Paragenesis of Cr-rich muscovite and chlorite in green-mica quartzites of Saigaon–Palasgaon area, Western Bastar Craton, India

Green mica (fuchsite or chromian-muscovite) is reported worldwide in the Archaean metasedimentary rocks, especially quartzites. They are generally associated with a suite of heavy minerals and a range of phyllosilicates. We report the occurrence of green-mica quartzites in the Saigaon–Palasgaon area within Bastar Craton in central India. Mineralogical study has shown that there are two types of muscovites; the chromium-containing muscovite (Cr 2 O 3 0.84–1.84%) and muscovite (Cr 2 O 3 0.00–0.22%). Chlorites are chromium-containing chlorites (Cr 2 O 3 3.66–5.39%) and low-chromium-containing chlorites (Cr 2 O 3 0.56–2.62%), and as such represent ripidolite–brunsvigite varieties. Back scattered electron images and EPMA data has revealed that chlorite occurs in two forms, viz., parallel to subparallel stacks in the form of intergrowth with muscovite and independent crystals within the matrix. The present study indicates that the replacement of chromium-containing chlorite by chromium-containing muscovite is found to be due to increasing grade of metamorphism of chromium-rich sediments. However, the absence of significant compositional gap between aforementioned varieties indicates disparate substitution of cations, especially chromium, within matrix chlorites. The chromium-containing muscovite and muscovite are two separate varieties having distinct paragenesis.