The link between oxygen isotope resetting, partial melting, and fluid flow in metamorphic terrains

A correlation between the style of partial melting and synmeta-morphic fluid flow exists in metapelites from the Mount Lofty Ranges, Reynolds Range, and Omeo Zone (Australia). Mount Lofty Ranges migmatites comprise granitic leucosomes in rocks that are still biotite rich, with no indications of other mafic minerals being formed along with the melts. By contrast, in the Reynolds and Omeo migmatites, garnet, cordierite, and/or spinel formed along with the melts. Oxygen isotope data are most consistent with the Mount Lofty Ranges undergoing significant fluid–rock interaction during regional metamorphism, which may have fluxed fluid-present partial melting. By contrast regional metamorphic fluid flow in the Reynolds Range and Omeo Zone was limited, leading to partial melting via fluid-absent reactions. The style of melting reactions may help to constrain the timing of isotopic resetting and fluid flow in metamorphic terrains, which is currently a contentious issue.     

Contrast in the isotopic composition of oxygen and carbon between the Mud Tank Carbonatite and the marbles in the granulite terrane of the Strangways Range,central Australia

Three samples from the Mud Tank Carbonatite have very similar isotopic ratios, averaging δ¹³C=‐4.3 and δ¹⁸O=+7.5(SMOW). These isotope values are distinct from those of nearby highly metamorphosed Carpentarian marbles, which have marine limestone values of δ¹³C=‐1.3±0.5, and δ¹⁸O=+17.6+0.7 with n=11. Minor variations in the values for the normal marbles show no correlation with stratigraphy or geographic location; however, somewhat lighter oxygen is found in some other marbles known to be affected by low‐temperature fluids within the Woolanga Lineament. Isotopes of C and O, if discretely used in conjunction with other geochemical features, not only may discriminate between deep‐seated carbona‐tites and marbles, but may also help to identify zones of carbonate metasomatism and define the isotopic characters of the fluids.     

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     

Carbon and oxygen isotope zoning around Carlin-type gold deposits: a reconnaissance survey at Twin Creeks, Nevada

This study was undertaken to determine whether wallrocks around the Twin Creeks Carlin-type gold deposits exhibit oxygen isotope haloes similar to those found around other types of hydrothermal deposits. Mineralization at Twin Creeks is hosted by Ordovician Sequence shales containing some carbonate minerals and by Pennsylvanian–Permian Etchart Formation limestone. Analysis of orthophosphate-soluble carbonate from these rocks shows that oxygen isotope haloes are detectable in Ordovician Sequence shales but not in Etchart Formation limestone. The soluble fraction of Ordovician Sequence shales at Twin Creeks has δ¹⁸O values of 12 to 24‰ and δ¹³C values of 0 to −10‰. Most samples fall along a poorly defined trend that extends from δ¹⁸O of about 24‰ and δ¹³C values of about 0, which are typical of unaltered limestones, toward lower values for both isotope systems, which are typical of rocks that have undergone alteration by hydrothermal fluids. Plots of these values along two sections through the ore body show that δ¹⁸O values of wallrocks are lowest in the ore zone and increase outward, forming a halo several hundred meters in size. In the same plots, δ¹³C values of the wallrocks do not show systematic spatial variations. The soluble fraction of Etchart Formation limestones at Twin Creeks have δ¹⁸O values of 25 to 5‰ and δ¹³C values of 4 to −10‰, but do not show any systematic spatial variation relative to mineralization at the scale of our samples. Failure of the Etchart Formation samples to show detectable haloes is probably related to deposition of post-ore carbonate minerals or lower ore fluid : rock ratios. Material balance calculations used to model the isotopic composition of average Ordovician Sequence shales indicate that changes in temperature and water : rock ratio were probably not sufficient to account for the wide range of isotope compositions observed in these rocks. The most likely additional factor contributing to this range of values was a change in the composition of the altering fluid, probably by mixing of the ore fluid with surrounding meteoric water. These results suggest that Carlin-type gold deposits are surrounded by haloes of low δ¹⁸O values, but that detection of these haloes could be complicated by local compositional variations and post-ore modification of the wallrocks.     

