An overview of the relationship between granitoid intrusions and gold mineralisation in the Archaean Murchison Province,Western Australia

In the Archaean Murchison Province of Western Australia, granitoid batholiths and plutons that intruded into the ca. 2.7–2.8 Ga and ca. 3.0 Ga greenstone belts can be divided into three major suites. Suite I is a ca. 2.69 Ga monzogranite-granodiorite suite, which was derived from anatexis of old continental crust and occurs as syn-tectonic composite batholiths over the entire province. Suite II is a trondhjemite-tonalite suite (termed I-type) derived from partial melting of subducted basaltic crust, which intruded as syn- to late-tectonic plutons into the greenstone belts in the northeastern part of the province where most of the major gold deposits are situated. One of the Suite II trondhjemite plutons has a Pb−Pb isochron age of 2641±36 Ma, and one of the structurally youngest tonalite plutons has a minimum Pb−Pb isochron age of 2630.1±4.3 Ma. Suite III is a ca. 2.65–2.62 Ga A-type monzogranite-syenogranite suite which is most abundant in the largely unmineralised southwestern part of the province. Gold deposits in the province are mostly hosted in brittle-ductile shear zones, and were formed at a late stage in the history of metamorphism, deformation and granitoid emplacement. At one locality, mineralisation has been dated at 2636.8±4.2 Ma through a pyritetitanite Pb−Pb isochron. Lead and Sr isotope studies of granitoids and gold deposits indicate that, although most gold deposits have initial Pb isotope compositions most closely similar to those of Suite II intrusions, both Suite I and Suite II intrusions or their source regions could have contributed solutes to the ore fluids. These preliminary data suggest that gold mineralisation in the Murchison Province was temporally and spatially associated with Suite II I-type granitoids in the northeastern part of the province. This association is consistent with the concept that Archaean gold mineralisation was related to convergent-style tectonic settings, as generation of both Suite II I-type granitoids and hydrothermal ore fluids could have been linked to the dehydration and partial fusion of subducted oceanic crust, and old sialic crust or its anatectic products may also contribute solutes to the ore fluids. Integration of data from this study with other geological and radiogenic isotope constraints in the Yilgarn Block argue against direct derivation of gold ore fluids from specific I-type granitoid plutons, but favour a broad association with convergent tectonics and granitoid magmatism in the late Archaean.     

Formation of Distinct Granitic Magma Batches by Partial Melting of Hybrid Lower Crust in the Izu Arc Collision Zone, Central Japan

The Miocene Kofu Granitic Complex (KGC) occurs in the Izu CollisionZone where the Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc has beencolliding with the Honshu arc since the middle Miocene. TheKGC includes rocks ranging in compositions from biotite-bearinggranite (the Shosenkyo and Mizugaki plutons), and hornblende–biotite-bearinggranodiorite, tonalite, quartz-diorite, and granite (the Shiodaira,Sanpo, Hirose and Sasago plutons), to hornblende-bearing tonaliteand trondhjemite (the Ashigawa–Tonogi pluton), indicatingthat it was constructed from multiple intrusions of magma withdifferent bulk chemistry. The Sr-isotopic compositions correctedto sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) zirconages (SrI) suggest that the primary magmas of each pluton wereformed by anatexis of mixed lower crustal sources involvingboth juvenile basalt of the IBM arc and Shimanto sedimentaryrocks of the Honshu arc. After the primary magmas had formed,the individual plutons evolved by crystal fractionation processeswithout significant crustal assimilation or additional mantlecontribution. SHRIMP zircon U–Pb ages in the KGC rangefrom 16·8 to 10·6 Ma and overlap the resumptionof magmatic activity in the IBM and Honshu arcs at c. 17 Maand the onset of IBM arc–Honshu arc collision at c. 15Ma. The age of the granite plutons is closely related to theepisodic activity of arc magmatism and distinct granitic magmabatches could be formed by lower crustal anatexis induced byintrusion of underplated mantle-derived arc magmas. Based onpressures determined with the Al-in-hornblende geobarometer,the KGC magmas intruded into the middle crust. Thus, the KGCcould represent an example of the middle-crust layer indicatedthroughout the IBM arc by 6·0–6·5 km/s seismicvelocities. This granitic middle-crust layer acted buoyantlyduring the IBM arc–Honshu arc collision, leading to accretionof buoyant IBM arc middle crust to the Honshu arc. KEY WORDS: arc–arc collision; crustal anatexis; granite; Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc; Izu Collision Zone     

Timescales and significance of high-pressure, high-temperature metamorphism and mafic dike anatexis, Snowbird tectonic zone, Canada

