A new application of SIMS to the analysis of nitrogen in mica minerals: tobelite.

Muscovite, KAl2[AlSi3O10](OH)2, is a common rock-forming mineral in igneous and metamorphic-rocks, sediments, hydrothermal alteration and ore deposits. The site between two adjacent T-O-T (tetrahedral-octahedral-tetrahedral) layers is shared between K and NH4 in all proportions leading to the building of the "ammonium micas". In this work three tobelite crystals were investigated in terms of major and minor constituents by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and in terms of nitrogen, for the first time at authors' knowledge, by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The objective was that to gain information on the presence and amount of NH4 in this matrix. The lack of standards did not allow us to provide quantitative results at the ion microprobe. Nevertheless, the SIMS data agree qualitatively with constraints resulting from EPMA analyses and charge-balance crystal chemical considerations. The results of this study emphasize the capabilities of SIMS in the in-situ analysis of N and point out the possibility to develop reference materials (standards) for quantitative SIMS analysis of nitrogen in mica.