Chemical and boron-isotope variations in tourmalines from an S-type granite and its source rocks: the Erongo granite and tourmalinites in the Damara Belt,Namibia

Tourmaline is widespread in metapelites and pegmatites from the Neoproterozoic Damara Belt, which form the basement and potential source rocks of the Cretaceous Erongo granite. This study traces the B-isotope variations in tourmalines from the basement, from the Erongo granite and from its hydrothermal stage. Tourmalines from the basement are alkali-deficient schorl-dravites, with B-isotope ratios typical for continental crust (δ¹¹B average −8.4‰ ± 1.4, n = 11; one sample at −13‰, n = 2). Virtually all tourmaline in the Erongo granite occurs in distinctive tourmaline-quartz orbicules. This “main-stage” tourmaline is alkali-deficient schorl (20–30% X-site vacancy, Fe/(Fe + Mg) 0.8–1), with uniform B-isotope compositions (δ¹¹B −8.7‰ ± 1.5, n = 49) that are indistinguishable from the basement average, suggesting that boron was derived from anatexis of the local basement rocks with no significant shift in isotopic composition. Secondary, hydrothermal tourmaline in the granite has a bimodal B-isotope distribution with one peak at about −9‰, like the main-stage tourmaline, and a second at −2‰. We propose that the tourmaline-rich orbicules formed late in the crystallization history from an immiscible Na–B–Fe-rich hydrous melt. The massive precipitation of orbicular tourmaline nearly exhausted the melt in boron and the shift of δ¹¹B to −2‰ in secondary tourmaline can be explained by Rayleigh fractionation after about 90% B-depletion in the residual fluid. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Fluid unmixing/immiscibility as an ore-forming process in the giant REE–Nb–Fe deposit, Inner Mongolian, China: Evidence from fluid inclusions

The giant Bayan Obo REE–Nb–Fe deposit consists of replacement bodies hosted in dolomite marble made up of magnetite, REE fluorocarbonates, fluorite, aegirine, amphibole, calcite and barite. Two or three phase CO₂-rich, three phase hypersaline liquid–vapor–solid, and two phase liquid-rich inclusions have been recognized in mineralized fluorite and quartz samples. Microthermometry measurements indicate that the carbonic phase in CO₂-rich inclusions is nearly pure CO₂. Fluids involving in REE–Nb–Fe mineralization at Bayan Obo might be mainly of H₂O–CO₂–NaCl–(F–REE) system. Coexistences of brine inclusions and CO₂-rich inclusions with similar homogenization temperatures give evidence that immiscibility happened during REE mineralization. An unmixing of an original H₂O–CO₂–NaCl fluid probably derived from carbonatitic magma. The presence of REE-carbonates as an abundant solid in fluid inclusions shows that the original ore-forming fluids are very rich in REE, and therefore, have the potential to produce economic REE ores at Bayan Obo.     

The transition from peraluminous to peralkaline granitic melts: Evidence from melt inclusions and accessory minerals

Fractional crystallization of peraluminous F- and H₂O-rich granite magmas progressively enriches the remaining melt with volatiles. We show that, at saturation, the melt may separate into two immiscible conjugate melt fractions, one of the fractions shows increasing peraluminosity and the other increasing peralkalinity. These melt fractions also fractionate the incompatible elements to significantly different degrees. Coexisting melt fractions have differing chemical and physical properties and, due to their high density and viscosity contrasts, they will tend to separate readily from each other. Once separated, each melt fraction evolves independently in response to changing T/P/X conditions and further immiscibility events may occur, each generating its own conjugate pair of melt fractions. The strongly peralkaline melt fractions in particular are very reactive and commonly react until equilibrium is attained. Consequently, the peralkaline melt fraction is commonly preserved only in the isolated melt and mineral inclusions.

We demonstrate that the differences between melt fractions that can be seen most clearly in differing melt inclusion compositions are also visible in the composition of the resulting ore-forming and accessory minerals, and are visible on scales from a few micrometers to hundreds of meters.     