New geochronological, isotopic and geochemical data for a spectacular swarm of deep crustal migmatitic mafic dikes offer important insight into processes operative during 1.9 Ga high pressure, high temperature metamorphism along the Snowbird tectonic zone in northern Saskatchewan. High-precision U–Pb zircon dates reveal anatexis of Chipman mafic dikes at 1,896.2 ± 0.3 Ma during syntectonic and synmetamorphic intrusion at conditions of 1.0–1.2 GPa, >750°C. U–Pb zircon dates of 1,894–1,891 Ma for cross-cutting pegmatites place a lower bound on major metamorphism and deformation at the currently exposed crustal levels. The persistence of elevated temperatures for ~14 m.y. following peak conditions is implied by younger U–Pb titanite dates, and by Sm–Nd whole rock isotopic data that suggest the derivation of the pegmatites by melting of a mafic source. Limited melting of the host felsic gneiss at 1.9 Ga despite high temperature is consistent with evidence for their previous dehydration by granulite facies metamorphism in the Archean. Spatial heterogeneity in patterns of mafic dike and tonalitic gneiss anatexis can be attributed to lateral peak temperature and compositional variability. We correlate 1,896 Ma Chipman mafic dike emplacement and metamorphism with substantial 1.9 Ga mafic magmatism over a minimum along-strike extent of 1,200 km of the Snowbird tectonic zone. This suggests a significant, continent-wide period of asthenospheric upwelling that induced incipient continental rifting. Extension was subsequently terminated by hinterland contraction associated with Trans-Hudson accretion and orogenesis. Little activity in the lower crust for ca. 650 m.y. prior to Proterozoic metamorphism and mafic magmatism implies an extended interval of cratonic stability that was disrupted at 1.9 Ga. This episode of destabilization contrasts with the record of long-term stability in most preserved cratons, and is important for understanding the lithospheric characteristics and tectonic circumstances that control the destruction or survival of continents.     

Application of mineral equilibria modeling to constrain T and X CO2 conditions during the evolution of the Magdala gold deposit, Stawell, Victoria, Australia

Mineral equilibria modeling involving solid solution calculations has been combined with mineral assemblage information from the alteration zones associated with gold mineralization to determine the T and X _CO2 conditions for the formation of the Magdala gold deposit at Stawell, Victoria, Australia. Economic gold mineralization is primarily hosted within the stilpnomelane alteration zone of the Stawell Facies that is adjacent to the Magdala Basalt. Evolution of the Magdala gold deposit involved at least three fluid infiltration events: (1) a CO₂-bearing fluid during the D₂ deformation event produced carbonate spots throughout the chlorite zone; (2) a CO₂–S–K-bearing fluid, accompanied the D_3–4ab deformation and produced a muscovite zone and siderite rims on ankerite; and (3) a CO₂–K–S–Au-bearing fluid during the D_4c deformation event produced the stilpnomelane zone of the Stawell Facies, the proximal and distal alteration zones within the Magdala Basalt, and the main economic gold mineralization. Mineral equilibria modeling constrains the temperature of formation of the Magdala deposit to T = 345–390°C at 3kbar, substantially lower than indicated by other previous classical thermobarometry methods. Furthermore, this method has allowed the characterization of the mineralizing fluid and constrained its composition to X _CO2 < 0.08 at 3kbar. The timing and composition of the mineralizing fluids are similar to that of metamorphic fluid generated from devolatilization of a greenstone pile with peak of metamorphism occurring earlier and at deeper levels in the crust.     

Fluid Inclusion Studies of Gold Deposits in the Gezhen Shear Zone,Hainan Province,China

The Tuwaishan, Baoban, Erjia, Bumo and other gold deposits in western Hainan occur in Precambrian metamorphic clastic rocks and are structurally controlled by the Gezhen shear zone. Fluid inclusion studies have been carried out of the gold deposits mentioned above. The homogenization temperatures of the whole fluid inclusion population range from 140°C to 370°C, indicating that gold was precipitated mainly at 240–250°C. The salinities are within the range of 2.0–9.2 wt% NaCl equiv. and the pressure of formation of the deposits was estimated at about 270×10⁵−500×10⁵Pa, corresponding to a depth of about 1.1–2.0 km under lithostatic confinement. Chemical studies show that the ore fluid is of the Na⁺(K⁺)-Ca²⁺-Cl⁻(F⁻) type. Theδ ¹⁸O andδD values of the fluid vary from −2.7‰- +4.4‰ and −50‰–−87‰ Evidence developed from fluid inclusions and geological setting indicates that the ore fluid was a mixture of magmatic and meteoric-hydrothermal waters. Changes in chemical composition andδ ¹⁸O andδD of fluid inclusions from one ore field to another seem to be related with regional tectonism, metamorphism and magmatism.     

