Fault–valve action and vein development during strike–slip faulting: An example from the Ribeira Shear Zone, Southeastern Brazil

Fluid inclusion microthermometry and structural data are presented for quartz vein systems of a major dextral transcurrent shear zone of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian age in the Ribeira River Valley area, southeastern Brazil. Geometric and microstructural constraints indicate that foliation–parallel and extensional veins were formed during dextral strike–slip faulting. Both vein systems are formed essentially by quartz and lesser contents of sulfides and carbonates, and were crystallized in the presence of CO₂–CH₄ and H₂O–CO₂–CH₄–NaCl immiscible fluids following unmixing from a homogeneous parental fluid. Contrasting fluid entrapment conditions indicate that the two vein systems were formed in different structural levels. Foliation–parallel veins were precipitated beneath the seismogenic zone under pressure fluctuating from moderately sublithostatic to moderately subhydrostatic values (319–397 °C and 47–215 MPa), which is compatible with predicted fluid pressure cycle curves derived from fault–valve action. Growth of extensional veins occurred in shallower structural levels, under pressure fluctuating from near hydrostatic to moderately subhydrostatic values (207–218 °C and 18–74 MPa), which indicate that precipitation occurred within the near surface hydrostatically pressured seismogenic zone. Fluid immiscibility and precipitation of quartz in foliation–parallel veins resulted from fluid pressure drop immediately after earthquake rupture. Fluid immiscibility following a local pressure drop during extensional veining occurred in pre-seismic stages in response to the development of fracture porosity in the dilatant zone. Late stages of fluid circulation within the fault zone are represented dominantly by low to high salinity (0.2 to 44 wt.% equivalent NaCl) H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂ fluid inclusions trapped in healed fractures mainly in foliation–parallel veins, which also exhibit subordinate H₂O–NaCl–CaCl₂, CO₂–(CH₄) and H₂O–CO₂–(CH₄)–NaCl fluid inclusions trapped under subsolvus conditions in single healed microcracks. Recurrent circulation of aqueous–carbonic fluids and aqueous fluids of highly contrasting salinities during veining and post-veining stages suggests that fluids of different reservoirs were pumped to the ruptured fault zone during faulting episodes. A fluid evolution trending toward CH₄ depletion for CO₂–CH₄–bearing fluids and salinity depletion and dilution (approximation of the system H₂O–NaCl) for aqueous–saline fluids occurred concomitantly with decrease in temperature and pressure related to fluid entrapment in progressively shallower structural levels reflecting the shear zone exhumation history.     

P-T conditions of quartz-calcite boudins and vein formation within a low-angle detachment fault in Tinos Island (Aegean Sea): a fluid-inclusion study

Fluid inclusions were investigated in successive generations of quartz-calcite boudins and veins in the vicinity of, and within, the low-angle detachment fault (of Early Miocene age) exposed on Tinos Island (Cyclades, Greece). Abundant boudins, veins, tension gashes and mineral segregations were formed during various stages of ductile and brittle shear along the detachment indicating fluid flow at various crustal levels, assisted motion and slip along the detachment. Three generations of fluid inclusions were identified: (1) syn-deformation aqueous inclusions; (2) local- late-deformation H₂O-CO₂ inclusions; (3) post-slip deformation, partly decrepitated aqueous and H₂O-CO₂ inclusions. The conditions of inclusion trapping correspond to the greenschist facies, at temperatures between 300 and 450°C and pressures in the range of 1.5–4.0 kb. A gradient of pressure of about 0.5 kb from the fault zone to the rocks of upper and lower plates is suggested. The results indicate that the syn-deformation fluid was NaCl-KCl-sulfate-dominated with a salinity of about 5 wt% NaCl equiv. Downward infiltration of meteoric water is a suitable source for this fluid. During the late stage of fault activity, in the brittle field, fluid was of H₂O-CO₂ composition. Very rapid exhumation of the entire section (unrelated to motion on the investigated fault) is marked by numerous decrepitation clusters of the fluid inclusions.     