Changes in stable isotope ratios of metapelites and marbles during regional metamorphism,Mount Lofty Ranges,South Australia: implications for crustal scale fluid flow

The Mount Lofty Ranges comprises interlayered marbles, metapsammites, and metapelites that underwent regional metamorphism during the Delamarian Orogeny at 470–515 Ma. Peak metamorphic conditions increased from lowermost biotite grade (350–400°C) to migmatite grade (700°C) over 50–55 km parallel to the lithological strike of the rocks. With increasing metamorphic grade, ¹⁸O values of normal metapelites decrease from 14–16 to as low as 9.0, while ¹⁸O values of calcite in normal marbles decrease from 22–24 to as low as 13.2 These isotopic changes are far greater than can be accounted for by devolatilisation, implying widespread fluid-rock interaction. Contact metamorphism appears not to have affected the terrain, suggesting that fluid flow occurred during regional metamorphism. Down-temperature fluid flow from synmetamorphic granite plutons (¹⁸O=8.4–8.6) that occur at the highest metamorphic grades is unlikely to explain the resetting of oxygen isotopes because: (a) there is a paucity of skarns at granite-metasediment contacts; (b) the marbles generally do not contain low-XCO₂ mineral assemblages; (c) there is insufficient granite to provide the required volumes of water; (d) the marbles and metapelites retain a several permil difference in ¹⁸O values, even at high metamorphic grades. The oxygen isotope resetting may be accounted for by along-strike up-temperature fluid flow during regional metamorphism with time-integrated fluid fluxes of up to 5x10⁹ moles/m² (10⁵ m³/m²). If fluid flow occurred over 10⁵–10⁶ years, estimated intrinsic permeabilities are 10^-20 to 10^-16m². Variations in ¹⁸O at individual outcrops suggest that time-integrated fluid fluxes and intrinsic permeabilities may locally have varied by at least an order of magnitude. A general increase in XCO₂ values of marble assemblages with metamorphic grade is also consistent with the up-temperature fluid-flow model. Fluids in the metapelites may have been derived from these rocks by devolatilisation at low metamorphic grades; however, fluids in the marbles were probably derived in part from the surrounding siliceous rocks. The marble-metapelite boundaries preserve steep gradients in both ¹⁸O and XCO₂ values, suggesting that across-strike fluid fluxes were much lower than those parallel to strike. Up-temperature fluid flow may also have formed orthoamphibole rocks and caused melting of the metapelites at high grades.This paper is a contribution to IGCP Project 304 Lower Crustal Processes     

Kinetic mechanism of oxygen isotope disequilibrium in precipitated witherite and aragonite at low temperatures: an experimental study

To study what dictates oxygen isotope equilibrium fractionation between inorganic carbonate and water during carbonate precipitation from aqueous solutions, a direct precipitation approach was used to synthesize witherite, and an overgrowth technique was used to synthesize aragonite. The experiments were conducted at 50 and 70°C by one- and two-step approaches, respectively, with a difference in the time of oxygen isotope exchange between dissolved carbonate and water before carbonate precipitation. The two-step approach involved sufficient time to achieve oxygen isotope equilibrium between dissolved carbonate and water, whereas the one-step approach did not. The measured witherite-water fractionations are systematically lower than the aragonite-water fractionations regardless of exchange time between dissolved carbonate and water, pointing to cation effect on oxygen isotope partitioning between the barium and calcium carbonates when precipitating them from the solutions. The two-step approach experiments provide the equilibrium fractionations between the precipitated carbonates and water, whereas the one-step experiments do not. The present experiments show that approaching equilibrium oxygen isotope fractionation between precipitated carbonate and water proceeds via the following two processes:

1.

Oxygen isotope exchange between [CO₃]²⁻ and H₂O:

(1)     

The use of oxygen isotope geothermometry on the granulites and related intrusives,Musgrave Ranges,central Australia

Oxygen isotope equilibration involving quartz, feldspar and magnetite has taken place within the granulites of the metamorphic aureole of the intrusive charnockitic Ernabella Adamellite, and a temperature of approximately 550° C is indicated by ¹⁸O/¹⁶O values from quartz-magnetite and plagioclase-magnetite pairs. Pyroxene-magnetite fractionations are larger than equilibrium fractionations at this temperature, and demonstrate that caution is necessary in assigning estimates of temperature to highly metamorphosed rocks.The intrusive adamellite and related fine-grained and pegmatitic phases appear to have attained oxygen isotope equilibrium with the granulites at a similar temperature (approx. 550° C) which is here regarded as a late metamorphic equilibration temperature rather than the maximum temperature (estimated to be about 780° C) reached within the aureole.Oxygen was extracted from the minerals by means of bromine pentafluoride, and the isotopes were successfully measured without the normal prior conversion of oxygen to carbon dioxide.     