Structure,emplacement, and tectonic setting of Late Devonian granitoid plutons in the Teplá–Barrandian unit,Bohemian Massif

The Štěnovice and Čistá granodiorite–tonalite plutons are small (~27 and ~38 km², respectively) intrusions that are largely discordant to regional ductile structures in the center of the upper-crustal Teplá–Barrandian unit, Bohemian Massif. Their whole-rock and trace-element compositions are consistent with medium-K calc-alkaline magma, generated above a subducted slab in a continental margin arc setting. The U–Pb zircon age of the Štěnovice pluton, newly determined at 375 ± 2 Ma using the laser ablation ICP-MS technique, is within the error of the previously published Pb–Pb age of 373 ± 1 Ma for the Čistá pluton. The two plutons also share other characteristics that are typical of concentrically expanded plutons (CEPs), such as elliptical cross-section in plan view, steep contacts, inferred downward-narrowing conical shape, faint normal zoning, and margin-parallel magmatic foliation decoupled from the regional host-rock structures. We interpret the Štěnovice and Čistá plutons as representing the initial Late Devonian stage of much more voluminous early Carboniferous arc-related plutonism (represented most typically by the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex) in the upper crust of the central Bohemian Massif. These two plutons are important tectonic elements in that they indicate an overall shift of the arc-related plutonic activity from the ~NW to the ~SE, accompanied with a general compositional trend of the magmas from medium-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic/ultrapotassic. Such a pattern is compatible with SE-directed subduction of the Saxothuringian Ocean beneath the Teplá–Barrandian overriding plate as a cause of arc-related magmatism in this part of the Bohemian Massif.     

Migrating magmatism in the northern US Cordillera: in situ U–Pb geochronology of the Idaho batholith

New in situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe U–Pb geochronology of zircons from the Idaho batholith and spatially overlapping Challis intrusions reveals a series of discrete magmatic belts of different ages and compositions. Following the accretion of the Blue Mountains province to North America along the Salmon River suture zone, two compositionally diverse belts of metaluminous plutons formed both adjacent to the suture and well inboard of it. These were constructed from ~100 to 85 Ma and were followed by a voluminous pulse of peraluminous magmatism, forming the bulk of the Atlanta lobe and largest fraction of the batholith between ~80 and 67 Ma. Around 70 Ma, a later and more spatially restricted suite of metaluminous plutons formed around the Bitterroot lobe of the batholith. This was followed by another pulse of voluminous peraluminous magmatism in the Bitterroot lobe, lasting from ~66 to 54 Ma. The changes from low volume metaluminous to high volume peraluminous magmatism may reflect a combination of changes in the angle and segmentation of the subducting Farallon plate and over thickening of the continental lithosphere. All of these features were then cut by plutons and dikes associated with the Challis volcanic field, lasting from ~51 to 43 Ma. Inherited components are pervasive in zircons from most phases of the batholith. While Precambrian components are very common, zircons also often contain cores or mantles that are 5–20 million years older than their rims. This suggests that the early phases of the batholith were repeatedly cannibalized by subsequent magmas. This also implies that the older suites may have been originally more aerially extensive than their currently exposed forms.     

From rocks to ore

Metal enrichment to ore grade is the ultimate outgrowth of large-scale and long-term fractionation processes of the thermally driven and unique water-cooled geological evolution of the Earth. Silicic magmatism along convergent margins is the most important lithospheric fractionation process for the formation of the continental crust and porphyry/intrusion-related ore deposits. Reconnaissance microanalysis of melt inclusions from Central Andean porphyry systems refines a metallogenic model for copper–gold and tin porphyry mineralization. Magmatic mixing and early exsolution of a fluid phase are important ingredients for porphyry Cu–Au systems in association with silicic rocks of moderate levels of fractionation (such as diorites and monzonites), whereas extended magmatic fractionation with late-stage fluid evolution characterize lithophile-element-enriched tin porphyry systems. Received: 25 June 1999 / Accepted: 11 January 2000     

Evolution of arc crust and relations between contrasting sources: U-Pb (age), Nd and Sr isotope systematics of the ophiolitic terrain of SW Norway