Two Cu–Co sulfide phases and contrasting fluid systems in the Katanga Copperbelt, Democratic Republic of Congo

The Katanga Copperbelt is the Congolese part of the well-known Central African Copperbelt, the largest sediment-hosted stratiform Cu–Co province on Earth. Petrographic examination of borehole samples from the Kamoto and Luiswishi mines in the Katanga Copperbelt recognized two generations of hypogene Cu–Co sulfides and associated gangue minerals (dolomite and quartz). The first generation is characterized by fine-grained Cu–Co sulfides and quartz replacing dolomite. The second generation is paragenetically later and characterized by coarse-grained Cu–Co sulfides and quartz overgrown and partly replaced by dolomite. Fluid inclusion microthermometric data were collected from two different types of fluid inclusions: type-I fluid inclusions (liquid + vapor) in the quartz of the first generation and type-II fluid inclusions (liquid + vapor + halite) in the quartz of the second generation. The microthermometric analyses indicate that the fluids represented by type-I and type-II fluid inclusions had very different temperatures and salinities and were not in thermal equilibrium with the host rock.Petrographic and microthermometric data indicate the presence of at least two main hypogene Cu–Co sulfide phases in the Katanga Copperbelt. The first is an early diagenetic typical stratiform phase, which produced fine-grained sulfides that are disseminated in the host rock and frequently concentrated in nodules and lenticular layers. This phase is related to a hydrothermal fluid with a moderate temperature (115 to 220 °C, or less if reequilibration of inclusions has occurred) and salinity (11.3 to 20.9 wt.% NaCl equiv.). The second hypogene Cu–Co phase produced syn-orogenic coarse-grained sulfides, which also occur disseminated in the host rock but mainly concentrated in a distinct type of stratiform nodules and layers and in stratabound veins and tectonic breccia cement. This second phase is related to a hydrothermal fluid with high temperature (270 to 385 °C) and salinity (35 to 45.5 wt.% NaCl equiv.).A review of available microthermometric and ore geochronological data of the Copperbelt in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia supports the regional presence of the two Cu–Co phases proposed in our study. Future geochemical analyses in the Copperbelt should take into account the presence of, at least, these two Cu–Co phases, their contrasting fluid systems and the possible overprint of the first phase by the second one.     

Fluid entrapment and reequilibration during subduction and exhumation: A case study from the high-grade Nestos shear zone, Central Rhodope, Greece

A fluid inclusion study on metamorphic minerals of successive growth stages was performed on highly deformed paragneisses from the Nestos Shear Zone at Xanthi (Central Rhodope), in which microdiamonds provide unequivocal evidence for ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. The correlation of fluid inclusion density isochores and fluid inclusion reequilibration textures with geothermobarometric data and the relative chronology of micro- and macro-scale deformation stages allow a better understanding of both the fluid and metamorphic evolution along the P–T–d path. Textural evidence for subduction towards the NE is recorded by the orientation of intragranular NE-oriented fluid inclusion planes and the presence of single, annular fluid inclusion decrepitation textures. These textures occur within quartz “foam” structures enclosed in an earlier generation of garnets with prolate geometries and rarely within recrystallized matrix quartz, and reequilibrated both in composition and density during later stages of exhumation. No fluid inclusions pertaining to the postulated ultrahigh-pressure stage for microdiamond-bearing garnet–kyanite–gneisses have yet been found. The prolate shape of garnets developed during the earliest stages of exhumation that is recorded structurally by (L  S) tectonites, which subsequently accommodated progressive ductile SW shearing and folding up to shallow crustal levels. The majority of matrix kyanite and a later generation of garnet were formed during SW-directed shear under plane-strain conditions. Fluid inclusions entrapped in quartz during this stage of deformation underwent density loss and transformed to almost pure CO₂ inclusions by preferential loss of H₂O. Those inclusions armoured within garnet retained their primary 3-phase H₂O–CO₂ compositions. Reequilibration of fluid inclusions in quartz aggregates is most likely the result of recrystallization along with stress-induced, preferential H₂O leakage along dislocations and planar lattice defects which results in the predominance of CO₂ inclusions with supercritical densities. Carbonic fluid inclusions from adjacent kyanite–corundum-bearing pegmatoids and, the presence of shear-plane-parallel fluid inclusion planes within late quartz boudin structures consisting of pure CO₂-fluid inclusions with negative crystal shapes, bear witness of the latest stage of deformation by NE-directed extensional shear.This study shows that the textures of early fluid inclusions that formed already during the prograde metamorphic path can be preserved and used to derive information about the kinematics of subduction that is difficult to obtain from other sources. The textures of early inclusions, together with later generations of unaltered primary and secondary inclusions in metamorphic index minerals that can be linked to specific deformation stages and even P–T conditions, are a welcome supplement for the reconstruction of a rather detailed P–T–d path.     