Two-dimensional patterns of metamorphic fluid flow and isotopic resetting in layered and fractured rocks'pa

One-dimensional advection-dispersion models predict that characteristic δ¹⁸O vs. distance and δ¹⁸O vs. δ¹³C profiles should be produced during isothermal metamorphic fluid flow under equilibrium conditions. However, the patterns of isotopic resetting in rocks that have experienced fluid flow are often different from the predictions. Two-dimensional advection-dispersion simulations in systems with simple geometries suggest that such differences may be as a result of fluid channelling and need not indicate disequilibrium, high dispersivities, or polythermal flow. The patterns of isotopic resetting are a function of: (1) the permeability contrast between more permeable layers ('channels') and less permeable layers ('matrix'); (2) the width and spacing of the channels; (3) the width and spacing of discrete fractures; and (4) the orientation of the pressure gradient with respect to layering. In fractured systems, the efficiency of isotopic transport depends on the fracture aperture and the permeability of the surrounding rock. Resetting initially occurs along and immediately adjacent to the fractures, but with time isotopic resetting because of flow through the rock as a whole increases in importance. Application of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equations to metamorphic fluid flow systems may yield incorrect estimates of fluid fluxes, intrinsic permeabilities, dispersivities, and permeability contrasts unless fluid flow occurred through zones of high permeability that were separated by relatively impermeable layers.     

Fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope evidence for syntectonic mineralisation at the Elura mine,southeastern Australia

Fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope data for the discordant, metasediment-hosted massive sulphide deposit at Elura are consistent with a syntectonic origin of the orebodies. Thermometric and laser Raman microprobe analyses indicate that two-phase, primary fluid inclusions are low salinity and H₂O-CO₂-CH₄ types. Inclusion fluids from quartz in ore yield homogenisation temperatures (T_h) ranging from 298 ° to 354 °C (mean 320 °C). They are likely to have been trapped close to the solvus of the H₂O-CO₂-(CH₄-NaCl) system and thus should give temperatures of the mineralising fluid. An additional, low T_h population of later fluid inclusions is recognised in quartz from ore and syntectonic extension veins in the adjacent wallrock. T_h's for these low CO₂bearing inclusions range from 150 to 231 °C (mean 190 °C), and should be considerably lower than true trapping temperatures. Sulphur isotopic composition (³⁴S) of pyrite, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and galena ranges from 4.7 to 12.6% and indicates a sulphur source from underlying Cobar Supergroup metasediments. An average temperature of 275 °C from the sphalerite-galena sulphur isotopic thermometer suggests isotopic re-equilibration below peak metamorphic temperatures.     

Oxygen isotope fractionation and disequilibrium displayed by some granulite facies rocks from the Fraser Range,Western Australia

The granulites of the Fraser Range are assumed to have formed in a carbon-rich fluid, and are generally devoid of hornblende, and lack obvious hydrous retrograde features. In these granulites, pyroxene, garnet, plagioclase and quartz are the minerals most likely to retain the oxygen isotope ratios fixed at an early stage of initial granulite metamorphism. Temperature estimates using these minerals commonly suggest that oxygen isotopic exchange ceased in the range 600 to 680°C. The peak metamorphic temperature was probably ～ 850°C as based on the stability fields of the coexisting minerals and some cation temperatures from coexisting pyroxenes in these rocks. Ilmenite may be slightly out of isotopic equilibrium with the other minerals. Thus, grains of quartz, feldspar, pyroxene and ilmenite have suffered considerable oxygen isotopic exchange during the retrogressive phase of the metamorphism, in spite of the fact that very little water was present in these granulites. The observed deviation from the peak metamorphic temperatures can be explained by essentially closed system solid-state diffusion (on at least a scale of centimetres) during slow cooling of the rocks from ~850 to 650°C, followed by more rapid cooling down to ～ 300°C. Such an explanation is not at variance with the radiometric data available for rocks from the area, which suggest that the latter phase could have involved uplift rates of ?0.5 mm/yr for a period of about 40 Ma. Wholerock δ¹⁸O values on non-quartzose mafic granulites, about 7.2%., fall within the range of basalts affected by seafloor weathering.     