The U/Pb dating of ophiolite and arc complexes in the Caledonides of SW Norway has demonstrated that these spatially associated rocks are also closely related in time. A sequence of tholeiitic island arc volcanics, and an unconformably overlying sequence of calc-alkaline volcanics have been dated as 494 ± 2 Ma (2σ) and 473 ± 2 Ma respectively. Ophiolitic crust formed both prior to, and during the first 10 Ma after the tholeiitic island arc volcanism. Boninitic and island arc tholeiitic dyke swarms intruded the ophiolites soon after they formed and represent a second phase of spreading-related magmatism in the ca 20 Ma period that separated the tholeiitic and the calc-alkaline island arc volcanism. The magmatism ended with the formation of alkaline, ocean island basalt (OIB)-like magmas. Quartz dioritic and S-type granitic plutons, dated to 479 ± 5 Ma and 474 +3/−2 Ma respectively, intruded into the base of the arc crust during and subsequent to the boninitic magmatism, and at the time when calc-alkaline volcanic centres developed. The quartz dioritic and the granitic rocks contain inherited zircons of Precambrian age which prove the involvement of a continental source. This together with the geology of the terrain and the geochemistry of these plutons suggests that the granitic magmas were partly derived from subducted clastic sediments. The Sr and Nd isotope systematics indicate that the same continental source was a component in the boninitic and the calc-alkaline magmas. While the calc-alkaline magmas may have gained this continental component at a crustal level by assimilation, both geology and isotope systematics suggest that the continental component in the boninitic rocks was introduced by source contamination – possibly by a direct interaction between the mantle source and the S-type granitic magmas. A modified mid ocean ridge basalt-like mantle source was the principal source during the earliest and the main crust forming stage. This source became replaced by an OIB-like source during the later stages in the evolution of this ancient arc. Received: 27 June 1994 / Accepted: 16 September 1996     

西秦岭西成矿集区厂坝岩体的钼矿化特征及其Re-Os年龄

甘肃西成矿集区是西秦岭最重要的多金属成矿区之一,以铅锌矿床为主,其次发育有金、铜、钼等矿床(点)。厂坝黑云母二长花岗岩体位于西成矿集区中东部,岩体南缘接触带部位发育石英脉型钼矿,辉钼矿呈中粗粒半自形团块状产于粗粒石英脉内。Re-Os同位素年代学研究表明,其模式年龄范围为207.7±3.0~209.8±2.8Ma,加权平均年龄为208.9±1.1 Ma,等时线年龄为209±15 Ma,指示钼矿化发生于晚三叠世。辉钼矿的铼含量介于18.82×10~(-6)~21.97×10~(-6)之间,平均19.65×10~(-6),表明成矿物质主要为壳幔混合来源,可能以壳源为主。钼矿化与区域岩浆活动以及金、铅锌成矿作用时代相近,是印支期区域构造-岩浆-流体活动的产物。钼矿化年龄的厘定为区内找矿提供了新的思路。     

Mineral zoning and gold occurrence in the Fortuna skarn mine, Nambija district, Ecuador

The Fortuna oxidized gold skarn deposit is located in the northern part of the Nambija gold district, southern Ecuador. It has been subdivided into four mineralized sites, covering a distance of 1 km, which are named from north to south: Cuerpo 3, Mine 1, Mine 2, and Southern Sector. Massive skarn bodies occur in K–Na metasomatized volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Triassic Piuntza unit. They appear to result from selective replacement of volcaniclastic rocks. Very minor presence of bioclast relicts suggests the presence of subordinate limestone. Endoskarn type alteration with development of Na-rich plagioclase, K-feldspar, epidote, actinolite, anhedral pyroxene, and titanite affects a quartz–diorite porphyritic intrusion which crops out below the skarn bodies in Mine 2 and the Southern Sector. Endoskarn alteration in the intrusion grades into a K-feldspar ± biotite ± magnetite assemblage (K-alteration), suggesting that skarn formation is directly related to the quartz–diorite porphyritic intrusion, the latter being probably emplaced between 141 and 146 Ma. The massive skarn bodies were subdivided into a dominant brown garnet skarn, a distal green pyroxene–epidote skarn, and two quartz-rich varieties, a blue-green garnet skarn and light green pyroxene–garnet skarn, which occur as patches and small bodies within the former skarn types. The proximal massive brown garnet skarn zone is centered on two 060° trending faults in Mine 2, where the highest gold grades (5–10 g/t) were observed. It grades into a distal green pyroxene–epidote skarn zone to the North (Cuerpo 3). Granditic garnet shows iron enrichment from the proximal to the distal zone. Diopsidic pyroxene exhibits iron and manganese enrichment from proximal to distal zones. The retrograde stage is weakly developed and consists mainly of mineral phases filling centimeter-wide veins, vugs, and interstices between garnet and pyroxene grains. The main filling mineral is quartz, followed by K-feldspar, epidote, calcite, and chlorite, with minor sericite, apatite, titanite, hematite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and gold. Metal and sulfur contents are low at Fortuna, and the highest gold grades coincide with high hematite abundance, which suggests that retrograde stage and gold deposition took place under oxidizing conditions. Fluid inclusions from pyroxene indicate precipitation from high temperature—high to moderate salinity fluids (400 to 460°C and 54- to 13-wt% eq. NaCl), which result probably from boiling of a moderately saline (∼8-wt% eq. NaCl) magmatic fluid. Later cooler (180 to 475°C) and moderate to low saline fluids (1- to 20-wt% eq. NaCl) were trapped in garnet, epidote, and quartz, and are interpreted to be responsible for gold deposition. Chlorite analysis indicates temperature of formation between 300 and 340°C in accordance with fluid inclusion data. It appears, thus, that gold was transported as chloride complexes under oxidizing conditions and was deposited at temperatures around 300°C when transport of chloride complexes as gold carriers is not efficient.     