Conditions for veining in the Barrandian Basin (Lower Palaeozoic), Czech Republic: evidence from fluid inclusion and apatite fission track analysis

The interplay between fracture propagation and fluid composition and circulation has been examined by deciphering vein sequences in Silurian and Devonian limestones and shales at Kosov quarry in the Barrandian Basin. Three successive vein generations were recognised that can be attributed to different stages of a basinal cycle. Almost all generations of fracture cements host abundant liquid hydrocarbon inclusions that indicate repeated episodes of petroleum migration through the strata during burial, tectonic compression and uplift.The earliest veins that propagated prior to folding were displacive fibrous “beef” calcite veins occurring parallel to the bedding of some shale beds. Hydrocarbon inclusions within calcite possess homogenisation temperatures between 58 and 68 °C and show that the “beef” calcites originated in the deeper burial environment, during early petroleum migration from overpressured shales.E–W-striking extension veins that postdate “beef” calcite formed in response to Variscan orogenic deformations. Based on apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) data and other geological evidence, the veins probably formed 380–315 Ma ago, roughly coinciding with peak burial heating of the strata, folding and the intrusion of Variscan synorogenic granites. The veins that crosscut diagenetic cements and low-amplitude stylolites in host limestones are oriented semi-vertically to the bedding plane and are filled with cloudy, twinned calcite, idiomorphic smoky quartz and residues of hardened bitumen. Calcite and quartz cements contain abundant blue and blue–green-fluorescing primary inclusions of liquid hydrocarbons that homogenise between 50 and 110 °C. Geochemical characteristics of the fluids as revealed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, particularly the presence of olefins and parent aromatic hydrocarbons (phenonthrene), suggest that the oil entrapped in the inclusions experienced intense but geologically fast heating that resulted in thermal pyrolysis of its hydrocarbons. This implies that the organic fluids in the fractures may have been partly influenced by heating associated with igneous intrusions that are hidden below the surface.Subvertical N–S-striking veins represent the most recent fracturing event(s). Some of these veins are only a few millimeters thick and sparsely mineralised with thin leaf-like quartz crystals that contain tiny blue and yellow–orange-fluorescing hydrocarbon inclusions. Most of the N–S veins, however, occur as thick calcite veins that generally crystallised at 70 °C or less from H₂O–NaCl solutions of variable salinity with admixture of petroleum. The origin of these fluids is interpreted in terms of deeply circulating meteoric waters that partially mixed with deep basinal fluids. Wider structural considerations combined with fission-track analysis of adjacent host sediments suggest that N–S veins formed during post-Mesozoic uplift of the area, probably in response to major Tertiary Alpine deformations transmitted far into the Bohemian Massif.     

Fluid inclusions in charnockites from the Bjerkreim-Sokndal massif (Rogaland,southwestern Norway): fluid origin and in situ evolution

Fluid inclusions and mineral associations were studied in late-stage charnockitic granites from the Bjerkreim-Sokndal lopolith (Rogaland anorthosite province). Because the magmatic and tectonic evolutions of this complex appear to be relatively simple, these rocks are a suitable case for investigation of the origin and evolution of granulitic fluids. Fluid inclusions, primarily contained in quartz, can be divided into four types: carbonic (type I), N₂-bearing (type II), CO₂+H₂O (type III) and aqueous inclusions (type IV). For each type, the role of leakage and fluid mixing are discussed from microthermometric and Raman spectrometric data. The most striking features of CO₂-rich inclusions (the predominant fluid) is the presence of graphite in numerous, trail-bound inclusions (Ib) and its absence in a few isolated, very dense (d=1.16), pure CO₂ inclusions (Ia) and in the late carbonic inclusions (Ic). Fluid chronology and mineral assemblages suggest that carbonic Ia inclusions represent the first fluid (pure CO₂) trapped at or close to magmatic conditions (T=780–830° C, fO₂=10^-15 atm and P=7.4±1 kb), outside the graphite stability field. In contrast, type Ib inclusions enclosed graphite particles from a channelized fluid during retrograde rock evolution (P=3–4 kb and T=600° C). Decreases in T-fO₂ could explain a progressive evolution from a CO₂-rich fluid to an H₂O-rich fluid in a closed C–O–H system. However, graphite destabilization observed in type Ic inclusions implies some late introduction of external water during the last stage of retrogression. The main results of this study are the following: (1) a carbonic fluid was present in an early stage of rock evolution (probably in the charnockitic magma) and (2) this granulite occurrence offers good evidence of crossing the graphite stability field during post-magmatic evolution.     

