Trace metal distribution and mobility in drill cuttings and produced waters from Marcellus Shale gas extraction: Uranium,arsenic, barium

Development of unconventional shale gas wells can generate significant quantities of drilling waste, including trace metal-rich black shale from the lateral portion of the drillhole. We carried out sequential extractions on 15 samples of dry-drilled cuttings and core material from the gas-producing Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale and surrounding units to identify the host phases and evaluate the mobility of selected trace elements during cuttings disposal. Maximum whole rock concentrations of uranium (U), arsenic (As), and barium (Ba) were 47, 90, and 3333 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Sequential chemical extractions suggest that although silicate minerals are the primary host for U, as much as 20% can be present in carbonate minerals. Up to 74% of the Ba in shale was extracted from exchangeable sites in the shale, while As is primarily associated with organic matter and sulfide minerals that could be mobilized by oxidation. For comparison, U and As concentrations were also measured in 43 produced water samples returned from Marcellus Shale gas wells. Low U concentrations in produced water (<0.084–3.26 μg L⁻¹) are consistent with low-oxygen conditions in the wellbore, in which U would be in its reduced, immobile form. Arsenic was below detection in all produced water samples, which is also consistent with reducing conditions in the wellbore minimizing oxidation of As-bearing sulfide minerals.Geochemical modeling to determine mobility under surface storage and disposal conditions indicates that oxidation and/or dissolution of U-bearing minerals in drill cuttings would likely be followed by immobilization of U in secondary minerals such as schoepite, uranophane, and soddyite, or uraninite as conditions become more reducing. Oxidative dissolution of arsenic containing sulfides could release soluble As in arsenate form under oxic acidic conditions. The degree to which the As is subsequently immobilized depends on the redox conditions along the landfill flow path. The results suggest that proper management of drill cuttings can minimize mobilization of these metals by monitoring and controlling Eh, pH and dissolved constituents in landfill leachates.     

铅同位素示踪技术在重金属污染研究中的应用

重金属通过在生态环境和生物中的迁移、转化和富集已对环境质量和人类健康构成了严重威胁.概述了重金属元素在地表环境中的迁移方式和在土壤-植物系统中的聚积形态,以及重金属污染治理的研究现状.针对以往研究工作的不足和在研项目特点,重点提出了土壤和茶叶中铅同位素组成的测试技术,综述了铅同位素示踪技术在重金属污染研究中的应用,并指出了今后研究重金属污染的重点.     

Petrogenesis of rhyolites and trachytes from the Deccan Trap: Sr,Nd and Pb isotope and trace element evidence

Trachytes and rhyolites from Salsette Island, north of Bombay, have distinctive trace element and isotope features which mark them out from typical crustal melts. Their highly incompatible trace element and Sr-, Nd and Pb isotope ratios are similar to those of the associated Deccan flood basalts. Thus the rhyolites and trachytes are closely related to the basalts, and a striking compositional gap between 50 and 65% SiO₂ suggests that the high SiO₂ rocks evolved by 10–15% partial melting followed by variable amounts of fractional crystallisation. The source material could have been basalt within the Deccan Trap, or related gabbroic rocks in deep crustal sill complexes. The rhyolites yield an Rb-Sr whole rock age of 61.5±1.9 Ma, with a slightly high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.7085±18. It is argued that crustal extension provides a suitable regime for the generation of acid magmas by partial melting of associated basic rocks.     

Fluid-rock interaction during progressive migration of carbonatitic fluids, derived from small-scale trace element and Sr, Pb isotope distribution in hydrothermal fluorite