Stable isotopic and mineralogical studies of hydrothermal alteration at Arima Spa,Southwest Japan

The waters of Arima Spa, Southwest Japan, have high salinity (Cl = 54 g/kg) and high isotopic ratios (δD = − 32, and δ¹⁸O = + 10%.), and issue from shallow wells drilled into altered rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks of Cretaceous age.Alteration of the host rocks occurred in two stages. The earlier regional alteration stage is characterized by the presence of 2M- and IM-type muscovite, albite, chlorite, calcite and epidote, whereas muscovite and Fe-chlorite formation at the expense of partly albitized plagioclase and altered biotite or hornblende occurred in the following hydrothermal stage. Pyrite, sphalerite, galena and siderite are present in the central part of the hydrothermal alteration zone. Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic ratios of secondary muscovite show that regional alteration proceeded under the meteoric circulation, and that the hydrothermal fluid for the second stage had chemical and stable isotopic characteristics of non-meteoric origin similar to the present-day Arima brine. The oxygen and to a lesser extent the hydrogen isotopic ratios of the muscovite rapidly decrease with increasing distance from the central zone of hydrothermal alteration. The isotopic variation is best interpreted as reflecting rapidly decreasing fluid/rock ratios with increasing distance of fluid penetration from the narrow hydrothermal alteration zone into the surrounding area.Speciation computation for the present-day brines at Arima Spa indicates that they are saturated with siderite but not with calcite at depth, in good accord with the mineralogical observations. Upon ascent the brines are diluted by HCO₃-rich shallow ground water and are saturated with respect to both siderite and calcite. The present-day Arima hydrothermal system is a remnant of the second stage hydrothermal activity.     

U-Sr isotopic speedometer: Fluid flow and chemical weathering rates in aquifers

Both chemical weathering rates and fluid flow are difficult to measure in natural systems. However, these parameters are critical for understanding the hydrochemical evolution of aquifers, predicting the fate and transport of contaminants, and for water resources/water quality considerations. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) activity ratios are sensitive indicators of water-rock interaction, and thus provide a means of quantifying both flow and reactivity. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values in ground waters are controlled by the ratio of the dissolution rate to the flow rate. Similarly, the (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) ratio of natural ground waters is a balance between the flow rate and the dissolution of solids, and α-recoil loss of ²³⁴U from the solids. By coupling these two isotope systems it is possible to constrain both the long-term (ca. 100’s to 1000’s of years) flow rate and bulk dissolution rate along the flow path. Previous estimates of the ratio of the dissolution rate to the infiltration flux from Sr isotopes (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) are combined with a model for (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) to constrain the infiltration flux and dissolution rate for a 70-m deep vadose zone core from Hanford, Washington. The coupled model for both (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) ratios and the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data suggests an infiltration flux of 5 ± 2 mm/yr, and bulk silicate dissolution rates between 10^−15.7 and 10^−16.5 mol/m²/s. The process of α-recoil enrichment, while primarily responsible for the observed variation in (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) of natural systems, is difficult to quantify. However, the rate of this process in natural systems affects the interpretation of most U-series data. Models for quantifying the α-recoil loss fraction based on geometric predictions, surface area constraints, and chemical methods are also presented. The agreement between the chemical and theoretical methods, such as direct measurement of (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) of the small grain size fraction and geometric calculations for that size fraction, is quite good.     

Formation of wollastonite-bearing marbles during late regional metamorphic channelled fluid flow in the Upper Calcsilicate Unit of the Reynolds Range Group,central Australia*

Abstract Granulite facies marbles from the Upper Calcsilicate Unit of the Reynolds Range, central Australia, contain metre-scale wollastonite-bearing layers formed by infiltration of water-rich (X_CO2= 0.1–0.3) fluids close to the peak of regional metamorphism at c. 700° C. Within the wollastonite marbles, zones that contain <10% wollastonite alternate on a millimetre scale with zones containing up to 66% wollastonite. Adjacent wollastonite-free marbles contain up to 11% quartz that is uniformly distributed. This suggests that, although some wollastonite formed by the reaction calcite + quartz = wollastonite + CO₂, the wollastonite-rich zones also underwent silica metasomatism. Time-integrated fluid fluxes required to cause silica metasomatism are one to two orders of magnitude higher than those required to hydrate the rocks, implying that time-integrated fluid fluxes varied markedly on a millimetre scale. Interlayered millimetre -to centimetre-thick marls within the wollastonite marbles contain calcite + quartz without wollastonite. These marls were probably not infiltrated by significant volumes of water-rich fluids, providing further evidence of local fluid channelling. Zones dominated by grandite garnet at the margins of the marl layers and marbles in the wollastonite-bearing rocks probably formed by Fe metasomatism, and may record even higher fluid fluxes. The fluid flow also reset stable isotope ratios. The wollastonite marbles have average calcite (Cc) δ¹⁸O values of 15.4 ± 1.6% that are lower than the average δ¹⁸O(Cc) value of wollastonite-free marbles (c. 17.2 ± 1.2%). δ¹³C(Cc) values for the wollastonite marbles vary from 0.4% to as low as -5.3%, and correlations between δ¹⁸O(Cc) and δ¹³C(Cc) values probably result from the combination of fluid infiltration and devolatilization. Fluids were probably derived from aluminous pegmatites, and the pattern of mineralogical and stable isotope resetting implies that fluid flow was largely parallel to strike.     