Fluid inclusion studies of the Felbertal scheelite deposit

Fluid inclusion measurements on quartz, scheelite, beryl, fluorite and calcite in the metamorphosed Felbertal scheelite deposit display two main types of fluid inclusions:

1. H₂O-CO₂ fluid inclusions are characterized by variable amounts of CO₂ up to 18 wt.%. They show two or three phases at room temperature. The bulk homogenization temperatures for the inclusions range between +269 °C and +357 °C. The calculated salinities are between 2.2 and 7.8 wt.% NaCl equivalent. For the late CO₂-bearing fluid inclusions a methane component is evident from microthermometrical data (T_mclath >10.0 °C combined with T_mCO₂
2. Aqueous, two-phase fluid inclusions with salinities in the range between 0 and 11 wt.% NaCl equivalent. Their homogenization temperatures are scattered between 100 °C and 360 °C.

Both types of fluid inclusions are of Alpine origin. They do not record the conditions of the original tungsten ore formation in pre-Alpine (Upper Proterozoic) time. However, it was possible to deduce a path for the fluid evolution and the combined ore redeposition during the retrograde Alpine metamorphism and tectonism from microthermometrical and petrographical studies.     

Fluid immiscibility in late-Alpine gold-bearing veins,Eastern and Northwestern European Alps

Gold-bearing quartz veins fill late-Alpine brittle structures in Pennine nappes of Austria (in the Tauern window) and in northern Italy. The veins formed in the latter stages of uplift of the Alps. Fluid inclusions in veins sampled from Böckstein, Austria, and Valle Anzasca, Italy have a wide variety of compositions, ranging from aqueous brine (about 5 wt% NaCl equiv.) to about 50 mol% CO₂. At room temperature, the inclusions range with increasing CO₂ content from two-phase aqueous, through three-phase in which the CO₂ homogenizes to vapour, to three-phase with CO₂ homogenizing to liquid. This wide range of inclusion compositions is interpreted as evidence for fluid immiscibility, with most inclusions being accidental mixtures of the two end-member immiscible fluids. The homogenization temperatures of the aqueous inclusions, 200–280°C, gives the best estimate of temperature of formation of the veins. Vein formation fluid pressure at Böckstein and Valle Anzasca was about 1 kbar, and Böckstein veins formed at lower pressure than Valle Anzasca veins. Fluid immiscibility may have contributed to deposition of gold at both Valle Anzasca and Böckstein, and possibly many other uplift-related Alpine gold localities.     

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.     

Fluid inclusions in granulite-facies metapelites of the Hercynian ancient lower crust of the Serre,Calabria, Southern Italy

Investigations of fluid inclusions in granulitefacies metapelites of southern Calabria enable characterization of the fluid composition of these lower crustal rocks, and constrain the petrologically deduced retrograde P-T path characterized by isothermal uplift prior to isobaric cooling in middle crustal levels. Fluid inclusions in cordierite, garnet and sillimanite have a CO₂-rich composition. Inclusions in cordierite rarely contain minor amounts of N₂ and H₂O, and in garnets some CO₂–CH₄–N₂ inclusions have been analyzed by Raman microprobe. Quartz reveals the most complex fluid melusion compositions (1) CO₂-rich, (2) CO₂–CH₄–N₂, (3) CH₄–N₂, (4) H₂O–MgCl₂–CaCl₂–NaCl, (5) H₂O–NaCl and (6) H₂O–CO₂. The earliest fluid inclusions after peak metamorphism are rich in CO₂ with minor amounts of N₂ and H₂O. An early CO₂–(H₂O–N₂) fluid composition has been confirmed by detection of CO₂, H₂O and N₂ in the channels of the cordierite structure. Most of the early CO₂-rich fluid inclusions were modified during the uplift from the lower to the middle crustal level, resulting in a density decrease with CO₂ still dominant. The subsequent isobaric cooling led to further modifications of the fluid inclusions. High-density inclusions around implosion textures or scattered amongst lower-density ones must have formed during this cooling episode. Aqueous inclusions in quartz are mostly formed late and are consistent with trapping during retrograde rehydration.This project has been supported by the DFG as contribution to the special program Continental Lower Crust     

