Volcanological study of the middle Miocene Okiduse Volcanic Group,Woodlark Island (Muyuw), eastern Papua

Woodlark Island (Muyuw) is located in a tectonically complex region, one of the few places on Earth where continental breakup is occurring ahead of seafloor spreading. Rifting commenced in the late Miocene (8.8–6 Ma) and is associated with the westward-propagating Woodlark Basin Spreading Centre. The island comprises approximately 850 km² of raised Pleistocene coral reef and associated sediments with a central, moderately elevated range underlain by the middle Miocene calc-alkaline to shoshonitic Okiduse Volcanic Group (new name). It provides an exposure of upper Cenozoic geology in close proximity to the spreading centre. The Okiduse Volcanic Group is host to most of the island's historical gold and silver production and recently defined mineral resources totalling 1.75 Moz gold. This study uses facies analysis of pyroclastic deposits to develop a detailed geological map of the Okiduse Volcanic Group, with a revision and reinterpretation of the unit. Facies associations suggest that two major volcanic centres erupted synchronously during the middle Miocene (14–12 Ma), referred to as the Watou Mountain Eruptive Centre (new name) and the Uvarakoi Caldera (new name). The mafic–intermediate Watou Mountain Eruptive Centre formed during frequent small eruptions of widely varying style. Strombolian, subplinian, vulcanian and dome-related explosive eruptions occurred, alternating with extrusion of block and ash flow deposits and lava domes. Pyroclastic deposits were rapidly reworked from the steep cone, and were redeposited in a series of coalescing aprons surrounding the volcano. The felsic Uvarakoi Caldera formed during a series of violent explosive eruptions by rapid removal of magma from the underlying chamber, followed by collapse. Plinian and possibly phreatoplinian eruptions, as a result of magma–water mixing in the surface environment, resulted in widely dispersed, highly fragmented tuff deposits. The caldera was modified by widespread erosion following eruptions, resulting in fluvial, laharic and slope-wash deposits. This study highlights lithological controls (porosity and permeability) by various units within the Okiduse Volcanic Group on ore deposition.     

巴布亚新几内亚利希尔岛拉多拉姆(Ladolam)金矿矿床地质特征及找矿标志

巴布亚新几内亚利希尔岛拉多拉姆金矿处于太平洋板块与印澳板块的板块边界部位,为西南太平洋地区最大的碱性侵入岩有关的低硫型浅成低温热液型金矿。矿床赋存在Luise火山内,成矿与更新世碱性二长闪长岩侵入体有关,该岩体形成于俯冲带环境下被流体交代的上地幔的部分熔融。矿床的矿化可分为三个阶段,在岩体侵入后形成斑岩铜矿化,并在之后逐渐过渡为浅成低温热液型金矿化。该类矿床在成矿过程和矿体的分布明显受到区域性构造、蚀变带和成矿有关角砾岩等成矿结构面的控制,在找矿标志上具有特定的物化探和地质特征,具有较好的找矿远景。     

Resolving slip vector azimuths and plate motion along the southern boundary of the South Bismarck Plate,Papua New Guinea

The interaction of the Australian, South Bismarck and Solomon Sea Plates in Papua New Guinea is the source of frequent earthquakes that occur as a result of subduction and arc continent collision. Previous investigators have drawn attention to a discontinuity in the horizontal azimuth of slip vectors along the southern boundary of the South Bismarck Plate, with those to the west of 148°E being systematically rotated 20ndash;30° clockwise compared to those located east of 148°E. This has led to the suggestion that relative motion may be occurring between the Huon Peninsula and New Britain or that more than two plates are acting south of the South Bismarck Plate. Global positioning system (GPS) measurements since 1991 indicate that there is no internal deformation occurring within the South Bismark Plate and that at least two distinct plates are in contact with the southern edge of the South Bismarck Plate. We show from a study of a recent earthquake dataset that the change in slip vector azimuth can be modelled by the interaction of the overriding South Bismarck Plate with the underthrusting Australian and Solomon Sea Plates, consistent with the GPS observations, while maintaining the South Bismarck Plate as a rigid entity. We found that a transition zone exists between 147°E and 148°E where the underlying plate changes from the Australian Plate to the Solomon Sea Plate. There are insufficient data at present to indicate whether or not a third plate, the Woodlark Plate, is also interacting directly with the South Bismarck Plate in this transition zone. Slip vector azimuths were used to estimate an Euler pole (6.74°S, 144.64°E), which describes the relative motion of the South Bismarck and Solomon Sea Plates along the New Britain Trench.     

The Mineral Resources of Papua New Guinea

Abstract. Papua New Guinea is geologically highly prospective for minerals. There are three world class, open pit mines located at Ok Tedi, Porgera and Lihir, and two medium-scale underground operations at Tolukuma and Kainantu. Two other mining projects - Ramu and Simberi are fully licensed and will be mined in the next 6–12 months. The mining sector is the major contributor to the export income and taxation revenue of the country.     