Geological characteristics, tectonic setting and preliminary interpretations of the Jilau gold–quartz vein deposit, Tajikistan

The southern Tien Shan metallogenic province of Central Asia hosts a number of important gold resources including the Jilau gold–quartz vein system in western Tajikistan. These deposits were formed at the late stages of continent–continent collision in association with subduction-related magmatism, metamorphism and continental margin deformation attributed to the Central Asian Hercynian Orogeny. Jilau is hosted by a Hercynian syntectonic granitoid intrusive that was emplaced into bituminous dolomite country rocks. Economic mineralisation is associated with a dilational jog within a high-angle, oblique dextral-reverse slip shear zone that was undergoing brittle–ductile deformation. The orebody takes the form of shear-zone subparallel quartz veins and lenses that emanate from a steeply plunging ore shoot of veins and stringers within a silicified and sulphidised granodiorite core. It is thought to have formed by a dynamic process in which fluid flow was governed by a fault-valve mechanism. Numerous cycles of fluid pressure build-up, fault failure, jog dilation, fluid flow, phase separation of low salinity H₂O–CO₂–CH₄(–N₂) fluids, and sealing took place. Gold appears together with scheelite and bismuth minerals predominantly as inclusions in arsenopyrite in quartz veins and altered wall-rock, and is mainly associated with quartz containing fluid inclusions enriched in CH₄. The correlation between high gold grades and high CH₄ concentrations suggests that components of the mineralising fluids were derived from, or passed through, the reducing, carbonaceous rocks in the contact aureole of the intrusive. The occurrence of Au and W in an adjacent Hercynian skarn deposit and in the Jilau orebody, infers that the ore metals in both these systems were ultimately derived from a magmatic source. Received: 15 April 1999 / Accepted: 30 December 1999     

Textures, paragenesis and wall-rock alteration of lode-gold deposits in the Charters Towers district, north Queensland: implications for the conditions of ore formation

Ore deposits of the Charters Towers Goldfield (CTGF) are mainly hosted by fault-fill veins. Extensional (∼8% of all veins) and stockwork-like (∼3%) veins are less common and of little economic significance. Crosscutting relationships and published structural and geochronological data indicate a Late Silurian to Early Devonian timing of gold mineralization, coincident with regional shortening (D₄) and I-type magmatism. Paragenetic relationships, which are uniform in veins everywhere within the CTGF, suggest that vein formation commenced with the deposition of large volumes of buck quartz (stage I), followed by buck and comb quartz, and significant pyrite and arsenopyrite precipitation (stage II). Gold was introduced during stage III, after earlier sphalerite and coincident with galena and chalcopyrite. Narrow, discontinuous calcite veins of stage IV mark the waning of gold-related hydrothermal activity or a later unrelated episode. Ore zones within the veins are everywhere composed of comb and/or gray quartz, calcite and/or ankerite and bands or clusters of fractured pyrite that are spatially associated with galena, sphalerite or chalcopyrite. Low-grade or barren vein sections, on the other hand, are mainly composed of milky buck quartz with little evidence for modification, overprinting or interaction with later fluids. Gold-related hydrothermal wall-rock alteration is symmetrically zoned, displaying proximal sericite–ankerite and distal epidote–chlorite–hematite assemblages that may be taken to imply wall-rock interaction with near neutral fluids (pH 5–6). Isocon plots assuming immobile Al, P, Ti, Y and Zr consistently indicate As, K, Pb, S and Zn enrichment and Na, Si and Sr depletion in altered wall-rock specimens relative to the least altered rocks. Alteration assemblages, quartz textures, fault rocks and published fluid inclusion and stable isotope data imply that the veins were formed under conditions of episodic fluid overpressuring (∼0.9–3.8 kbar), at a depth of ∼7 km and a temperature of ∼310°C. The published fluid inclusion data also imply that gold precipitation may have been brought about by fluid mixing. However, physi- and chemisorption of gold complexes onto sulfide surfaces may have been important depositional processes and controls on gold enrichment at the millimeter to centimeter scale, given that most gold particles are attached to the surfaces of pyrite crystals of stage II or to etch-pits and fracture surfaces within the earlier pyrite.     