Siderite mineralization of the Gemericum superunit (Western Carpathians, Slovakia): review and a revised genetic model

The Gemericum is a segment of the Variscan orogen subsequently deformed by the Alpine–Carpathian orogeny. The unit contains abundant siderite–sulphide and quartz–antimony veins together with stratabound siderite replacement deposits in limestones and stratiform sulphide mineralization in volcano-sedimentary sequences. The siderite–sulphide veins and siderite replacement deposits of the Gemericum represent one of the largest accumulations of siderite in the world, with about 160 million tonnes of mineable FeCO₃. More than 1200 steeply dipping hydrothermal veins are arranged in a regional tectonic and compositional pattern, reflecting the distribution of regional metamorphic zones. Siderite–sulphide veins are typically contained in low-grade (chlorite zone) sedimentary, volcano-sedimentary or volcanic Lower and Upper Paleozoic rocks. Quartz–antimony veins are hosted by higher-grade units (biotite zone). Siderite–sulphide veins are dominated by early siderite followed by a complex set of stages, including quartz–sulphide (chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite), barite, tourmaline–quartz, and sulphide-remobilization stages. The temporal evolution of these stages is difficult to study because of the widespread and repeated tectonic processes, within-vein replacement and recrystallization. Siderite–sulphide veins show considerable vertical (up to 1200 m) and lateral (up to 15 km) extent, and a thickness typically reaching several metres. Carbonate-replacement siderite deposits of the Gemericum are hosted by a Silurian limestone belt and are similar to stratabound siderite deposits of the Eastern Alps (e.g., Erzberg, Austria).Based on a review of geological, petrological and geochronological data for the Gemericum, and extensive stable and radiogenic isotope data and fluid inclusion data on hydrothermal minerals, the siderite–sulphide veins and siderite replacement deposits are classified as metamorphogenic in a broad sense. The deposits were formed during several stages of regional crustal-scale fluid flow. Isotope (S, C, Sr, Pb) fingerprinting identifies the metamorphosed rock complexes of the Gemericum as a source of most components of hydrothermal fluids. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data evidence the participation of several contrasting fluid types, and the existence of contrasting P–T conditions during vein evolution. A high-δ¹⁸O, medium- to high-salinity, H₂O-type fluid is the most important component during siderite deposition, whereas H₂O–CO₂-type fluid inclusion containing dense liquid CO₂ and corresponding to minimal pressures between 1 and 3 kbar were found in a younger tourmaline–quartz stage. Younger quartz–ankerite(±siderite)–sulphide stages are characterized by high-salinity (17 to 35 wt.% NaCl equivalent) and low-temperature (T_h=90 to 180 °C) H₂O-type fluids.The vein deposits are interpreted as a result of multistage hydrothermal circulation, with Variscan and Alpine mineralization phases. Based on available indirect data, the most important mineralization phase was related to regional fluid flow during the uplift of a Variscan metamorphic core complex, producing siderite–sulphide (±barite) mineralization, while tourmaline–quartz stage and sulphide remobilization stages are related to Alpine processes. Two phases of vein evolution are evident from two groups of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios of Sr-rich, Rb-poor hydrothermal minerals: 0.71042–0.71541 in older barite and 0.7190–0.7220 in late-stage celestine and strontianite.     

