Electron paramagnetic resonance signature of rock-forming blue quartz from the Albești (Romania) granite

The ca. 480 Ma Albești granite (Southern Carpathians, Romania) is characterized by the presence of color zoned blue quartz grains, and is part of the rather extensive European Cambro-Ordovician blue quartz landscape. The color is heat sensitive, fading at temperatures as low as 300℃, inconsistent with the thermally stable, light scattering, nanometric rutile/ilmenite inclusions cited in literature. Extensive X- and Q-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigations were carried out, searching for distinctive features of the Albești quartz that are directly or indirectly involved in the generation of the blue coloration. The analyzed quartz grains were extracted from three granite samples of varying coloration and anisotropy, and the quartz from each rock sample was further separated into colored and colorless fractions. The paramagnetic E’ and [AlO₄]⁰ centers, as well as Mn²⁺ ions localized in traces of amorphous associated minerals at grain boundaries or fissure planes, were observed in all quartz samples. Broad EPR lines associated with the presence of magnetic clusters were observed in the spectra of the white quartz sample and the corresponding colorless one. Isochronal annealing up to 500℃ induced the correlated recombination of the E’ and [AlO₄]⁰ centers, the strong decrease of the Mn²⁺ spectrum and the formation of a minority iron oxide phase at the grain boundaries and/or fissure planes. The EPR signature was similar for the colored and the corresponding colorless quartz samples, before and after annealing, showing that the heat sensitive coloration of the Albești quartz does not directly involve the presence of paramagnetic defects and/or minority magnetic phases.