Tourmaline as a petrogenetic indicator in the Pfitsch Formation, Western Tauern Window, Eastern Alps

The metasediments of the Pfitsch Formation have very low and variable whole-rock δ11B values (− 14.1 to − 33.6‰), with the highest values (− 17.7 to − 14.1‰) found in B-rich samples (165-1200 μg/g B) containing abundant tourmaline, and the lowest values (− 24.2 to − 33.6‰) in B-depleted samples (21-40 μg/g), which lack tourmaline. This observation supports preferential loss of 11B from the rocks during prograde metamorphism. Zoned tourmaline crystals in the Pfitsch formation show successively decreasing B isotope ratios from − 7.8 to − 11.2‰ in their cores and − 17.3 to − 20.3‰ in their rims. As supported by a Rayleigh fractionation model, the B-isotope values of the host rocks and the tourmaline crystals are most easily explained by the internal redistribution of B from a B-rich precursor mineral (e.g. mica) to the tourmaline during Alpine metamorphism.