Development of a Continental Volcanic Field: Petrogenesis of Pre-caldera Intermediate and Silicic Rocks and Origin of the Bandelier Magmas, Jemez Mountains (New Mexico, USA)

The Miocene–Quaternary Jemez Mountains volcanic field(JMVF) is the site of the Valles caldera and associated BandelierTuff. Caldera formation was preceded by > 10 Myr of volcanismdominated by intermediate composition rocks (57–70% SiO₂)that contain components derived from the lithospheric mantleand Precambrian crust. Simple mixing between crust-dominatedsilicic melts and mantle-dominated mafic magmas, fractionalcrystallization, and assimilation accompanied by fractionalcrystallization are the principal mechanisms involved in theproduction of these intermediate lavas. A variety of isotopicallydistinct crustal sources were involved in magmatism between13 and 6 Ma, but only one type (or two very similar types) ofcrust between 6 and 2 Ma. This long history constitutes a recordof accommodation of mantle-derived magma in the crust by meltingof country rock. The post-2 Ma Bandelier Tuff and associatedrhyolites were, in contrast, generated by melting of hybridizedcrust in the form of buried, warm intrusive rocks associatedwith pre-6 Ma activity. Major shifts in the location, styleand geochemical character of magmatism in the JMVF occur withina few million years after volcanic maxima and may correspondto pooling of magma at a new location in the crust followingsolidification of earlier magma chambers that acted as trapsfor basaltic replenishment. KEY WORDS: crustal anatexis; fractional crystallization; Jemez Mountain Volcanic Field; Valles Caldera; radiogenic isotopes; trace elements     

Source of Pb in orogenic lode-gold mineralisation: Pb isotope constraints from deep crustal rocks from the southwestern Archaean Yilgarn Craton, Australia

Southern Cross was one of the earliest gold mining centres in Western Australia. Over 142 tonnes of gold have been produced from the district, and, on a gold per hectare basis, the Southern Cross greenstone belt in the southwestern Yilgarn Craton is the most productive of Western Australia's Archaean greenstone belts. The SW Yilgarn Craton is characterised by high-grade (amphibolite- to granulite-facies) metamorphism, extensive granitoid magmatism and older greenstone volcanism ages, compared to the well-known greenschist-facies metamorphism and younger (2.7 Ga) eruption ages which dominate in the Eastern Goldfields Province. The Pb-isotope compositions of deep-seated granitoids in the SW Archaean Yilgarn Craton, which were emplaced coeval with a craton-wide major orogenic lode-gold mineralization event at about 2.64–2.63 Ga, have been determined for 96 whole-rock and 24 K-feldspar samples. The Pb isotope data of the granitoids are consistent with a crustal origin for their genesis, probably by reworking (partial melting) of older continental crust. The Pb isotope composition of greenstones, which are the main host rocks for gold mineralisation, and pyrites from the komatiite-hosted syngenetic Ni deposits in the amphibolite-facies Forrestania greenstone belt, have also been determined, with initial Pb-isotope ratios higher than that for the Eastern Goldfields Province. The Pb isotopic character of the orogenic lode-gold deposits in the region is intermediate between coeval granitoid and greenstone Pb, indicating that the ore fluids contained metals from both reservoirs. The Pb in the ore fluid of the most deeply formed deposit, Griffin's Find, overlaps the isotopic composition of coeval granitoids, indicating the deep-seated granitoid magmatism was the primary source for Pb in the ore fluids. Received: 8 October 1998 / Accepted 22 December 1998     

Bulk arc strain,crustal thickening,magma emplacement,and mass balances in the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada arc