巴布亚新几内亚奥克泰迪铜金矿床成矿特征和控制因素

巴布亚新几内亚西部Fubilan山奥克泰迪矿床是一个世界级铜金矿床,在大地构造上位于新几内亚造山带的巴布亚褶皱带。该矿床的铜金矿化赋存于Fubilan二长斑岩及其周边的磁铁矿夕卡岩和硫化物夕卡岩中。矿石类型以原生硫化物矿石为主,金属矿物包括磁铁矿、黄铁矿、磁黄铁矿、白铁矿、黄铜矿、斑铜矿等。蚀变类型包括夕卡岩化、钾化、泥化和青盘岩化。矿床氧化次生富集带发育,表生矿石矿物为蓝辉铜矿、辉铜矿、自然铜、铜蓝和银金矿。成矿作用主要受区域构造、侵入杂岩体、Darai组灰岩地层、断裂等因素的控制。根据矿床的主岩、矿石特征、蚀变特征和控矿因素,认为该矿床成因类型属于较为典型的夕卡岩—斑岩型矿床。     

巴布亚新几内亚奥克泰迪铜金矿床成矿特征和控制因素

巴布亚新几内亚西部Fubilan山奥克泰迪矿床是一个世界级铜金矿床,在大地构造上位于新几内亚造山带的巴布亚褶皱带。该矿床的铜金矿化赋存于Fubilan二长斑岩及其周边的磁铁矿夕卡岩和硫化物夕卡岩中。矿石类型以原生硫化物矿石为主,金属矿物包括磁铁矿、黄铁矿、磁黄铁矿、白铁矿、黄铜矿、斑铜矿等。蚀变类型包括夕卡岩化、钾化、泥化和青盘岩化。矿床氧化次生富集带发育,表生矿石矿物为蓝辉铜矿、辉铜矿、自然铜、铜蓝和银金矿。成矿作用主要受区域构造、侵入杂岩体、Darai组灰岩地层、断裂等因素的控制。根据矿床的主岩、矿石特征、蚀变特征和控矿因素,认为该矿床成因类型属于较为典型的夕卡岩一斑岩型矿床。     

Effects of differential tectonic uplift on Late Quaternary coral reef diagenesis,Huon Peninsula,Papua New Guinea

Mineralogical, petrological and geochemical analyses of corals and associated skeletal limestones taken from three transects across the Late Quaternary raised coral reefs of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, show that tectonic uplift can be related to the degree of subaerial diagenesis of the reefs. Where the uplift rate is high, Pleistocene corals frequently retain their aragonite mineralogy, even though the annual rainfall is relatively high. In contrast, similar age corals from low‐uplift areas are consistently altered neomorphically to calcite. The transformation of reef skeletal limestones shows a similar, but less pronounced, trend to the corals. Chemical analysis shows that the neomorphic calcite crystals of coral skeletons from the low‐uplift areas have relatively higher Sr and Mg concentrations, compared with those in high‐uplift areas. This may indicate that neomorphism of corals in the low‐uplift terraces takes place at a relatively higher rate and an earlier stage than that in the high‐uplift areas. The pattern of diagenesis of the Huon reefs can be explained by the effects of tectonic uplift on the regional hydrological regime. First, lower uplift rates allow a raised reef or any part of it to remain in the meteoric phreatic zone for a relatively long time. Second, river gorge slopes from low‐uplift regions have lower gradients and reef terraces in these areas have more extensive raised lagoon depressions than in high‐uplift areas. Thus, there is less runoff and consequently more extensive vadose percolation in the former areas. Third, the resulting low‐relief topography in low‐uplift areas prompts formation of soils on the terraces, and further increases the ability of interaction between coral reefs and formation water.     

与碱性岩有关的浅成低温热液型金矿特征与控矿因素——以巴布亚新几内亚波尔盖拉金矿为例

与碱性岩有关的浅成低温热液型金矿在全球特别是环太平成矿带中具有重要意义,波尔盖拉金矿位于新几内亚造山带内较为典型的该类型金矿床。矿床的矿化与碱性的波尔盖拉侵入杂岩体有关,矿化主要发育在岩体与白垩纪Chim组的接触部位,矿化作用分为2期,矿化形态主要为脉状和角砾岩矿化,成矿物质和成矿流体具有明显的岩浆来源的特征。与成矿有关的波尔盖拉杂岩体侵入时代为5.99Ma,与成矿时间一致,并来源于被交代富集型的上地幔,该类碱性岩浆对于金的富集具有重要的意义。通过总结该类矿床的控矿因素和找矿标志为中国企业在该地区寻找同类型金矿提供参考。     

