Fingerprinting Paranesti Rubies through Oxygen Isotopes

Kandy K. Wang, Ian T. Graham, Laure Martin, Panagiotis Voudouris, Gaston Giuliani, Angela Lay, Stephen J. Harris, Anthony Fallick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, the oxygen isotope (O-18) composition of pink to red gem-quality rubies from Paranesti, Greece was investigated using in-situ secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) and laser-fluorination techniques. Paranesti rubies have a narrow range of O-18 values between similar to 0 and +1 parts per thousand and represent one of only a few cases worldwide where O-18 signatures can be used to distinguish them from other localities. SIMS analyses from this study and previous work by the authors suggests that the rubies formed under metamorphic/metasomatic conditions involving deeply penetrating meteoric waters along major crustal structures associated with the Nestos Shear Zone. SIMS analyses also revealed slight variations in O-18 composition for two outcrops located just similar to 500 m apart: PAR-1 with a mean value of 1.0 parts per thousand +/- 0.42 parts per thousand and PAR-5 with a mean value of 0.14 parts per thousand +/- 0.24 parts per thousand. This work adds to the growing use of in-situ methods to determine the origin of gem-quality corundum and re-confirms its usefulness in geographic "fingerprinting".

Original languageEnglish
Article number91
Number of pages14
JournalMinerals
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2019

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