从流体包裹体研究探讨金属矿床成矿条件

根据作者多年来对流体包裹体的研究成果，参考了国内外的研究结论，提出了一个新的成矿流体分类方案，并评述了我国若干典型金属矿床的研究状况，由此探讨了金属矿床的形成机制。     

Primary Ore Mineral Assemblage and Fluid Inclusion Study of the Batu Hijau Porphyry Cu-Au Deposit, Sumbawa, Indonesia

Abstract. The Batu Hijau porphyry Cu‐Au deposit, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, is associated with a tonalitic intrusive complex. The temperature‐pressure condition of mineralization at the Batu Hijau deposit is discussed on the basis of fluid inclusion microthermometry. Then, the initial Cu‐Fe sulfide mineral assemblage is discussed. Bornite and chalcopyrite are major copper ore minerals associated with quartz veinlets. The quartz veinlets have been classified into ‘A’ veinlets associated with bornite, digenite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite, ‘B’ veinlets having chalcopyrite bornite along vuggy center‐line, rare ‘C’ chalcopyrite‐quartz veinlets, and late ‘D’ veinlets consisting of massive pyrite and quartz (Clode et al., 1999). Copper and gold mineralization is associated with abundant ‘A’ quartz veinlets. Abundant fluid inclusions are found in veinlet quartz consisting mainly of gas‐rich inclusions and polyphase inclusions throughout the veinlet types. The hydrothermal activity occurred in temperature‐pressure conditions of aqueous fluid immiscibility into hypersaline brine and dilute vapor. The halite dissolution (Tm[halite]) and liquid‐vapor homogenization (Th) temperatures of the polyphase inclusions in veinlet quartz range from 270 to 472d?C and from 280 to 454d?C, respectively. The estimated salinity ranges from 36 to 47 wt% (NaCl equiv.). The apparent pressures lower than 300 bars are estimated to have been along the liquid‐vapor‐halite curve for the fluid inclusions having the Th lower than the Tm that trapped the brine saturated with halite, or at slightly higher pressure relative to liquid‐vapor‐halite curve for the fluid inclusions having the Th higher than the Tm that trapped the brine unsaturated with halite. The actual temperature and pressure during the hydrothermal activity at the Batu Hijau deposit are estimated to have been around 300d?C and 50 bars. At such temperature‐pressure conditions, the principal and initial Cu‐Fe sulfide mineral assemblages are thought to be chalcopyrite + bornite solid solution (bnss) for the chalcopyrite‐bearing assemblage, and chalcocite‐digenite solid solution and bnss for the chalcopyrite‐free assemblage.     

Pressure fluctuations and the formation of the PGE-rich Merensky and chromitite reefs, Bushveld Complex

The Merensky Reef and the underlying Upper Group 2 chromitite layer, in the Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex, host much of the world’s platinum-group element (PGE) mineralization. The genesis is still debated. A number of features of the Merensky Reef are not consistent with the hypotheses involving mixing of magmas. Uniform mixing between two magmas over an area of 150 by 300 km and a thickness of 3–30 km seems implausible. The Merensky Reef occurs at the interval where Main Zone magma is added, but the relative proportions of the PGE in the Merensky Reef are comparable to those of the Critical Zone magma. Mineral and isotopic evidence in certain profiles through the Merensky Unit suggest either mixing of minerals, not magmas, and in one case, the lack of any chemical evidence for the presence of the second magma. The absence of cumulus sulphides immediately above the Merensky Reef is not predicted by this model. An alternative model is proposed here that depends upon pressure changes, not chemical processes, to produce the mineralization in chromite-rich and sulphide-rich reefs. Magma was added at these levels, but did not mix. This addition caused a temporary increase in the pressure in the extant Critical Zone magma. Immiscible sulphide liquid and/or chromite formed. Sinking sulphide liquid and/or chromite scavenged PGE (as clusters, nanoparticles or platinum-group minerals) from the magma and accumulated at the floor. Rupturing of the roof resulted in a pressure decrease and a return to sulphur-undersaturation of the magma.     

