Geochemical behaviour of vanadium,chromium, cobalt,nickel, and copper during progressive chloritization of biotites in granites

Evaluation of the vanadium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, and copper contents of five biotites, chloritized to varying degrees, from a magmatic granitic series of the 2700-million-year-old Giants Range Batholith of Northeastern Minnesota, USA, on the southern margin of the Canadian Shield, determined by wavelength-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, shows that, during progressive chloritization of biotites in granites, the content of vanadium decreases and the contents of chromium, cobalt, nickel, and copper increase. The results emphasise the need for great caution when interpreting whole-rock trace-element data in petrological research.