Incipient charnockites from southern India:The role of brines

Southern India and Sri-Lanka are the places where "incipient charnockites",i.e.the local transformation of amphibolite-facies gneisses into orthopyroxene-bearing,igneous looking charnockites,have been discovered in the early sixties.The fact that some incipient charnockites occur along a network of brittle fractures,together with CO_2 remnants preserved in mineral inclusions,had called for the role of fluids during charnockite alteration.The present work presents new observations on fluid inclusions and microtextures of incipient charnockites from type localities in southern India.In addition to CO_2-rich fluid inclusions in quartz and feldspar,all of the occurrences have disrupted remnants of concentrated aqueous alkali chloride solutions.CO_2 inclusions are more abundant in paragneiss(Kerala)than in orthogneiss(Karnataka/Tamil Nadu).The finding of disrupted brine inclusions in the Kabbal charnockite is a key link between closely associated massive charnockites and Closepet Granite,both of which also share the brine remnants.All of the occurrences studied here have feldspar or feldspar-quartz microvein networks along grain boundaries of recrystallized quartz,feldspar and orthopyroxene.These metasomatic veins again indicate the action of alkali-exchanging fluids(i.e.,saline solutions).Feldspar microveins,which have been found in most "massive" charnockites,along with the CO_2-rich fluid inclusions,suggest a commonality of incipient charnockite and massive charnockite,both types differing in intensity of interaction with metasomatizing pore fluids.     

Carbon-isotope constraints on fluid advection during contrasting examples of incipient charnockite formation

Abstract Incipient charnockite formation within amphibolite facies gneisses is observed in South India and Sri Lanka both as isolated sheets, associated with brittle fracture, and as patches forming interconnected networks. For each mode of formation, closely spaced drilled samples across charnockite/gneiss boundaries have been obtained and δ¹³C and CO₂ abundances determined from fluid inclusions by stepped-heating mass spectrometry. Isolated sheets of charnockite (c.50 mm wide) within biotite–garnet gneiss at Kalanjur (Kerala, South India) have developed on either side of a fracture zone. Phase equilibria indicate low-pressure charnockite formation at pressures of 3.4 ± 1.0 kbar and temperatures of about 700°C (for X_H2O= 0.2). Fluid inclusions from the charnockite are characterized by δ¹³C values of ?8% and from the gneiss, 2 m from the charnockite, by values of ?15%. The large CO₂ abundances and relatively heavy carbon-isotope signature of the charnockite can be traced into the gneiss over a distance of at least 280 mm from the centre of the charnockite, whereas the reaction front has moved only 30 mm. This suggests that fluid advection has driven the carbon-isotope front through the rock more rapidly than the reaction front. The carbon-front/reaction-front separation at Kalanjur is significantly larger than the value determined from a graphite-bearing incipient charnockite nearby, consistent with the predictions of one-dimensional advection models. Incipient charnockites from Kurunegala (Sri Lanka) have developed as a patchy network within hornblende–biotite gneiss. CO₂ abundances rise to a peak near one limb of the charnockite, and isotopic values vary from δ¹³C of c.?5.5% in the gneiss to ?9.5% in the charnockite. The shift to lighter values in the charnockite can be ascribed to the formation of a CO₂-saturated partial melt in response to influx of an isotopically light carbonic fluid. Thus, incipient charnockites from the high-grade terranes of South India and Sri Lanka reflect a range of mechanisms. At shallower structural levels non-pervasive CO₂ influxed along zones of brittle fracture, possibly associated with the intrusion of charnockitic dykes. At deeper levels, in situ melting occurred under conditions of ductile deformation, leading to the development of patchy charnockites.     

The igneous charnockite—high-K alkali-calcic I-type granite—incipient charnockite association in Trivandrum Block,southern India

The Pan-African (640 Ma) Chengannoor granite intrudes the NW margin of the Neoproterozoic high-grade metamorphic terrain of the Trivandrum Block (TB), southern India, and is spatially associated with the Cardamom hills igneous charnockite massif (CM). Geochemical features characterize the Chengannoor granite as high-K alkali-calcic I-type granite. Within the constraints imposed by the high temperature, anhydrous, K-rich nature of the magmas, comparison with recent experimental studies on various granitoid source compositions, and trace- and rare-earth-element modelling, the distinctive features of the Chengannoor granite reflect a source rock of igneous charnockitic nature. A petrogenetic model is proposed whereby there was a period of basaltic underplating; the partial melting of this basaltic lower crust formed the CM charnockites. The Chengannoor granite was produced by the partial melting of the charnoenderbites from the CM, with subsequent fractionation dominated by feldspars. In a regional context, the Chengannoor I-type granite is considered as a possible heat source for the near-UHT nature of metamorphism in the northern part of the TB. This is different from previous studies, which favoured CM charnockite as the major heat source. The occurrence of incipient charnockites (both large scale as well as small scale) adjacent to the granite as well as pegmatites (which contain CO₂, CO₂-H₂O, F and other volatiles), suggests that the fluids expelled from the alkaline magma upon solidification generated incipient charnockites through fluid-induced lowering of water activity. Thus the granite and associated alkaline pegmatites acted as conduits for the transfer of heat and volatiles in the Achankovil Shear Zone area, causing pervasive as well as patchy charnockite formation. The transport of CO₂ by felsic melts through the southern Indian middle crust is suggested to be part of a crustal-scale fluid system that linked mantle heat and CO₂ input with upward migration of crustally derived felsic melts and incipient charnockite formation, resulting in an igneous charnockite – I-type granite – incipient charnockite association.Editorial responsibility: T.L. Grove     