Quantifying crustal deformation is important for evaluating mass balance, material transfer, and the interplay between tectonism and magmatism in continental arcs. We present a dataset of >650 finite strain analyses compiled from published works and our own studies with associated structural, geochronologic, and geobarometric information in central and southern Sierra Nevada, California, to quantify the arc crust deformation. Our results show that Mesozoic tectonism results in 65% arc-perpendicular bulk crust shortening under a more or less plane strain condition. Mesozoic arc magmatism replaced ∼80% of this actively deforming arc crust with plutons requiring significantly greater crustal thickening. We suggest that by ∼85 Ma, the arc crust thickness was ∼80 km with a 30-km-thick arc root, resulting in a ∼5 km elevation. Most tectonic shortening and magma emplacement must be accommodated by downward displacements of crustal materials into growing crustal roots at the estimated downward transfer rate of 2–13 km/Myr. The downward transfer of crustal materials must occur in active magma channels, or in “escape channels” in between solidified plutons that decrease in size with time and depth resulting in an increase in the intensity of constrictional strain with depth. We argue that both tectonism and magmatism control the thickness of the crust and surface elevation with slight modification by surface erosion. The downward transported crustal materials initially fertilize the MASH zone thus enhancing to the generation of additional magmas. As the crustal root grows it may potentially pinch out and cool the mantle wedge and thus cause reduction of arc magmatism.     

Constraints on Archaean crustal evolution of the Zimbabwe craton: a U-Pb zircon,Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb whole-rock isotope study

 The U-Pb ages of zircons from seven felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks from northern Zimbabwe combined with field data and Pb-Pb and Sm-Nd whole-rock isotope data, constrain the timespan of development of the Harare-Shamva granite-greenstone terrain and establish the relative involvement of juvenile mantle-derived and reworked crustal material. Basement-cover field relationships and isotope and geochemical data demonstrate that the greenstones were deposited onto 3.2–2.8 Ga basement gneisses, in ensialic, continental basins. Geodynamic models for the generation of the areally extensive bimodal magmatic products and growth of the pre-existing crustal nucleus consistent with our interpretations are rift-related: (1) intracontinental rifting related to mantle plume activity or; (2) rifting in a back-arc environment related to a marginal volcanic arc. The data, in conjunction with field evidence, do not indicate the presence and accretion of an older (ca. 2.70 Ga) and a younger (ca. 2.65 Ga) greenstone sequence in the Harare part of the greenstone belt, as was recently postulated on the basis of SHRIMP zircon ages. Zircon ages for basal felsic volcanics (2715±15 Ma) and a subvolcanic porphyry (2672±12 Ma) constrain the initiation and termination of deposition of the greenstone sequence. The timespan of deposition of the Upper Bulawayan part of the greenstone sequence corresponds well with radiometric ages for Upper Bulawayan greenstones in the central and southern part of the craton and supports the concept of craton-wide lithostratigraphic correlations for the late Archaean in Zimbabwe. Zircon ages for a syn-tectonic gneiss (2667±4 Ma) and a late syn-tectonic intrusive granodiorite (2664±15 Ma) pinpoint the age of deformation of the greenstone sequence and compare well with a Pb-Pb age of shear zone related gold mineralization (2659±13 Ma) associated with the latter intrusive phase. The intimate timing relation of greenstone deformation and granitoid emplacement, but also the metamorphic evidence for a thermal effect of the batholiths on the surrounding greenstone belts, and the structural and strain patterns in the greenstone sequence around and adjacent to the batholiths, imply that the intrusion of the granitoids had a significant influence on the tectono-thermal evolution of the greenstone belt. Prolonged magmatic activity is indicated by the zircon ages of small, post-tectonic plutons intrusive into the greenstone belt, with a mineralized granodiorite dated at 2649±6 Ma and an unmineralized tonalite at 2618± 6 Ma. The 2601±14 Ma crystallization age of an “external” Chilimanzi-type granite agrees well with existing radiometric ages for similar granites within the southern part of the craton, demonstrating a craton-wide event and heralding cratonization. The similarity between U-Pb zircon ages and T_DM model ages (2.65–2.62 Ga) and the positive ɛNd_T values (+3 to +2) for the late syn-tectonic and post-tectonic intrusive plutons within the greenstone belt indicate magmatism was derived directly from the mantle or by anatexis of lower crustal sources, with very short crustal residence times, and minor contamination with older crust. The rather high model μ₁ values (8.2–8.6) are unlikely to indicate the involvement of significant amounts of older crust and may be inherited from a high U/Pb mantle source, as was suggested by previous workers for the Archaean mantle beneath Southern Africa. The older T_DM ages for the felsic volcanics (3.0–2.8 Ga) and the porphyries (2.8–2.7 Ga) suggest that these felsic magmas were derived by partial melting of a source that was extracted from the mantle ca. 200 Ma prior to volcanism or may indicate interaction between depleted mantle-derived melts and older crustal material. Received: 15 August 1995 / Accepted: 12 January 1996     