Fluid migration and vein formation during deformation and greenschist facies metamorphism at Ormiston Gorge, central Australia

During the Alice Springs Orogeny, deformation at Ormiston Gorge, central Australia, occurred under lower- to middle-greenschist facies conditions. Dolomites of the Bitter Springs Formation and quartzites. metagreywackes, and metapelites of the Heavitree Quartzite contain abundant early-, syn-, and post-tectonic veins. However, though vein densities locally approach 15%, the distribution of veins and the oxygen isotope geochemistry of wallrocks and veins suggest that fluid movement was on a local scale. The Heavitree Quartzite contains quartz veins that, even along the main thrust plane, have similar δ¹⁸O values (13.5–16.9%o) to those of their wallrocks (13.6–16.9%o), with Δ¹⁸O(vein-wallrock) values of -0.6 to 0.4%o. In contrast, the Bitter Springs Formation contains predominantly dolomite veins that have δ¹⁸O values of 23.4 to 27.7%o. These differences are observed even at the boundary between the Heavitree and Bitter Springs rocks, implying that significant fluid exchange between these rocks has not occurred, or that fluid flow was channelled through areas outside those sampled for this study. By contrast with the Heavitree Quartzite, δ¹⁸O values of wallrocks in individual samples of the Bitter Springs Formation are significantly higher (23.3–29.1%o) than those of the veins, with δ¹⁸O(vein-wallrock) values up to -4%o (average of -2.1%o). These systematic differences in δ¹⁸O values most likely result from oxygen isotope fractionation caused by fluid immiscibility or disequilibrium dissolution. Smaller differences in δ¹³C values between some dolomite veins and wallrocks [δ¹³C(vein-wallrock) up to -1.9%o, average of -0.5%o] are also explained by these processes. This study indicates that large volumes of veins may be produced by repeated fracturing and fluid migration within particular rock units, without involving large volumes of externally derived fluids.     

胶北地体荆山群大理岩碳氧同位素地球化学特征及其对Lomagundi-Jatuli事件的指示

古元古代大气圈快速大量充氧,地球表生系统发生一系列重要变化,其中之一是23～206Ga碳酸盐岩碳同位素正异常现象,称Lomagundi-Jatuli事件,颇受瞩目,成为当前国际研究前沿。胶北地体荆山群普遍经历高角闪岩相-麻粒岩相变质作用,其下部禄格庄组碳酸盐地层发育。本文研究了山后地区荆山群禄格庄组26件大理岩和7件白云质石英岩样品,获得δ~(13)C_(carb)值在-08～+34‰(V-PDB),平均+14‰,其中大理岩δ~(13)C平均值为+16‰,白云质石英岩δ~(13)C平均值为+09‰。氧同位素值变化于93‰～202‰(V-SMOW),平均140‰。样品碳-氧同位素值之间具有很好的正相关性,且有13件样品Mn/Sr比值大于6,说明高角闪岩相的变质作用可能使δ~(13)C_(carb)下降了3‰～5‰,原始沉积碳酸盐的δ~(13)C_(carb)值高达+84‰,明显正异常,是全球性Lomagundi-Jatuli事件的响应。     

Clay mineralogical,geochemical and isotopic tracing of the evolution of the Woodleigh impact structure,Southern Carnarvon Basin,Western Australia