A boundary layer-induced immiscibility in naturally re-equilibrated H2O-CO2-NaCl inclusions from metamorphic quartz (Western Carpathians,Czechoslovakia)

Naturally re-equilibrated fluid inclusions have been found in quartz crystals from alpine fissures of the Western Carpathians. Re-equilibration textures, such as planar arrangement of the decrepitation clusters as well as the quartz c- and a-axis oriented fracturing indicate explosion of fluid inclusions. The extent of fracturing, which is dependent on inclusion diameters, suggests inclusion fluid overpressures between 0.6–1.9 kb. Microthermometry data are controversial with the textures because of indicating roughly fixed initial fluid composition and density during re-equilibration, although inclusion volumes have been sometimes substantially reduced by crystallization of newly-formed quartz. It is concluded that fluid loss from re-equilibrated inclusions must have been compensated for by replacing equivalent quartz volume from cracks into parent inclusion. Such a mechanism has operated in a closed system and the re-equilibration related cracks have not been connected with mineral surface. The compositional and density differences between aqueous inclusions in decrepitation clusters and CO₂-rich parent inclusions cannot be interpreted in terms of classical fluid immiscibility. Moreover, monophase liquid-filled aqueous inclusions and coexisting monophase CO₂ vapour-filled inclusions in the decrepitation clusters are thermodynamically unacceptable under equilibrium metamorphic conditions. The effect of disjoining pressure resulting from structural and electrostatic forces in very thin fractures is suspected to have caused density and compositional inconsistencies between parent and cluster inclusions, as well as the unusual appearance of cluster inclusions. In high-grade metamorphic conditions, the re-equilibration probably leads to boundary layer-induced immiscibility of homogeneous H₂O–CO₂–NaCl fluids and to formation of compositionally contrasting CO₂-rich and aqueous inclusions.     

Carbonic metamorphism of charnockites in the southwestern Indian Shield: A fluid inclusion study

Forming the southwestern segment of the Precambrian granulite facies terrain of the Indian shield, the Kerala region largely comprises charnockites, khondalites and migmatitic gneisses. Fluid inclusions in quartz from the charnockites show distinct distribution patterns consistent with three generations of inclusions. The early monophase type records entrapment of high-density CO₂-rich fluid (0.95–1.0 g cm⁻³). A subsequent monophase type with lower-density CO₂-rich fluid (0.65–0.75 g cm⁻³) coexists with CO₂H₂O inclusions having an average degree of filling of 0.2 (H₂O = 20%; CO₂ = 80%). Late aqueous biphase inclusions show coexistence with a second category of CO₂H₂O inclusions showing a degree of filling of 0.6 (H₂O = 60%; CO₂ = 40%). The CO₂-isochores for early carbonic inclusions yield a pressure range of 4.6–6.1 kbar at granulite facies temperatures of 650–800°C, depicting the entrapment of fluids present during or close to the peak metamorphic stage. A definite sequence of fluid evolution is traceable for the subsequent stages. Thus, the coexisting CO₂ and CO₂H₂O inclusions were entrapped at 510°C and 2.2 kbar, marking the waning of carbonic regime and the beginning of aqueous regime. At 330°C and 0.4 kbar, fluid unmixing occurred, leading to the simultaneous entrapment of mixed CO₂H₂O and H₂O inclusions along rehealed microfractures. The data presented indicate that the metamorphic fluids evolved from early high-density carbonic through mixed carbonic-aqueous to late aqueous types. The dry granulite mineral assemblage of charnockites is a result of metamorphic equilibration under water-deficient and high-P_CO2 conditions.     

Fluid inclusions in rocks from the amphibolite-facies gneiss to charnockite progression in southern Karnataka, India: direct evidence concerning the fluids of granulite metamorphism