Fluid generation and evolution during exhumation of deeply subducted UHP continental crust: Petrogenesis of composite granite–quartz veins in the Sulu belt,China

Composite granite–quartz veins occur in retrogressed ultrahigh pressure (UHP) eclogite enclosed in gneiss at General's Hill in the central Sulu belt, eastern China. The granite in the veins has a high‐pressure (HP) mineral assemblage of dominantly quartz+phengite+allanite/epidote+garnet that yields pressures of 2.5–2.1 GPa (Si‐in‐phengite barometry) and temperatures of 850–780°C (Ti‐in‐zircon thermometry) at 2.5 GPa (~20°C lower at 2.1 GPa). Zircon overgrowths on inherited cores and new grains of zircon from both components of the composite veins crystallized at c. 221 Ma. This age overlaps the timing of HP retrograde recrystallization dated at 225–215 Ma from multiple localities in the Sulu belt, consistent with the HP conditions retrieved from the granite. The ε_Hf(t) values of new zircon from both components of the composite veins and the Sr–Nd isotope compositions of the granite consistently lie between values for gneiss and eclogite, whereas δ¹⁸O values of new zircon are similar in the veins and the crustal rocks. These data are consistent with zircon growth from a blended fluid generated internally within the gneiss and the eclogite, without any ingress of fluid from an external source. However, at the peak metamorphic pressure, which could have reached 7 GPa, the rocks were likely fluid absent. During initial exhumation under UHP conditions, exsolution of H₂O from nominally anhydrous minerals generated a grain boundary supercritical fluid in both gneiss and eclogite. As exhumation progressed, the volume of fluid increased allowing it to migrate by diffusing porous flow from grain boundaries into channels and drain from the dominant gneiss through the subordinate eclogite. This produced a blended fluid intermediate in its isotope composition between the two end‐members, as recorded by the composite veins. During exhumation from UHP (coesite) eclogite to HP (quartz) eclogite facies conditions, the supercritical fluid evolved by dissolution of the silicate mineral matrix, becoming increasingly solute‐rich, more ‘granitic’ and more viscous until it became trapped. As crystallization began by diffusive loss of H₂O to the host eclogite concomitant with ongoing exhumation of the crust, the trapped supercritical fluid intersected the solvus for the granite–H₂O system, allowing phase separation and formation of the composite granite–quartz veins. Subsequently, during the transition from HP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions, minor phengite breakdown melting is recorded in both the granite and the gneiss by K‐feldspar+plagioclase+biotite aggregates located around phengite and by K‐feldspar veinlets along grain boundaries. Phase equilibria modelling of the granite indicates that this late‐stage melting records P–T conditions towards the end of the exhumation, with the subsolidus assemblage yielding 0.7–1.1 GPa at <670°C. Thus, the composite granite–quartz veins represent a rare example of a natural system recording how the fluid phase evolved during exhumation of continental crust. The successive availability of different fluid phases attending retrograde metamorphism from UHP eclogite to amphibolite facies conditions will affect the transport of trace elements through the continental crust and the role of these fluids as metasomatic agents interacting with the mantle wedge in the subduction channel.     

河南老湾金矿床上上河矿段矿床地质和成矿流体地球化学

河南桐柏老湾金矿床是桐柏-大别山(北坡)金银成矿带内大型造山带型金矿床之一。文章对该矿床的上上河矿段进行了矿床地质和成矿流体地球化学研究,旨在查明该矿段的流体成矿过程。根据矿脉穿插关系、矿石结构构造、矿物共生组合以及黄铁矿的粒度和晶形,将老湾金矿上上河矿段成矿过程划分为:石英粗粒自形黄铁矿(Ⅰ)、石英细粒半自形-他形黄铁矿(Ⅱ)、石英多金属硫化物(Ⅲ)及石英碳酸盐(Ⅳ)4个阶段。镜下观察显示,矿床中的包裹体类型有含CO_2包裹体(LH_2O+LCO_2+VCO_2)、纯CO_2包裹体(LCO_2+VCO_2)、液相包裹体(LH_2O+VH_2O)及少量含子晶包裹体(LH_2O+VH_2O+S)。第Ⅰ阶段、第Ⅱ阶段和第Ⅲ阶段均可见含CO_2包裹体、纯CO_2包裹体和液相包裹体,有时可见含CO_2包裹体与液相包裹体共存。流体包裹体显微测温结果表明,成矿流体可近似看做中温、低盐度、富CO_2的NaCl-H_2O-CO_2体系,纯CO_2包裹体和液相包裹体所代表的流体可能是由含CO_2包裹体所代表的Na Cl-H_2O-CO_2流体经不混溶形成的,三者在寄主矿物沉淀时,被同时捕获而共存。从第Ⅰ阶段到第Ⅳ阶段,成矿流体温度从303~379℃逐渐降低到138~195℃,盐度w(Na Cleq)从4.07%~9.59%逐渐降低到1.06%~2.74%。在成矿的第Ⅰ阶段成矿流体发生了不混溶作用,而在第Ⅱ阶段和第Ⅲ阶段流体中的CO_2起泡分离再次引发了不混溶作用。从第Ⅰ阶段到第Ⅲ阶段,成矿流体的δ18OH_2O从6.56‰~9.71‰经1.89‰~4.01‰变化到0.08‰,δDH_2O从-78.1‰~-64.2‰经-79.5‰~-76.3‰变化到-72.6‰,表明老湾金矿第Ⅰ阶段成矿流体主要为岩浆热液,第Ⅱ阶段成矿流体中有少量大气降水加入,第Ⅲ阶段成矿流体中大气降水的比例明显加大。     