Chaotically structured diamictite from the inner ring syncline surrounding the central uplift of the Woodleigh impact structure contains shocked metamorphic and impact melt-rock fragments, largely derived from Ordovician and Devonian target sandstones. Coarse illite fractions (<2 m) from the sandstones containing no K-feldspar yield K–Ar ages of around 400 Ma, whereas the K–Ar ages of authigenic clays of >0.2 m fractions from the diamictite without smectite and K-feldspar cluster around 360 Ma, consistent with Rb–Sr data. Crystallisation of newly formed illite in the impact melt rock clasts and recrystallisation of earlier formed illite in the sandstone clasts preserved in the diamictite, are attributed to impact-induced hydrothermal processes in the Late Devonian. The illitic clays from the diamictite and from the sandstones have very similar trace element compositions, with significantly enriched incompatible lithophile elements, which increase in concentrations correlatively with those of the compatible ferromagnesian elements. The unusual trace element associations in the clays may be due to the involvement of hot gravity-driven basinal fluids that interacted with rocks of the Precambrian craton to the east of the study area, or with such material transported and reworked in the studied sedimentary succession.     

赣南西华山钨矿床的流体混合作用:基于H、O同位素模拟分析

赣南西华山钨矿床是我国典型的大型石英脉型黑钨矿矿床.H、O同位素的研究表明,该矿床δD值-43‰～-66‰,石英δ18O值2.3‰～13.2‰,对应的成矿流体δ18O值-8.7‰～7.6‰,表明成矿流体为岩浆水与大气降水的混合流体.不同机制下矿物O同位素模拟计算表明,冷却、沸腾和混合作用所形成矿物的O同位素组成明显不同...     

Carbon, oxygen, strontium, and sulfur isotopic compositions in late Precambrian rocks of the Patom Complex, central Siberia: Communication 1. results, isotope stratigraphy, and dating problems

Results of the study of isotopic compositions of C, O, S, and Sr in late Precambrian sections of the Patom Complex and its analogues are presented. Total scatter in δ¹³C values is more than 21‰ (from ?13.5 to 8.1‰). The sections strongly differ in thickness, but they have similar carbon isotope curves with two dramatic drops in δ¹³C from extremely high (>4‰) to extremely low (13C values (from 7 to 8‰) are typical of the glacial horizon underlying the Mariinsk Formation, as well as the Barakun and Valyukhta formations and their analogues, which separate negative excursions. The minimum ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in limestones of the Kumukulakh (0.70725), Barakun (0.70727), Valyukhta (0.70769), Nikol’skoe (0.707904), Chencha (0.70786) and Torgo (0.70799) formations suggest the accumulation of sediments 660–580 Ma ago. Correspondingly, glacial diamictites of the Nichatka and Dzhemkukan (Bol’shoi Patom) formations can be correlated with the early stage of the Marinoan glaciation (635–665 Ma); the Zhuya Formation, with transgression that terminates the late stage of the same glaciation or the Gaskiers glaciation (580 Ma). Problems related to the genesis of carbonate rocks with extremely high and low δ¹³C values will be considered in the second communication.     

Determining the direction of contact metamorphic fluid flow: an assessment of mineralogical and stable isotope criteria

ABSTRACT One-dimensional fluid advection-dispersion models predict differences in the patterns of mineralogical and oxygen isotope resetting during up- and down-temperature metamorphic fluid flow that may, in theory, be used to determine the fluid flow direction with respect to the palaeotemperature gradient. Under equilibrium conditions, down-temperature fluid flow is predicted to produce sharp reaction fronts that separate rocks with isobarically divariant mineral assemblages. In contrast, up-temperature fluid flow may produce extensive zones of isobarically univariant mineral assemblages without sharp reaction fronts. However, during contact metamorphism, mineral reaction rates are probably relatively slow compared with fluid velocities and distended reaction fronts may also form during down-temperature fluid flow. In addition, uncertainties in the timing of fluid flow with respect to the thermal peak of metamorphism and the increase in the variance of mineral assemblages due to solid solutions introduce uncertainties in determining fluid flow directions. Equilibrium down-temperature flow of magmatic fluids in contact aureoles is also predicted to produce sharp δ¹⁸O fronts, whereas up-temperature flow of fluids derived by metamorphic devolatilization may produce gradational δ¹⁸O vs. distance profiles. However, if fluids are channelled, significant kinematic dispersion occurs, or isotopic equilibrium is not maintained, the patterns of isotopic resetting may be difficult to interpret. The one-dimensional models provide a framework in which to study fluid-rock interaction; however, when some of the complexities inherent in fluid flow systems are taken into account, they may not uniquely distinguish between up- and down-temperature fluid flow. It is probably not possible to determine the fluid flow direction using any single criterion and a range of data is required.