Abstract Fluid inclusion studies of rocks from the late Archaean amphibolite-facies to granulite-facies transition zone of southern India provide support for the hypothesis that CO₂,-rich H₂O-poor fluids were a major factor in the origin of the high-grade terrain. Charnockites, closely associated leucogranites and quartzo-feldspathic veins contain vast numbers of large CO₂-rich inclusions in planar arrays in quartz and feldspar, whereas amphibole-bearing gray gneisses of essentially the same compositions as adjacent charnockites in mixed-facies quarries contain no large fluid inclusions. Inclusions in the northernmost incipient charnockites, as at Kabbal, Karnataka, occasionally contain about 25 mol. % of immiscible H₂O lining cavity walls, whereas inclusions from the charnockite massif terrane farther south do not have visibile H₂O Microthermometry of CO₂ inclusions shows that miscible CH₄ and N₂ must be small, probably less than 10mol.%combined. Densities of CO₂ increase steadily from north to south across the transitional terrane. Entrapment pressures calculated from the CO₂ equation of state range from 5 kbar in the north to 7.5 kbar in the south at the mineralogically inferred average metamorphic temperature of 750°C, in quantitative agreement with mineralogic geobarometry. This agreement leads to the inference that the fluid inclusions were trapped at or near peak metamorphic conditions. Calculations on the stability of the charnockite assemblage biotite-orthopyroxene-K-feldspar-quartz show that an associated fluid phase must have less than 0.35 H₂O activity at the inferred P and T conditions, which agrees with the petrographic observations. High TiO₂ content of biotite stabilizes it to lower H₂O activities, and the steady increase of biotite TiO₂ southward in the area suggests progressive decrease of aH₂O with increasing grade. Oxygen fugacities calculated from orthopyroxene-magnetite-quartz are considerably higher than the graphite CO₂-O₂ buffer, which explains the absence of graphite in the charnockites. The present study quantifies the nature of the vapours in the southern India granulite metamorphism. It remains to be determined whether CO₂-flushing of the crust can, by itself, create large terranes of largeion lithophile-depleted granulites, or whether removal of H₂O-bearing anatectic melts is essential.     

Arrested charnockite formation in southern India and Sri Lanka

Arrested prograde charnockite formation in quartzofeldspathic gneisses is widespread in the high-grade terrains of southern India and Sri Lanka. Two major kinds of orthopyroxene-producing reactions are recognized. Breakdown of calcic amphibole by reaction with biotite and quartz in tonalitic/granitic gray gneiss produced the regional orthopyroxene isograd, manifest in charnockitic mottling and veining of mixed-facies exposures, as at Kabbal, Karnataka, and in the Kurunegala District of the Sri Lanka Central Highlands. Chemical and modal analyses of carefully chosen immediately-adjacent amphibole gneiss and charnockite pairs show that the orthopyroxene is produced by an open system reaction involving slight losses of CaO, MgO and FeO and gains of SiO₂ and Na₂O. Rb and Y are depleted in the charnockite. Another kind of charnockitization is found in paragneisses throughout the southern high-grade area, and involves the reaction of biotite and quartz±garnet to produce orthopyroxene and K-feldspar. Although charnockite formation along shears and other deformation zones at such localities as Ponmudi, Kerala is highly reminiscent of Kabbal, close pair analyses are not as suggestive of open-system behavior. This type of charnockite formation is found in granulite facies areas where no prograde amphibole-bearing gneisses exist and connotes a higher-grade reaction than that of the orthopyroxene isograd. Metamorphic conditions of both Kabbaltype and Ponmudi-type localities were 700°–800° C and 5–6 kbar. Lower P(H₂O) in the Ponmudi-type metamorphism was probably the definitive factor.CO₂-rich fluid inclusions in quartz from the Kabbaltype localities support the concept that this type of charnockite formation was driven by influx of CO₂ from some deep-seated source. The open-system behavior and high oxidation states of the metamorphism are in accord with the CO₂-streaming hypothesis. CO₂-rich inclusions in graphitebearing charnockites of the Ponmudi type, however, commonly have low densities and compositions not predictable by vapor-mineral equilibrium calculations. These inclusions may have suffered post-metamorphic H₂ leakage or some systematic contamination.Neither the close-pair analyses nor the fluid inclusions strongly suggest an influx of CO₂ drove charnockite formation of the Ponmudi type. The possibility remains that orthopyroxene and CO₂-rich fluids were produced by reaction of biotite with graphite without intervention of fluids of external origin. Further evidence, such as oxygen isotopes, is necessary to test the CO₂-streaming hypothesis for the Ponmudi-type localities.     

The nature, origin and physicochemical controls of hydrothermal Mo-Bi mineralization in the Cadillac deposit, Quebec, Canada