Implications of super dense carbonic and hypersaline fluid inclusions in granites from the Ranchi area, Chottanagpur Gneissic Complex, Eastern India

A combined fluid inclusion and mineral thermobarometric study in groups of synchronous inclusions in quartz within weakly foliated granites from the Chottanagpur Gneissic Complex, India, reveals super dense carbonic (CO₂ with minor CH₄ and H₂O) inclusions and hypersaline (H₂O–NaCl ± NaHCO₃) inclusions, with halite- and nahcolite daughter phases. This study documents the highest density (1.115 g cm^− 3) CO₂ fluids ever reported in granites. Fluid isochores, constructed from CO₂ (± CH₄) and halite-bearing inclusions, coupled with two-feldspar thermometry constrain the minimum P–T at 8 kbar/ 750 °C for fluid entrapment in granites. By contrast, the carbonic inclusions in quartz from granite-hosted metapelite enclaves contain substantial CH₄ (up to 30 mol%), and the entrapment pressure ( 4.3 kbar/600 °C) is considerably lower compared to those in the granites. By implication, the sillimanite-free granites were not derived from the metapelitic enclaves, and instead were formed by partial melting of fluid-heterogeneous lower crustal protoliths, with fluid entrapment at magmatic conditions.     

Mesozoic extension in the Basque–Cantabrian basin (N Spain): Contributions from AMS and brittle mesostructures

In this work we analyse and check the results of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) by means of a comparison with palaeostress orientations obtained from the analysis of brittle mesostructures in the Cabuérniga Cretaceous basin, located in the western end of the Basque–Cantabrian basin, North Spain. The AMS data refer to 23 sites including Triassic red beds, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous limestones, sandstones and shales. These deposits are weakly deformed, and represent the syn-rift sequence linked to basins formed during the Mesozoic and later inverted during the Pyrenean compression. The observed magnetic fabrics are typical of early stages of deformation, and show oblate, triaxial and prolate magnetic ellipsoids. The magnetic fabric seems to be related to a tectonic overprint of an original, compaction, sedimentary fabric. Most sites display a NE–SW magnetic lineation that is interpreted to represent the stretching direction of the Early Cretaceous extensional stage of the basin, without recording of the Tertiary compressional events, except for sites with compression-related cleavage.Brittle mesostructures include normal faults, calcite and quartz tension gashes and joints, related to the extensional stage. The results obtained from joints and tension gashes show a dominant N–S to NE–SW, and secondary NW–SE, extension direction. Paleostresses obtained from fault analysis (Right Dihedra and stress inversion methods) indicate NW–SE to E–W, and N–S extension direction. The results obtained from brittle mesostructures show a complex pattern resulting from the superposition of several tectonic processes during the Mesozoic, linked to the tectonic activity related to the opening of the Bay of Biscay during the Early Cretaceous. This work shows the potential in using AMS analysis in inverted basins to unravel its previous extensional history when the magnetic fabric is not expected to be modified by subsequent deformational events. Brittle mesostructure analysis seems to be more sensitive to far-field stress conditions and record longer time spans, whereas AMS records deformation on the near distance, during shorter intervals of time.     

Geothermobarometry and fluid inclusions of dioritic rocks in Bangladesh: Implications for emplacement depth and exhumation rate

Application of hornblende thermobarometry and fluid inclusion studies to the Palaeoproterozoic (1.7 Ga) basement rocks from Maddhapara, NW Bangladesh, provide information on the pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions of crystallization, the emplacement depth and composition of magmatic fluid. The basement rocks are predominantly diorite or quartz diorite with a mineral assemblage of plagioclase, hornblende, biotite, quartz, K-feldspar, titanite, and secondary epidote and chlorite. The calculated P–T conditions of the dioritic rocks are 680–725 °C and 4.9–6.4 kbar, which probably correspond to crystallization conditions. Fluid inclusion studies suggest that low- to medium-salinity (0–6.4 wt.% NaCl_eq) H₂O-rich fluids are trapped during the crystallization of quartz and plagioclase. The isochore range calculated for primary aqueous inclusions is consistent with the P–T condition obtained by geothermobarometry. The basement rocks likely crystallized at a depth of 17–22 km, with a minimum average exhumation rate of 12–15 m/Ma during Palaeoproterozoic to Lopingian time. Such slow exhumation indicates low relief continental shield surface during this period.     