A geochronological framework for orogenic gold mineralisation in central Victoria, Australia

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological data support, and significantly expand upon, preliminary age data that were interpreted to suggest an episodic and diachronous emplacement of gold across the western Lachlan fold belt, Australia. These geochronological data indicate that mineralisation in the central Victorian gold province occurred in response to episodic, eastward progressing deformation, metamorphism and exhumation associated with the formation of the western Lachlan fold belt. Initial gold formation throughout the Stawell and the Bendigo structural zones can be constrained to a broad interval of time between 455 and 435 Ma, with remobilisation of metals into new structures and/or new pulses of mineralisation occurring between 420 and 400 Ma, and again between 380 and 370 Ma, linked to episodic variations in the regional stress-field and during intrusion of felsic dykes and plutons. This separation of ages is incompatible with the view that gold emplacement in the western Lachlan fold belt was the result of a single, orogen-wide event during the Devonian. A distinct phase of gold mineralisation, characterised by elevated Cu, Mo, Sb or W, is associated with both Late Silurian to Early Devonian (~420 to 400 Ma) and Middle to Late Devonian (~380 to 370 Ma) magmatism, when crustal thickening and shortening during the ongoing consolidation of the western Lachlan Fold Belt led to extensive melt development in the lower crust and resulted in widespread magmatism throughout central Victoria. These ~420 to 400 Ma and ~380 to 370 Ma occurrences, best exemplified by the Wonga deposit in the Stawell structural zone and many of the Woods Point deposits in the Melbourne structural zone, but also evidenced by occurrences at Fosterville and Maldon in the Bendigo structural zone, clearly formed synchronous with, or post-date, the emplacement of plutons and dykes, and thus are spatially (if not genetically) related to melt generation at depth. This later, magmatic-associated and polymetallic type of gold mineralisation is economically subordinate to the earlier, metamorphic-associated type of gold deposition in the Stawell and Bendigo structural zones, but tends to be the dominant style in the Melbourne Zone. These new geochronological constraints, together with zircon U-Pb data from felsic intrusive rocks of known relationship to gold mineralisation, demonstrate that initial hydrothermal alteration associated with gold emplacement in the western Lachlan fold belt was metamorphic-related, predating the emplacement of granite plutons by as much as 80 million years. This timing differs from other important orogenic gold districts where gold deposition is closely associated spatially with felsic magmatism. The early introduction of metamorphically derived fluids well before magmatism may reflect variations in the timing of peak metamorphic conditions at different crustal levels in an accretionary prism undergoing simultaneous deformation and erosion. Consequently, no genetic link exists between the main phase(s) of gold mineralisation and magmatism in the central Victorian gold province. With the exception of formation of a minor magmatism-related and geochemically-distinct mineralisation style at about 420 to 400 Ma, and again at about 380 to 370 Ma, the apparent spatial relationship between gold mineralisation and felsic intrusions is merely the result of melts and fluids being channelised along the same structures.     

An integrated zircon geochronological and geochemical investigation into the Miocene plutonic evolution of the Cyclades, Aegean Sea, Greece: Part 1: Geochronology

We use 369 individual U–Pb zircon ages from 14 granitoid samples collected on five islands in the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, Greece, for constraining the crystallisation history of I- and S-type plutons above the retreating Hellenic subduction zone. Miocene magmatism in the Cyclades extended over a time span from 17 to 11 Ma. The ages for S-type granites are systematically ~2 million years older than those for I-type granites. Considering plutons individually, the zircon data define age spectra ranging from simple and unimodal to complex and multimodal. Seven of the 14 investigated samples yield more than one distinct zircon crystallisation age, with one I-type granodiorite sample from Mykonos Island representing the most complex case with three resolvable age peaks. Two samples from S-type granites on Ikaria appear to have crystallised zircon over 2–3 million years, whereas for the majority of individual samples with multiple zircon age populations the calculated ages deviate by 1–1.5 million years. We interpret our age data to reflect a protracted history involving initial partial melting at deeper lithospheric levels, followed by crystallisation and cooling at shallower crustal levels. Our study corroborates published research arguing that pluton construction is due to incremental emplacement of multiple magma pulses over a few million years. Assuming that multiple age peaks of our 14 samples can indeed serve to quantify time spans for magmatic emplacement, our data suggest that Aegean plutons were constructed over a few million years. Our tectonic interpretation of the U–Pb ages is that the S-type granites resulted from partial melting and migmatisation of the lower crust, possibly starting at ~23 Ma. The I-type granites and associated mafic melts are interpreted to reflect the magmatic arc stage in the Cyclades starting at ~15 Ma.