Mo-Bi mineralization occurs in subvertical and subhorizontal quartz-muscovite-± K-feldspar veins surrounded by early albitic and later K-feldspathic alteration halos in monzogranite of the Archean Preissac pluton, Abitibi region, Québec, Canada. Molybdenite is intergrown with muscovite in the veins or associated with K-feldspar in the alteration halos. Mineralized veins contain five main types of fluid inclusions: aqueous liquid and liquid-vapor inclusions, aqueous carbonic liquid-liquid-vapor inclusions, carbonic liquid and vapor inclusions, halite-bearing aqueous liquid and liquid-vapor inclusions, trapped mineral-bearing aqueous liquid and liquid-vapor inclusions. The carbonic solid in frozen carbonic and aqueous-carbonic inclusions melts in most cases at −56.7 ± 0.1 °C indicating that the carbonic fluid consists largely of CO₂. All aqueous inclusion types and the aqueous phase in carbonic inclusions have low initial melting temperatures (≥70 °C), requiring the presence of salts other than NaCl. Leachate analyses show that the bulk fluid contains variable proportions of Na, K, Ca, Cl, and traces of Mg and Li. The following solids were identified in the fluid inclusions by SEM-EDS analysis: halite, calcite, muscovite, millerite (NiS), barite and antarcticite (CaCl₂ · 6H₂O). All are interpreted to be trapped phases except halite which is a daughter mineral, and antarcticite which formed during sample preparation (freezing). Aqueous inclusions homogenize to liquid at temperatures between 75 °C and 400 °C; the mode is 375 °C. Aqueous-carbonic inclusions homogenize to liquid or vapor between 210 °C and 400 °C. Halite-bearing aqueous inclusions homogenize by halite dissolution at approximately 170 °C. Aqueous inclusions containing trapped solids exhibit liquid-vapor homogenization at temperatures similar to those of halite-bearing aqueous inclusions. Temperatures of vein formation, based on oxygen isotopic fractionation between quartz and muscovite, range from 342 °C to 584 °C. The corresponding oxygen isotope composition of the aqueous fluid in equilibrium with these minerals ranges from 1.2 to 5.5 per mil with a mean of 3.9 per mil, suggesting that the liquid had a significant meteoric component. Isochores for aqueous fluid inclusions intersect the modal isotopic isotherm of 425 °C at pressures between 590 and 1900 bar. A model is proposed in which molybdenite was deposited owing to decreasing temperature and/or pressure from CO₂-bearing, moderate to high salinity fluids of mixed magmatic-meteoric origin that were in equilibrium with K-feldspar and muscovite. These fluids resulted from the degassing of a monzogranitic magma and evolved through interaction with volcanic (komatiitic) and sedimentary country rocks. Received: 6 February 1997 / Accepted: 28 January 1998     

Constraints on incipient charnockite formation from zircon geochronology and rare earth element characteristics

We present high spatial resolution ion-microprobe U–Th–Pb geochronology and rare earth element (REE) data combined with cathodoluminescence (CL) and back-scattered electron (BSE) imaging for complex zircons in incipient charnockites from Söndrum, SW Sweden. Examination of closely paired samples across the dehydration zone demonstrates that incipient charnockite formation at Söndrum is a zircon-forming process. We determined the age of the dehydration event (i.e. charnockitisation) to 1,397 ± 4 Ma (2σ, MSWD = 1.7). This is the first successful attempt to date incipient charnockite formation using U–Pb systematics of zircon. Internal structure, chemical and isotopic characteristics of zircon indicate that the granitic pegmatite in the core of the incipient charnockite is a melting zone. Commonly observed bulk rock HREE depletion in incipient charnockites is not caused by zircon dissolution but by involvement of garnet as a reactant in the dehydration reactions. Moreover, REE patterns of the newly formed zircon are HREE-enriched, indicating non-concurrent growth and suggesting that the degree of charnockite depletion in HREE might be controlled by the volume of newly formed zircon.     

The nature of fluids during pegmatite development in metamorphic terrains: Evidence from Hamadan complex,Sanandaj-Sirjan metamorphic zone,Iran

In the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone of metamorphic belt of Iran, the area south of Hamadan city comprises of metamorphic rocks, granitic batholith with pegmatites and quartz veins. Alvand batholith is emplaced into metasediments of early Mesozoic age. Fluid inclusions have been studied using microthermometry to evaluate the source of fluids from which quartz veins and pegmatites formed to investigate the possible relation between host rocks of pegmatites and the fluid inclusion types. Host minerals of fluid inclusions in pegmatites are quartz, andalusite and tourmaline. Fluid inclusions can be classified into four types. Type 1 inclusions are high salinity aqueous fluids (NaCl_eq >12 wt%). Type 2 inclusions are low to moderate salinity (NaCl_eq <12 wt%) aqueous fluids. Type 3 and 4 inclusions are carbonic and mixed CO₂-H₂O fluid inclusions. The distribution of fluid inclusions indicate that type 1 and type 2 inclusions are present in the pegmatites and quartz veins respectively in the Alvand batholith. This would imply that aqueous magmatic fluids with no detectable CO₂ were present during the crystallization of these pegmatites and quartz veins. Types 3 and 4 inclusions are common in quartz veins and pegmatites in metamorphic rocks and are more abundant in the hornfelses. The distribution of the different types of fluid inclusions suggests that CO₂ fluids generated during metamorphism and metamorphic fluids might also contribute to the formation of quartz veins and pegmatites in metamorphic terrains.     