赣南淘锡坑石英脉型钨矿床成矿机制探讨:来自流体包裹体的证据

赣南地区淘锡坑钨矿床是典型的大型石英脉型钨锡多金属矿床。矿体赋存于震旦系浅变质砂(板)岩,并延伸至深部花岗岩内,按空间产出位置分为内带矿体和外带矿体,包括宝山、西山、烂埂子、枫岭坑4大脉组,矿体产出各不相同,矿物组合也具有明显分带特征。在详细的岩相学研究基础上,文章选择淘锡坑主成矿期石英为研究对象,并与共生黑钨矿作对比,从空间角度开展不同脉组、不同矿体或中段的流体包裹体的对比研究。根据流体包裹体岩相学,石英包裹体类型有H_2O-NaCl型包裹体(Ⅰ型)、H_2O-NaCl-CO_2型包裹体(Ⅱ型)和纯CO_2体系裹体(Ⅲ型)及少量含石盐子晶的多相包裹体,并同时捕获贫CO_2的盐水溶液包裹体和纯CO-2气相包裹体。包裹体显微测温结果显示:内、外带石英脉气液两相的包裹体均具有较宽温度和盐度范围,外带均一温度和盐度w(NaCl_(eq))分别集中于200～220℃、1%～6%,内带均一温度和盐度w(NaCleq)分别集中于100～220℃、3%～7%,流体为中-低盐度、富含CO_2的H_2O-CO_2-NaCl体系,不同脉组不同矿脉之间对比结果均显示出多期成矿的特征。在矿脉形成过程中,流体的成分和温度在内外接触带有明显变化,表明岩体与围岩接触界面是造成淘锡坑矿床内带矿体和外带矿体的成矿条件改变的转折位置,成矿流体在此附近发生CO_2逸失引起相分离的不混溶作用是成矿的主要因素。     

内蒙古撰山子金矿床流体包裹体特征与矿床成因

撰山子金矿床位于内蒙古台隆东段北缘华北克拉通与兴蒙造山带的结合部位。矿体赋存于下二叠统于家北沟组灰岩、中二叠世流纹岩和中三叠世花岗斑岩中,被晚三叠世闪长岩所截切。本文在查明矿床地质特征的基础上,对各成矿阶段热液矿物中的流体包裹体开展研究,查明了矿床成矿流体性质、演化特征及其与金成矿的关系。成矿阶段按从早到晚的顺序可分为石英-黄铁矿、石英-硫化物和石英-萤石-方解石阶段。流体包裹体岩相学和激光拉曼实验表明,热液矿物中原生包裹体可分为气液两相水型包裹体(Ⅰ型)、二氧化碳水三相型包裹体(Ⅱ型)、含子矿物三相型包裹体(Ⅲ型)、纯气相二氧化碳型包裹体(Ⅳ型)、纯气相水型包裹体(Ⅴ型)和纯液相水型包裹体(Ⅵ型)6种类型。成矿流体的温度和盐度从早阶段至晚阶段逐渐降低。成矿流体为中高温、中低和高盐度、中低密度的CO₂-NaCl-H₂O体系。主成矿阶段气液两相盐水和CO₂-H₂O三相包裹体限定的成矿压力范围分别为15.7~28.6、59.0~88.7 MPa,整体成矿深度范围在1.6~3.3 km之间。综合分析认为,撰山子金矿床在成矿过程中发生了流体不混溶(沸腾)作用,矿床的形成与中三叠世—晚三叠世华北板块和西伯利亚板块碰撞拼合引起的岩浆活动密切相关,是区内典型的中高温岩浆热液矿床。