Chemical zoning of muscovite from the Ervedosa Granite, northern Portugal

The tin-bearing muscovite granite from Ervedosa contains unzoned primary muscovite. This Hercynian S-type granite was hydrothermally altered at the stanniferous quartz vein walls and contains three types of muscovite: (1) very small unzoned muscovite replacing albite; (2) small unzoned hydrothermal muscovite replacing K-feldspar and quartz; and (3) zoned subhedral muscovite. In the zoned muscovite, the core has a composition similar to that of magmatic muscovite from the unaltered granite, while the rim has a composition similar to that of hydrothermal muscovite replacing K-feldspar and quartz in the altered granite. The rim corresponds to a late overgrowth richer in the celadonitic component than the core. Infiltrated mineralizing fluids reacted with biotite and K-feldspar of the unaltered granite. We interpret the rim of muscovite to have precipitated from these solutions.