Arrested charnockite formation at Kottavattam, southern India

Abstract At Kottavattam, southern Kerala (India), late Proterozoic homogeneous leptynitic garnet–biotite gneisses of granitic composition have been transformed on a decimetric scale into coarse-grained massive charnockite sensu stricto along a set of conjugate fractures transecting the gneissic foliation. Charnockitization post-dates the polyphase deformation, regional high-grade metamorphism and anatexis, and evidently occurred at a late stage of the Pan-African tectonothermal history. Geothermobarometric and fluid inclusion data document textural and chemical equilibration of the gneiss and charnockite assemblages at similar P_lith–T conditions (650–700°C, 5–6 kbar) in the presence of carbonic fluids internally buffered by reaction with graphite and opaque mineral phases (X_CO2= 0.7–0.6; X_H2O= 0.2–0.3; X_N2= 0.1; log f_O2= -17.5). Mineralogical zonation indicates that charnockitization of the leptynitic gneiss involved first the breakdown of biotite and oxidation of graphite in narrow, outward-migrating transition zones adjacent to the gneiss, followed by the breakdown of garnet and the neoblastesis of hypersthene in the central charnockite zone. Compared to the host gneiss, the charnockite shows higher concentrations of K, Na, Sr, Ba and Zn and lower concentrations of Mg, Fe, Ti, V, Y, Zr and the HREE, with a complementary pattern in the narrow transition zones of biotite breakdown. The P_lith–T–X_H2O data and chemical zonation patterns indicate charnockitization through subsolidus-dehydration reaction in an open system. Subsequent residence of the carbonic fluids in the charnockite resulted in low-grade alteration causing modification of the syn-charnockitic elemental distribution patterns and the properties of entrapped fluids. We favour an internally controlled process of arrested charnockitization in which, during near-isothermal uplift, the release of carbonic fluids from decrepitating inclusions in the host gneiss into simultaneously developing fracture zones led to a change in the fluid regime from ‘fluid-absent’in the gneiss to ‘fluid-present’in the fracture zones and to the development of an initial fluid-pressure gradient, triggering the dehydration reaction.     

Millimetre-scale variation in metamorphic permeability of marbles during transient fluid flow: an example from the Reynolds Range, central Australia

Fluid inclusions from a biotite-garnet schist in the Southern Aravalli Mountain Belt (India) give information on both peak metamorphic conditions and post-peak metamorphic processes during uplift. A combination of careful petrography, microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy reveals the presence of at least five generations of enclosed fluids. Lower amphibolite-facies pressure-temperature conditions of the growth of garnet rims are reproduced by the highest fluid density of the relatively oldest inclusion type of CO₂ (±N₂)-rich compositions. A calculated fluid composition in the COH system, in equilibrium with the graphite buffer corresponds to a CO₂-rich fluid at metamorphic conditions. However, the results of these calculations are very sensitive to small fluctuations in oxygen fugacity and the accuracy of thermodynamic properties of mineral equilibria. Re-equilibration, conceived by specific size-density distribution and the absence of an aqueous phase in inclusions that contain nahcolite crystals, is monitored in these inclusions as post-peak metamorphic processes, like partial decrepitation and preferential leakage. The other fluid types represent heterogeneous fluid trapping of coexisting aqueous NaCl-bearing solutions with CO₂-CH₄-rich vapour bubbles in healed cracks, and probably the introduction of external fluids containing high salinity aqueous CaCl₂-rich solutions in nearly pure N₂ vapour bubbles, at lower P-T conditions. This study illustrates that fluid inclusions remain a valuable database of peak metamorphic conditions, moreover, alterations of the entrapped fluids and surrounding crystals are illustrative for specific exhumation evolutions. Received: 24 March 1999 / Accepted: 13 January 2000     

Formation of the Campbell-Red Lake gold deposit by H2O-poor, CO2-dominated fluids

The Campbell-Red Lake gold deposit in the Red Lake greenstone belt, with a total of approximately 840 t of gold (past production + reserves) and an average grade of 21 g/t Au, is one of the largest and richest Archean gold deposits in Canada. Gold mineralization is mainly associated with silicification and arsenopyrite that replace carbonate veins, breccias and wallrock selvages. The carbonate veins and breccias, which are composed of ankerite ± quartz and characterized by crustiform–cockade textures, were formed before and/or in the early stage of penetrative ductile deformation, whereas silicification, arsenopyrite replacement and gold mineralization were coeval with deformation. Microthermometry and laser Raman spectroscopy indicate that fluid inclusions in ankerite and associated quartz (Q1) and main ore-stage quartz (Q2) are predominantly carbonic, composed mainly of CO₂, with minor CH₄ and N₂. Aqueous and aqueous–carbonic inclusions are extremely rare in both ankerite and quartz. H₂O was not detected by laser Raman spectroscopic analyses of individual carbonic inclusions and by gas chromatographic analyses of bulk samples of ankerite and main ore-stage quartz (Q2). Fluid inclusions in post-mineralization quartz (Q3) are also mainly carbonic, but proportions of aqueous and aqueous–carbonic inclusions are present. Trace amounts of H₂S were detected by laser Raman spectroscopy in some carbonic inclusions in Q2 and Q3, and by gas chromatographic analyses of bulk samples of ankerite and Q2. ³He/⁴He ratios of bulk fluid inclusions range from 0.008 to 0.016 Ra in samples of arsenopyrite and gold. Homogenization temperatures (T _h–CO₂) of carbonic inclusions are highly variable (from −4.1 to +30.4°C; mostly to liquid, some to vapor), but the spreads within individual fluid inclusion assemblages (FIAs) are relatively small (within 0.5 to 10.3°C). Carbonic inclusions occur both in FIAs with narrow T _h–CO₂ ranges and in those with relatively large T _h–CO₂ variations. The predominance of carbonic fluid inclusions has been previously reported in a few other gold deposits, and its significance for gold metallogeny has been debated. Some authors have proposed that formation of the carbonic fluid inclusions and their predominance is due to post-trapping leakage of water from aqueous–carbonic inclusions (H₂O leakage model), whereas others have proposed that they reflect preferential trapping of the CO₂-dominated vapor in an immiscible aqueous–carbonic mixture (fluid unmixing model), or represent an unusually H₂O-poor, CO₂-dominated fluid (single carbonic fluid model). Based on the FIA analysis reported in this study, we argue that although post-trapping modifications and host mineral deformation may have altered the fluid inclusions in varying degrees, these processes were not solely responsible for the formation of the carbonic inclusions. The single carbonic fluid model best explains the extreme rarity of aqueous inclusions but lacks the support of experimental data that might indicate the viability of significant transport of silica and gold in a carbonic fluid. In contrast, the weakness of the unmixing model is that it lacks unequivocal petrographic evidence of phase separation. If the unmixing model were to be applied, the fluid prior to unmixing would have to be much more enriched in carbonic species and poorer in water than in most orogenic gold deposits in order to explain the predominance of carbonic inclusions. The H₂O-poor, CO₂-dominated fluid may have been the product of high-grade metamorphism or early degassing of magmatic intrusions, or could have resulted from the accumulation of vapor produced by phase separation external to the site of mineralization.Geological Survey of Canada contribution 2004383.     

