels of concentration necessary for the
formation of the more highly evolved pegmatites. How
do Li, Cs, Ta, etc. remain in the pluton to be released later?
Further, how can they travel outward from the pluton and
leave no trace of their passage?
London (2005a) has suggested that a zoned magma
chamber might give rise to dierent batches of pegmatitic
melts, with the more evolved melts related to the upper
parts of the magma chamber, as has been described from
W.B. Simmons, K.L. Webber
studies of rhyolitic ash-flow tus such as the Bishop Tu
(Hildreth, 1979). The more fractionated melts at the top of
the zoned magma chamber could then move farther into
the surrounding country rocks than melts derived from the
lower portions of the zoned magma chamber. However, this
would seem to require rather highly zoned plutons which
have not been documented. The zoning proposed in plu-
tons as evidenced by ash-flow tus is not nearly as extreme
as would seem necessary to produce the most fractionated
LCT melts. Furthermore, the best examples of highly frac-
tionated rhyolites such as the topaz and red beryl rhyolites
in Utah, are from anorogenic settings and not orogenic.
Also, given the evidence for rapid crystallization of peg-
matitic melts, how is it possible for even the most fluxed
melts to travel large distances from the pluton into progres-
sively cooler country rock? High over pressures and very
rapid injection velocities may be the answer, but there is
little data supporting either concept.
We suggest that perhaps in some cases the pegmatitic
melts farthest from the pluton are not derived from the plu-
ton by protracted fractional crystallization but are very low
degree partial melts generated in the thermal halo of the
pluton. In other cases the pegmatitic melts may form in
migmatitic terranes with no associated pluton. Roda et al.
(1999) in a study of pegmatites in the Fregeneda area, Sala-
manca Spain, proposed that pegmatites surrounding the
Lumbrales granite, showing a typical regional zoning pat-
tern from proximal barren pegmatites to distal enriched
pegmatites, were formed by three dierent paths of frac-
tional crystallization of melts generated by partial melting
of quartzo-feldspathic rocks and were not derived by frac-
tional crystallization of the granite. More research needs to
be done on the possible causes of regional zoning.
Anatexis
Pegmatites are generally acknowledged to form by a pro-
cess of fractional crystallization of a granitic composition
melt. In many cases the connection of pegmatites with a
parent pluton is obvious from spatial relationships, age de-
terminations and chemical characteristics. However, it also
has been proposed that it may be possible to form a peg-
matitic melt of the same composition as that formed by pro-
tracted fractional crystallization by direct anatexis of rocks
with the appropriate composition.
Simmons et al. (1995, 1996) proposed that in general
low-degree partial melts produced around plutons in oro-
genic environments could form pegmatitic melts and that
some pegmatites in western Maine could form by direct
anatexis. Metasedimentary rocks containing evaporite se-
quences may provide a source of fluxing components such
as boron and lithium and other incompatible elements. Ba-
sically the argument is that in collisional tectonic environ-
ments if a sedimentary sequence (including volcanics) con-
tains fluxing components and incompatible elements that
ultimately end up in a granitic melt (pluton) which can sub-
sequently fractionally crystallize to form a pegmatitic melt,
then those same fluxing components and incompatible el-
 Pegmatite genesis: state of the art
ements will be preferentially partitioned into a low-degree
partial melt that can directly form a pegmatite.
Other researchers have also proposed anatexis as a mech-
anism for forming pegmatitic melts. Based on oxygen iso-
tope systematics, Nabelek et al. (1992a, b) proposed that
the granite-pegmatite couplets in the Black Hills were de-
rived from partial melting. Falster et al. (1997, 2005) pro-
posed that the Animikie Red Ace and related pegmatites
in Florence County, Wisconsin could have formed directly
by partial melting of the surrounding metasedimentary
and metavolcanic country rocks, possibly aided by evap-
orites within the metasedimentary package. Roda et al.
(1999) in a study of pegmatites in the Fregeneda area, Sala-
manca Spain proposed that the regionally zoned pegmatites
around the Lumbrales granite were anatectic in origin. Ex-
perimental research on forming pegmatites by direct ana-
texis is another area of possible future research.
Isotopic ages versus conductive cooling models
There are some glaring discrepancies between the cool-
ing times implied by 40 Ar/39 Ar zoned mica ages (Snee
& Foord, 1991; Snee et al., 2006) versus the conduc-
tive cooling models. Snee et al. (2006) report that mus-
covite cores of several zoned mica samples from the Lit-
tle Three Pegmatite, San Diego County, California, were
up to 1.3 million years older than their corresponding rims
of similar composition based on 40 Ar/39 Ar ages. This is
clearly at odds with conductive cooling models for the Lit-
eschweizerbartxxx
tle Three Pegmatite (Morgan & London, 1999) as well as
other San Diego County pegmatites (Webber et al., 1997,
1999). Snee et al. (2006) suggest that the discrepancies
may be explained by either dierential cooling rates, or
dierent argon closure temperatures, or dierent times of
crystallization resulting from a complex multi-event peg-
matite emplacement process. Smith et al. (2005) showed
that incorporation of Li, F, Rb and Cs in the mica structure
resulted in lower argon closure temperatures in lepidolite.
Research to help clarify this age discrepancy would be very
useful.
Role of immiscibility in pegmatite genesis
The MI and FI studies of minerals in pegmatites detailed
by Thomas et al. (2000, 2005, 2006b) and Webster et al.
(1997) suggest that pegmatite-forming melts are low vis-
cosity, H2 O-rich, high diusivity, alkali-rich aluminosili-
cate melts, with the ability to easily transport trace and
other elements leading to the extreme enrichment of peg-
matites in elements such as P, F and B. Additionally, melt-
melt immiscibility occurs early in the crystallization his-
tory of pegmatite magmas.
The relative roles of immiscibility, fractional crystalliza-
tion and boundary layer crystallization with respect to peg-
matite genesis, as well as an understanding of the percent-
age and composition of pegmatitic fluids, are topics for
further research. As pegmatologists we enjoy finding the
mineralogical and chemical oddities, but in the end, any
435
model for pegmatite genesis must reconcile the fact that at
the outcrop scale the majority of pegmatites are granitic in
composition and mineralogically simple.
Acknowledgements: We thank Alexandre Lima, Encar-
nacin Roda-Robles, Franois Fontan, Frdric Hatert, T-
nia Martins and Romeu Vieira for organizing and conduct-
ing the International Symposium on Granitic Pegmatites:
the State of the Art. It was an excellent and well or-
ganized meeting that oered an opportunity for pegma-
tologists from around the world to gather and exchange
ideas and visit pegmatites in the field. Thanks to Alexan-
der Falster for discussions and reviewing early versions of
this manuscript. Thanks also to Alexandre Lima, Jacques
Touret and Tnia Martins for their careful reviews and
valuable comments and suggestions which improved the
manuscript.
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Received 13 January 2008
Modified version received 28 March 2008
Accepted 22 April 2008