S.I. Kurylo, MINERALOGY AND THERMOMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF Fe-Cr OXIDES IN SERPENTINIZED ULTRABASIC ROCKS OF THE KARNAUKHIVKA MASSIF (SURA GREENSTONE STRUCTURE, UKRAINIAN SHIELD)
https://doi.org/10.15407/mineraljournal.48.03.003
UDC 549.5 + 550.38 + 552.321.6(477)
MINERALOGY AND THERMOMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF Fe-Cr OXIDES
IN SERPENTINIZED ULTRABASIC ROCKS OF THE KARNAUKHIVKA MASSIF
(SURA GREENSTONE STRUCTURE, UKRAINIAN SHIELD)
S.I. Kurylo 1, PhD (Geology), Research Fellow
E-mail: kurylo.sergiy@gmail.com; orcid: 0000-0003-4466-6851
V.V. Sukach 2, DrSc (Geology), Senior Research Fellow, Head of Department
E-mail: svital@ukr.net; orcid: 0000-0002-4710-7230
S.M. Bondarenko 2, PhD (Geology), Senior Science Researcher
E-mail: sbond.igmr@gmail.com; orcid: 0000-0001-7948-3583
N.М. Lyzhachenkо 1, 3, PhD (Geology), Science Researcher
E-mail: lyzhachenko@gmail.com; orcid: 0000-0001-8598-0551
A.M. Kalinichenko 2, PhD (Geology, Mineralogy), Senior Science Researcher, Leading Researcher
E-mail: akalinichenko@gmail.com; orcid: 0000-0001-7597-4617
A.I. Agapov 4, Junior Researcher
E-mail: ahanig1@gmail.com; orcid: 0009-0004-8402-7848
Yu.O. Lytvynenko 2, Junior Researcher
E-mail: lisick8@gmail.com; orcid: 0000-0001-6609-0000
1 Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, 97411
2 M.P. Semenenko Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Ore Formation of the NAS of Ukraine
34, Acad. Palladin Ave., Kyiv, Ukraine, 03142
3 State Institution "The Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine"
34a, Acad. Palladin Ave., Kyiv, Ukraine, 03142
4 Technical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
13 Pokrovska St., Kyiv, Ukraine, 04070
Language: Ukrainian
Mineralogical journal 2026, 48 (3): 03-19
Abstract: The results of a study of Fe-Cr oxides with a chlorite aureole from serpentinized ultrabasic rocks of the Karnaukhivka Massif within the Sura Greenstone Structure of the Middle Dnipro Megablock, Ukrainian Shield, are presented. The Fe-Cr oxides are represented by a solid-solution series between Fe-chromite and Cr-magnetite (Fe-chromite — Cr-magnetite series), as well as by magnetite. Their structural and textural features, chemical composition, and magnetic properties were characterized, and the physicochemical conditions of their formation were reconstructed. The Fe-Cr oxides are shown to have formed during hydrothermal alteration associated with harzburgite serpentinization through both early and late stages. The early stage was characterized by reducing conditions and the substitution of Mg, Mn, and Zn by Fe2+. During the late stage of hydrothermal alteration, Cr3⁺ and Al³⁺ were replaced by Fe3+ under conditions of high oxygen fugacity, resulting in the formation of late magnetite with a relatively high content of Ni and a chlorite aureole. Thermomagnetic analysis revealed two ferromagnetic phases with Curie temperatures of 565°C and 461°C, corresponding to magnetite and Cr-magnetite, respectively. The magnetic properties of these phases are consistent with the coexistence of both normal and inverse spinel structures, in which Cr³⁺ and Fe2+/Fe3+ occupy different crystallographic sites. This observation supports the stability of the Fe-chromite — Cr-magnetite series as an intermediate phase within the Fe-Cr spinel series. Model calculations indicate that the primary spinel corresponded to an Al-rich chromite containing at least 7 wt.% Al2O3. The obtained results demonstrate the usefulness of Fe-Cr oxides as indicators for reconstructing the evolutionary history and alteration processes of ultramafic rocks.
Keywords: Fe-chromite, Cr-magnetite, magnetite, thermomagnetic properties, serpentinites, Ukrainian Shield.
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