Origin, Characterization and Significance of Tourmaline Supergroup Minerals and Their Deposits

Dear Colleagues,

Tourmaline-supergroup minerals (reported as “tourmalines” below) are the most common borosilicates in the Earth’s crust. Their crystal structure enables the incorporation of a wide range of chemical elements, among which boron is fundamental. Tracking boron availability in the Earth, as it responds to various geological processes, provides the link to tourmalines’ formation, their occurrence and the timing and interpretation of their growth.

The crystal–chemical complexity of tourmalines enables a large stability range and widespread occurrences. Tourmalines have a temperature and pressure (T-P) stability range that cover most of the conditions found in the Earth’s crust. Indeed, such stability is derived, in part, from tourmalines’ ability to adapt their composition in response to the changing chemical environment as well as thermal and baric conditions.  Coupled with their extremely limited volume diffusion, once formed, tourmalines typically retain chemical and textural information as long as they exist.

For such features, tourmalines have become, in the last two decades, increasingly interesting for the understanding of the geologic processes behind the formation of a large number of rocks and ore deposits, belonging to a quite large number of geologic environments.

Moreover, some tourmaline minerals, mostly elbaite, liddicoatite, and chrom-dravite, have been particularly researched for their gemmological and ornamental applications, gaining a progressively increasing value in the international market.

Elbaite and liddicoatite and, to a less extent, other tourmaline species, are linked to the formation of some Li-bearing deposits, providing information for their occurrence and their prospection, and for the reconstruction of their genetic history.

This Special Issue, devoted to the tourmaline-supergroup minerals, aims to be a contribution to the knowledge of tourmalines origin and occurrences, including paragenetic, petrologic, geochemical and isotopic aspects.

Dr. Federico Pezzotta
Dr. Andrea Dini
Guest Editors

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• tourmaline formation 
• tourmaline supergroup minerals 
• tourmaline-bearing pegmatite 
• lithium-bearing pegmatites 
• pegmatite paragenesis 
• metamorphic tourmalines 
• detrital tourmalines 
• magmatic petrology 
• metamorphic petrology 
• boron-rich rocks 
• tourmaline crystal growth