Evolution of Hydrothermal System at the Dizon Porphyry Cu-Au Deposit, Zambales, Philippines

Abstract. Evolution of hydrothermal system from initial porphyry Cu mineralization to overlapping epithermal system at the Dizon porphyry Cu‐Au deposit in western central Luzon, Zambales, Philippines, is documented in terms of mineral paragen‐esis, fluid inclusion petrography and microthermometry, and sulfur isotope systematics. The paragenetic stages throughout the deposit are summarized as follows; 1) stockwork amethystic quartz veinlets associated with chalcopyrite, bornite, magnetite and Au enveloped by chlorite alteration overprinting biotite alteration, 2) stockwork quartz veinlets with chalcopyrite and pyrite associated with Au and chalcopyrite and pyrite stringers in sericite alteration, 3) stringer quartz veinlets associated with molybdenite in sericite alteration, and 4) WNW‐trending quartz veins associated with sphalerite and galena at deeper part, while enargite and stibnite at shallower levels associated with advanced argillic alteration. Chalcopyrite and bornite associated with magnetite in quartz veinlet stockwork (stage 1) have precipitated initially as intermediate solid solution (iss) and bornite solid solution (bnss), respectively. Fluid inclusions in the stockwork veinlet quartz consist of gas‐rich inclusions and polyphase inclusions. Halite in polyphase inclusions dissolves at temperatures ranging from 360d?C to >500d?C but liquid (brine) and gas (vapor) do not homogenize at <500d?C. The maximum pressure and minimum temperature during the deposition of iss and bnss with stockwork quartz veinlets are estimated to be 460 bars and 500d?C. Fluid inclusions in veinlet stockwork quartz enveloped in sericite alteration (stage 2) consist mainly of gas‐rich inclusions and polyphase inclusions. In addition to the possible presence of saturated NaCl crystals at the time of entrapment of fluid inclusions that exhibit the liquid‐vapor homogenization temperatures lower than the halite dissolution temperatures in some samples, wide range of temperatures of halite dissolution and liquid‐vapor homogenization of polyphase inclusions from 230d?C to >500d?C and from 270d?C to >500d?C, respectively, suggests heterogeneous entrapment of gaseous vapor and hypersaline brine. The minimum pressure and temperature are estimated to be about 25 bars and 245d?C. Fluid inclusions in veinlet quartz associated with molybdenite (stage 3) are dominated by gas‐rich inclusions accompanied with minor liquid‐rich inclusions that homogenize at temperatures between 350d?C and 490d?C. Fluid inclusions in vuggy veinlet quartz associated with stibnite (stage 4) consist mainly of gas‐rich inclusions with subordinate polyphase inclusions that do not homogenize below 500d?C. Fluid inclusions in veinlet quartz associated with galena and sphalerite (stage 4) are composed of liquid‐rich two‐phase inclusions, and they homogenize into liquid phase at temperatures ranging widely from 190d?C to 300d?C (suggesting boiling) and the salinity ranges from 1.0 wt% to 3.4 wt% NaCl equivalent. A pressure of about 15 bars is estimated for the dilute aqueous solution of 190d?C from which veinlet quartz associated with galena and sphalerite precipitated. In addition to a change in temperature‐pressure regime from lithostatic pressure during the deposition of iss and bnss with stockwork quartz veinlets to hydrostatic pressure during fracture‐controlled quartz veinlet associated with galena and sphalerite, a decrease in pressure is supposed to have occurred due to unroofing or removal of the overlying piles during the temperature decrease in the evolution of hydrothermal system. The majority of the sulfur isotopic composition of sulfides ranges from ±0 % to +5 %. Sulfur originated from an iso‐topically uniform and homogeneous source, and the mineralization occurred in a single hydrothermal system.     

Methane-bearing,aqueous, saline solutions in the Skaergaard intrusion,east Greenland

Solutions of H₂O–NaCl–CH₄ occur in fluid inclusions enclosed by quartz, apatite and feldspar from gabbroic pegmatitites, anorthositic structures and intercumulus minerals within the Skaergaard intrusion. The majority of the fluid inclusions resemble 10 m diameter sub-to euhedral negative crystals. A vapour phase and a liquid phase are visible at room temperature, solids are normally absent. The salinity of the fluids ranges from 17.5 to 22.8 wt.% NaCl. CH₄, which comprises less than six mole percent of the solution, was detected in the vapour phase of the fluid inclusions with Raman microprobe analysis. Homogenization of the fluid inclusions occurred in the liquid phase in the majority of the fluid inclusions, though 10% of the inclusions homogenized in the gas phase. Thermodynamic consideration of the stability of feldspars + quartz, and the C–O–H system, indicates that the solutions were trapped at temperatures between 655 and 770°C, at oxygen fugacities between 1.5 and 2.0 log units below the QFM oxygen buffer. Textural evidence and the composition of the solutions suggest that the fluids coexisted with late-magmatic intercumulus melts and the melts which formed gabbroic pegmatites. These solutions are thought to have contributed to late-magmatic metasomatism of the primocryst assemblages of the Skaergaard intrusion.     

