Ti-poor hoegbomite in kornerupine-cordierite-sillimanite rocks from Ellammankovilpatti,Tamil Nadu,India

Hoegbomite occurs sparingly in minute (mostly 0.1 mm) grains with fine-grained hercynite, magnetite, and rutile in two coarse-grained kornerupine-cordierite-sillimanite rocks from Ellammankovilpatti, Tamil Nadu, India. The hoegbomite is Ti-poor (2.5 wt% TiO₂), Fe-rich (25–26% Fe as FeO), and contains 6.2–6.8% MgO, 59.8–60.1% Al₂O₃, 1.0–1.3% ZnO, 0.3–0.7% Cr₂O₃ and 0.02% Li₂O. Minor amounts (estimated not to exceed 0.2 wt% oxide) of V, Co, Ni, Ga, and Sn were detected on the electron microprobe, but Be, Nb, and Zr were not detected with the ion microprobe mass analyser. Assuming the crystal structure refined by Gatehouse and Grey (1982) to be applicable to the Ellammankovilpatti hoegbomite, the analyses were recalculated on a basis of 22 cations, 30 oxygens, and two hydroxyls, resulting in 49 to 53% of the iron being ferric. Identification of hoegbomite was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction. Associated cordierite (Fe/(Fe+Mg)=0.14) and kornerupine (Fe/(Fe+Mg)= 0.27) contain 0.02 weight % Li₂O and 0.05–0.07% BeO, while only the kornerupine contains B₂O₃ — 1.57% (ion microprobe analyses). Hoegbomite and the other oxides may have crystallized at temperatures between 680 and 720° C (P6.5 kbar) following attainment of peak conditions by the reaction: kornerupine+sillimanite±rutile+ZnO+H₂O+O₂ =cordierite+chlorite+hercynite+hoegbomite +magnetite+B₂O₃.The conditions for hoegbomite formation at Ellammankovilpatti appear to be characteristic of many hoegbomite parageneses. Critical for hoegbomite are silica undersaturation and relatively high oxygen and water activities at fairly high temperatures, conditions which are most commonly attained in later phases of a metamorphic cycle in upper amphibolite- and granulite-facies terrains.