Textural and fluid inclusion constraints on the origin of the banded-iron-formation-hosted gold deposits at Maevatanana,central Madagascar

The Maevatanana deposits consist of gold-bearing quartz–sulphide veins crosscutting banded iron formation (BIF) within a metamorphosed 2.5 Ga greenstone belt. The host rocks are dominated by a sequence of migmatites, gneisses, amphibolites, magnetite-rich quartzites and soapstones, intruded by large granitoid batholiths (e.g. the 0.8 Ga Beanana granodiorite). In the mineralised rocks, pyrite is the dominant sulphide, in addition to accessory chalcopyrite and galena. Outside the immediate ore zone, the BIF is dominated by quartz + magnetite ± hematite, accompanied by cummingtonite, albite and biotite. Gold occurs as globular grains (usually <500 μm) within quartz crystals close to the sulphides and as invisible inclusions within pyrite and chalcopyrite (up to 2,500 ppm Au content). Fluid inclusion textural and microthermometric studies indicate heterogeneous trapping of a low-salinity (∼3.6 wt.% eq. NaCl) aqueous fluid coexisting with a carbonic fluid. Evidence for fluid-phase immiscibility during ore formation includes variable L/V ratios in the inclusions and the fact that inclusions containing different phase proportions occur in the same area, growth zone, or plane. Laser Raman spectroscopy confirms that the vapour phase in these inclusions is dominated by CO₂ but shows that it may contain small amounts of CH₄ (<1 mol%), H₂S (<0.05 mol%) and traces of N₂. Fluid inclusion trapping conditions ranged from 220 to 380°C and averaged 250°C. Pressure was on the order of 1–2 kbar. The abundant CO₂ and low salinity of the inclusions suggest a metamorphic origin for the fluid. Likewise, the presence of H₂S in the fluid and pyritisation of the wall-rock indicate that gold was likely transported by sulphide complexing. Fluid immiscibility was probably triggered by the pressure released by fracturing of the quartzites during fault movements due to competence differences with the softer greenstones. Fracturing greatly enhanced fluid circulation through the BIF, allowing reaction of the sulphide-bearing fluids with the iron oxides. This caused pyrite deposition and concomitant Au precipitation, enhanced by fluid phase separation as H₂S partitioned preferentially into the carbonic phase.     

Composition and origin of fluids associated with lode gold deposits in a Mesoarchean greenstone belt (Warrawoona Syncline, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence

Microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy techniques are routinely use to constrain ore-fluids δ¹⁸O and molar proportions of anhydrous gas species (CO₂, CH₄, N₂). However, these methods remain imprecise concerning the ore-fluids composition and source. Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence allows access to major and trace element concentrations (Cl, Br and K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr) of single fluid inclusion. In this paper, we present the results of the combination of these routine and newly developed techniques in order to document the fluids composition and source associated with a Mesoarchaean lode gold deposit (Warrawoona Syncline, Western Australia). Fluid inclusion analyses show that quartz veins preserved records of three fluid inclusion populations. Early fluids inclusions, related to quartz veins precipitation, are characterized by a moderate to high Br/Cl ratio relative to modern seawater, CO₂ ± CH₄ ± N₂, low to moderate salinities and significant base metal (Fe, Cu, Zn) and metalloid (As) concentrations. Late fluid inclusions trapped in secondary aqueous fluid inclusions are divided into two populations with distinct compositions. The first population consists of moderately saline aqueous brines, with a Br/Cl ratio close to modern seawater and a low concentration of base metals and metalloids. The second population is a fluid of low to moderate salinity, with a low Br/Cl ratio relative to modern seawater and significant enrichment in Fe, Zn, Sr and Rb. These three fluid inclusion populations point to three contrasting sources: (1) a carbonic fluid of mixed metamorphic and magmatic origin associated with the gold-bearing quartz precipitation; (2) a secondary aqueous fluid with seawater affinity; and (3) a surface-derived secondary aqueous fluid modified through interaction with felsic lithologies, before being flushed into the syncline. Primary carbonic fluids present similar characteristics than those ascribed to Mesoarchaean lode gold deposits. This suggests similar mineralization processes for mid- and Mesoarchaean lode gold deposits despite contrasting fluid–rock interaction histories. However, in regard to the protracted history documented in the Warrawoona Syncline, we question the robustness of the epigenetic crustal continuum model, as ore-fluid characteristics equally support an epigenetic or a polyphased mineralization process.     

Low-density CO2-rich fluid inclusions from charnockites of southwestern Madurai Granulite Block, southern India; implications on graphite mineralization

Characterization of fluid inclusions in graphite-bearing charnockites from the southwestern part of the Madurai Granulite Block in southern India reveals a probable relation with the formation and break down of graphite during the high-grade metamorphism. The first-generation monophase pure CO₂ inclusions, the composition of which is confirmed by laser Raman spectroscopy, recorded moderate density (0.77–0.87 g/cc) corresponding to low tapping pressure (around 2 kb) than that of the peak granulite-facies metamorphism. The precipitation of graphite, as inferred from graphite inclusions and δ¹³C values of the graphite from the outcrops, is interpreted as the cause of this lowering of fluid density. An intermediate generation of pseudosecondary inclusions resulted from the re-equilibration or modification of the first-generation fluids and the CO₂ formed is interpreted to be the oxidation product from graphite. The youngest generation of fluids which caused widespread retrogression of the granulites is a low-temperature (350 °C) high-saline (32.4–52.0 wt% NaCl equivalent) brine. Carbon isotope data on the graphite from the charnockites show δ¹³C values ranging from −11.3 to −19.9‰, suggesting a possibility of mixing of carbon sources, relating to earlier biogenic and later CO₂ fluid influx. Combining the information gathered from petrologic, fluid inclusion and carbon stable isotope data, we model the fluid evolution in the massive charnockites of the southwestern Madurai Granulite Block.     

Cryogenian magmatism and crustal reworking in the Southern Granulite Terrane,India

Understanding Neoproterozoic crustal evolution is fundamental to reconstructing the Gondwana supercontinent, which was assembled at this time. Here we report evidence of Cryogenian crustal reworking in the Madurai Block of the Southern Granulite Terrane of India. The study focuses on a garnet-bearing granite–charnockite suite, where the granite shows in situ dehydration into patches and veins of incipient charnockite along the contact with charnockite. The granite also carries dismembered layers of Mg–Al-rich granulite. Micro-textural evidence for dehydration of granite in the presence of CO₂-rich fluids includes the formation of orthopyroxene by the breakdown of biotite, neoblastic zircon growth in the dehydration zone, at around 870°C and 8 kbar. The zircon U–Pb ages suggest formation of the granite, charnockite, and incipient charnockite at 836 ± 73, 831 ± 31, and 772 ± 49 Ma, respectively. Negative zircon εHf (t) (?5 to ?20) values suggest that these rocks were derived from a reworked Palaeoproterozoic crustal source. Zircon grains in the Mg–Al-rich granulite record a spectrum of ages from ca. 2300 to ca. 500 Ma, suggesting multiple provenances ranging from Palaeoproterozoic to mid-Neoproterozoic, with neoblastic zircon growth during high-temperature metamorphism in the Cambrian. We propose that the garnet-bearing granite and charnockite reflect the crustal reworking of aluminous crustal material indicated by the presence of biotite + quartz + aluminosilicate inclusions in the garnet within the granite. This crustal source can be the Mg–Al-rich layers carried by the granite itself, which later experienced high-temperature regional metamorphism at ca. 550 Ma. Our model also envisages that the CO₂ which dehydrated the garnet-bearing granite generating incipient charnockite was sourced from the proximal massive charnockite through advection. These Cryogenian crustal reworking events are related to prolonged tectonic activities prior to the final assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent.     