Submicron-sized fluid inclusions and distribution of hydrous components in jadeite,quartz and symplectite-forming minerals from UHP jadeite–quartzite in the Dabie Mountains,China: TEM and FTIR investigation

Fluid inclusions and clusters of water molecules at nanometer-to submicron-scale in size have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in jadeite, quartz and symplectite aegirine–augite, albite, taramite and magnetite corona minerals from ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) jadeite–quartzite at Shuanghe, the Dabie Mountains, China. Fluid inclusions from 0.003 μm to 0.78 μm in size occur in jadeite and quartz crystals, and a small number of fluid inclusions from 0.001 μm to 0.25 μm have also been detected in symplectite-forming minerals. Most of the fluid inclusions have round or negative crystal morphology and contain aqueous fluids, but some contain CO₂-rich fluids. They are usually connected to dislocations undetectable at an optical scale. The dislocations represent favorable paths for fluid leakage, accounting for non-decrepitation of most fluid inclusions when external pressure decreased at later stages, although there was partial decrepitation of some fluid inclusions unconnected to defect microstructures resulting from internal overpressure. Non-decrepitation and partial decrepitation of fluid inclusions resulted in changes of original composition and/or density. It is clear that identification of hidden re-equilibration features has significant implications for the petrological interpretation of post-peak metamorphic processes. Micro-FTIR results show that all jadeite and quartz samples contain structural water occurring as hydroxyl ions (OH⁻) and free water (H₂O) in the form of clusters of water molecules. The H₂O transformed from OH⁻ during exhumation and could have triggered and enhanced early retrograde metamorphism of the host rocks and facilitated plastic deformation of jadeite and quartz grains by dislocation movement, and thus the H₂O released during decompression might represent early-stage retrograde metamorphic fluid. The nominally anhydrous mineral (NAM) jadeite is able to transport aqueous fluids in concentrations of at least several hundred ppm water along a subduction zone to mantle depths in the form of clusters of water molecules and hydroxyl ions within crystals.     

‘Bone-shaped’ boudins in progressive shearing

Some peculiar ‘bone-shaped’ boudins are observed in two areas of progressive shearing. They are characterized by large quartz-filled gashes that separate thinner boudins. These gashes often have a consistent obliquity, suggesting a rotation synthetic to the shear sense. These may be formed by rigid material that crystallizes in tension gashes between the boudins; during further ongoing deformation these behaved as rigid inclusions in a more ductile matrix and show systematic rotations. The sense of rotation of the gashes constitutes a shear criterion.     

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.     

P-T evolution and fluid inclusion characteristics of retrograded eclogites,Münchberg Gneiss Complex,Germany

Kyanite eclogites occur as part of the Münchberger nappe pile in NE-Bavaria, West Germany. Eclogites are overprinted by subsequent amphibolite facies metamorphism. The preservation of primary eclogitic textures as well as symplectitic textures are indicative of rapid decompression. Eclogite formation is estimated to have occurred under conditions of high H₂O-activities at pressures between 20 and 26 kbar and temperatures ranging between 590 and 660° C, as is shown by the coexistence of omphacite (Jd 50), kyanite, zoisite and quartz. Minimum pressure estimates, independent of the water activity, range between 9 and 16 kbar at the relevant temperatures. Detailed studies of fluid inclusion reveal two predominant groups of aqueous-brine inclusions: high salinity (14–17 wt% NaCl equiv.) and low salinity (0–8 wt% NaCl equiv.) inclusions. Fluid compositions of both groups of inclusions yield isochores passing close to the estimated amphibolite facies PT-field. The compositions of these fluids are in good agreement with fluid compositions considered from mineral equilibria. None of the fluid inclusions has densities appropriate for eclogite facies metamorphism, but probably reflect later amphibolite facies metamorphism.