Bearing of rare earth patterns of apatites from igneous and metamorphic rocks

Twelve apatite samples from igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Black Forest and igneous rocks from the Kaiserstuhl were analysed for their REE content. The ΣREE range from 0.116 to 1.69 wt.%; the lowest values were found in the metamorphic rocks. All apatites from the various parent rocks show a general enrichment of the lighter rare earths over the heavier and their chondrite-normalized rare earth patterns exhibit a more or less pronounced negative Ce anomaly. This Ce depletion is accompanied by relatively low La and Pr values. In addition, the apatites from igneous rocks from the Black Forest show a marked negative Eu anomaly. An explanation is offered for the simultaneous occurrence of a negative Ce and a negative Eu anomaly in one investigated rock system. The negative Ce anomaly is attributed to the occurrence of phases enriched in Ce (e.g., monazite, allanite) which crystallized prior to or simultaneously with apatite. The negative Eu anomaly in these magmatic apatites most probably is caused by discrimination of Eu²⁺ from the apatite lattice. The result of this discrimination is a selective Eu enrichment in the later crystallizing feldspars, plagioclase and orthoclase. At least in this case, the positive Eu anomaly in feldspars is not a reliable indicator of low oxygen fugacity during their crystallization; the Eu depletion of the earlier crystallized apatites is preferable for this purpose.