The geochemistry of prograde and retrograde charnockite-gneiss reactions in southern India

Exposures in many quarries in southern India exhibit field evidence for incipient charnockitization of tonalitic and granitic gneiss (prograde relationship), or retrogression of charnockite to produce tonalitic gneiss (retrograde relationship). Few systematic geochemical relationships exist between adjacent gneisscharnockite sample pairs during either prograde or retrograde reactions. Most elements and element ratios exhibit inconsistent variations; however, prograde chamockites appear enriched in Ta, Pb, volatiles (chiefly CO₂), and in transition metals relative to Mg, and depleted in REE and Y compared to adjacent gneiss protoliths. Retrograde gneisses have higher Rb, Pb, Th, Hf, Zn relative to Co, Nb relative to Ta, Hf relative to Zr, and volatiles (chiefly H₂O) compared to parental charnockites. Of those elements (U, Th, Rb, Cs, Pb) significantly depleted in high-pressure charnockites exposed south of the prograde transition zone, only Pb is significantly replenished during retrogression. Evidence suggests that prograde fluids are relatively rich in CO₂ and retrograde fluids in H₂O and that the typical non-systematic geochemical variations during prograde and retrograde reactions reflect local effects at the wave front.     

Synthetic fluid inclusions - VI. Quantitative evaluation of the decrepitation behaviour of fluid inclusions in quartz at one atmosphere confining pressure

ABSTRACT The decrepitation behaviour of fluid inclusions in quartz at one atmosphere confining pressure has been evaluated using pure H₂O synthetic inclusions formed by healing fractures in natural quartz. Three different modes of non-elastic deformation, referred to as stretching, leakage or partial decrepitation, and total decrepitation have been observed. The internal pressure required to initiate non-elastic deformation is inversely related to inclusion size according to the equation: internal pressure (kbar) = 4.26 D^-0.423 where D is the inclusion diameter in microns. Regularly shaped inclusions require a higher internal pressure to initiate non-elastic deformation than do irregularly shaped inclusions of similar size. Heating inclusions through the α/β quartz inversion results in mechanical instability in the quartz crystal and leads to mass decrepitation of inclusions owing to structural mismatches generated by pressure gradients in the quartz around each inclusion. Long-term heating experiments (∼2 years) suggest that the internal pressure required to initiate non-elastic deformation does not decrease significantly with time and indicates that short-lived thermal fluctuations in natural systems should not alter the inclusion density and homogenization temperature. Inclusions that do exhibit decreased density (higher homogenization temperature) are, however, always accompanied by a change in shape from irregular to that of a negative crystal. Observations of this study are consistent with elasticity theory related to fracture generation and propagation around inclusions in minerals. These results indicate that an inclusion will not be influenced by a neighbouring inclusion, or other defect in the host phase, as long as the distance between the two is >2–4 diameters of the larger of the two inclusions.     

Mobility of components in metasomatic transformation and partial melting of gneisses: an example from Sri Lanka

Reaction textures, fluid inclusions, and metasomatic zoning coupled with thermodynamic calculations have allowed us to estimate the conditions under which a biotite–hornblende gneiss from the Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka [hornblende (N_Mg=38–42) + biotite (N_Mg=42–44) + plagioclase + quartz + K-feldspar + ilmenite + magnetite] was transformed into patches of charnockite along shear zones and foliation planes. Primary fluid inclusion data suggest that two immiscible fluids, an alkalic supercritical brine and almost pure CO₂, coexisted during the charnockitisation event and subsequent post-peak metamorphic evolution of the charnockite. These metasomatic fluids migrated through the amphibolite gneiss along shear zones and into the wallrock under peak metamorphic conditions of 700–750 °C, 5–6 kbar, and a^fl _H2O=0.52–0.59. This resulted in the formation of charnockite patches containing the assemblage orthopyroxene (N_Mg=45–48) + K-feldspar (Or_70–80) + quartz + plagioclase (An₂₈) in addition to K-feldspar microveins along quartz and plagioclase grain boundaries. Remnants of the CO₂-rich fluid were trapped as separate fluid inclusions. The charnockite patches show the following metasomatic zonation patterns: – a transition zone with the assemblage biotite (N_Mg= 49–51) + hornblende (N_Mg = 47–50) + plagioclase + quartz + K-feldspar + ilmenite + magnetite; – a KPQ (K-feldspar–plagioclase–quartz) zone with the assemblage K-feldspar + plagioclase + orthopyroxene (N_Mg=45–48) + quartz + ilmenite + magnetite; – a charnockite core with the assemblage K-feldspar + plagioclase + orthopyroxene (N_Mg = 39–41) + biotite (N_Mg=48–52) + quartz + ilmenite + magnetite. Systematic changes in the bulk chemistry and mineralogy across the four zones suggest that along with metasomatic transformation, this process may have been complicated by partial melting in the charnockite core. This melting would have been coeval with metasomatic processes on the periphery of the charnockite patch. There is also good evidence in the charnockitic core that a second mineral assemblage, consisting of orthopyroxene (N_Mg= 36–42) + biotite (N_Mg=50–51) + K-feldspar (Or_70–80) + quartz + plagioclase (An_28–26), could have crystallised from a partial melt during cooling from 720 to 660 °C at decreasing a^fl _H2O from 0.67 to 0.5. Post-magmatic evolution of charnockite at T < 700 °C resulted in fluids being released during the crystallisation of the charnockitic core. These gave rise to the formation of late stage rim myrmekites along K-feldspar grain boundaries as well as late stage biotite, cummingtonite, and carbonates. Received: 15 September 1999 / Accepted: 8 June 2000