巴布亚新几内亚铜金矿床大地构造背景、成因类型与成矿特征

巴布亚新几内亚地质构造格架复杂,包括地台、碰撞造山带、外来地体、俯冲带、岛弧和海底扩张中心。巴布亚新几内亚铜金矿床类型主要为斑岩型铜金矿床、浅成低温热液型金银矿床和夕卡岩型铜金矿床(三者之间具有密切的时间、空间和成因关系),其次为海底块状硫化物矿床。铜金矿床分布比较集中,主要产出于碰撞造山带和岛弧上,其次产出于现代海底扩张中心。铜金矿床大多规模巨大或较大,埋藏较浅,易于勘探和适合露天开采。与铜金矿床有关的岩浆岩大多为钙碱性火山岩和浅成侵入岩,少数与富钾碱性火山岩（橄榄玄粗岩）或侵入岩伴生。铜金矿床蚀变带发育且分带性明显,大多与斑岩体系和/或火山机构有关。虽然许多铜金矿床的矿物成分比较复杂,但是其矿石较易处理和利用。     

巴布亚新几内亚铜金矿床大地构造背景、成因类型与成矿特征

巴布亚新几内亚地质构造格架复杂,包括地台、碰撞造山带、外来地体、俯冲带、岛弧和海底扩张中心。巴布亚新几内亚铜金矿床类型主要为斑岩型铜金矿床、浅成低温热液型金银矿床和夕卡岩型铜金矿床（三者之间具有密切的时间、空间和成因关系）,其次为海底块状硫化物矿床。铜金矿床分布比较集中,主要产出于碰撞造山带和岛弧上,其次产出于现代海底扩张中心。铜金矿床大多规模巨大或较大,埋藏较浅,易于勘探和适合露天开采。与铜金矿床有关的岩浆岩大多为钙碱性火山岩和浅成侵入岩,少数与富钾碱性火山岩（橄榄玄粗岩）或侵入岩伴生。铜金矿床蚀变带发育且分带性明显,大多与斑岩体系和／或火山机构有关。虽然许多铜金矿床的矿物成分比较复杂,但是其矿石较易处理和利用。     

An Australian provenance for the eastern Otago Schist protolith,South Island,New Zealand: evidence from detrital zircon age patterns and implications for the origin of its gold

Uranium–lead age patterns of detrital zircons in Otago Schist meta-sandstones from eastern Otago, including areas of orogenic gold mineralisation, are mostly consistent with a Rakaia Terrane (Torlesse Composite Terrane) accretionary wedge protolith. Southwest of the Hyde-Macraes and Rise & Shine shear zones the depositional age is regarded as Middle–Late Triassic. At the south and west margins, there are two areas in the Late Triassic Waipapa Terrane protolith. Northeast of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, the schist protolith has Middle to Late Triassic and middle to late Permian depositional ages of Rakaia Terrane affinity. At the northeastern margin of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, there is a narrow strip with a mid-Carboniferous protolith, which may be a counterpart of the Carboniferous accretionary wedge in the New England Orogen, eastern Australia. Ordovician–Silurian zircons are a minor but distinctive feature in many of the protolith age patterns and form significant age components at hard-rock gold locations. These constrain the provenance of Rakaia Terrane protolith sediments to Late Triassic time and within the Permian–Triassic magmatic arcs at the northeastern Australian continental margin and partly within the Ordovician–Silurian granitoids of the Charters Towers Province hinterland and environs. The latter have extensive gold mineralisation and thus upon exhumation might be the origin of Otago gold.     

Double-sided onshore–offshore seismic imaging of a plate boundary: “super-gathers” across South Island, New Zealand

Onshore–offshore seismic refraction profiling allows for the determination of crustal and mantle structures in the transition between continental and oceanic environments. Islands and narrow landmasses have the unique geometry of allowing for double-sided onshore–offshore experiments that favor the construction of composite “super-gathers” using the acquisition of onshore–offshore and ocean-bottom seismometer receiver gathers, land explosion shot gathers, and near-vertical incidence multichannel seismic (MCS) profiling. A number of sites at plate boundaries are amenable to the application of double-sided onshore–offshore imaging, including the Indo-Australian/Pacific transform boundary on South Island, New Zealand. By comparing the ratio of island width to mantle refraction (Pn) “maximum” crossover distance, using nondimensional distances, we provide an indicator of raypath “coverage” for crustal illumination. Islands or narrow land masses whose widths are less than twice their maximum crossover distance are candidates for double-sided onshore–offshore experiments. The SIGHT (South Island GeopHysical invesTigation) experiment in New Zealand is located where the width of South Island is sufficiently narrow with respect to its crustal thickness that a double-sided onshore–offshore experiment allows for complete crustal imaging of the associated plate boundary.