Associated with the Cretaceous Okorusu carbonatite complex (Namibia) is a hydrothermal fluorite mineralization hosted in Pan-African country rock marbles, which resulted from fluid-rock reaction between the marbles and orthomagmatic, carbonatitic fluids expelled from the carbonatite. Yellow fluorite I was deposited in veins up to 5 cm away from the wallrock contact, followed by purple and colorless fluorite II, smoky quartz and barite, a Mn-rich crust on early calcite, and pure calcite. This clear-cut sequence of mineral growth allows an investigation into fluid-rock interaction processes between the marble and the migrating carbonatitic fluid, and element fractionation patterns between the fluid and subsequent hydrothermal precipitates.Fluorite I shows a progressive change in color from dark yellow to colorless with purple laminations over time of deposition. Subsequent fluorite I precipitates show an increase in Ca, and a continuous decrease in F, Sr, REE, Y, Th, U and Pb contents. The ratios (Eu/Eu*)_cn, Th/Pb and U/Pb increase whereas Y/Ho, Th/U and (La/Yb)_cn decrease. The Sr-isotopic composition remains constant at ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70456-0.70459, but with varying, highly radiogenic Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 32-190, ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb = 7-63). Fluorite II has ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70454-0.70459, ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.349, and ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.600, and a chemical composition similar to youngest fluorite I. The Mn-rich crust on early calcite accumulated REE, Ba, Pb, Zr, Cs, Th and U, developing into pure calcite with a prominent negative Ce anomaly and successively more radiogenic Sr. The calculated degrees of fluid-rock interaction, f = weight fraction of fluid/(fluid + marble), decrease from fluorite I and most fluorite II (f = 0.5) to calcite (f = 0.2-0.3) and hydrothermal quartz (f ? 0.1). A crush-leach experiment for fluid inclusions in the hydrothermal quartz yielded a Rb-Sr isochron age of 103 ± 12 Ma. Crush-leach analysis for the carbonatitic fluid trapped in the wallrock yielded a trend from the fluid leachate to the host quartz (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 18.224 and 18.602, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15.616 and 15.636, respectively) extending from carbonatite towards crustal rocks.Calculated trace element distribution coefficients fluorite/fluid are below unity throughout, and increase from La to Yb. Elements largely excluded from fluorite (Ba, Pb, LREE relative to HREE) were incorporated later into the Mn-rich crust on calcite. The trace element patterns of the hydrothermal minerals are related to changing aCO₂ and aF⁻ in the fluid during continued fluid-marble reaction. A predominance of carbonate over fluoride complexing in the fluid as reactions proceeded controlled the Y/Ho, Th/U and REE patterns in the fluid and the crystallizing phases. Deviations from these trends indicate discontinuous processes of fluid-rock reaction.     

高精度铅同位素比值MC-ICP-MS测试方法及岩石标样铅同位素组成

利用多接收电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（Neptune plus）建立了高精度铅同位素比值MC-ICP-MS测试方法。建立该方法的过程中,重点评估了加入的Tl标准溶液对铅同位素比值测试结果的影响,并最终确定Tl标准溶液的浓度为25 ng/mL,同时样品溶液Pb的浓度应该大于25 ng/mL（即Pb/Tl浓度比应大于1）。利用该方法对铅同位素标准物质SRM 981进行了长期监控（2020年7月—2021年6月）,测试结果为：206Pb/204Pb=16.9415±0.0010、207Pb/204Pb=15.4985±0.0009、208Pb/204Pb=36.7204±0.0023,与统计的文献报道值一致。长期监控的全流程空白均小于0.25 ng,能满足地质样品高精度铅同位素比值测试的需要。同时运用该方法,对4个元素含量标样（BCR-2、AGV-2、BHVO-2和BIR-1a）进行了铅同位素比值测试,测试结果与文献报道的测试结果和精度一致,表明建立的方法是准确、可靠的。     

Shale as a repository for radioactive waste: The evidence from Oklo

Study of the 1.8 billion-year-old “fossil nuclear reactor” zones at the Oklo Mine in the Republic of Gabon shows that many of the elements produced by fission have been almost completely retained, as evidenced by proper budgets of stable daughter elements. Plutonium, ruthenium, the rare earth elements, zirconium, and palladium have been effectively retained while most chalcophile elements exhibit some degree of remobilization. The alkali and alkaline earth elements have migrated to varying degrees but their presence in gangue affected by younger periods of alteration suggests redistribution not far removed from sites of formation. More important, such migration may not have started until some 25,000,000 years after the reactor shut down. The noble gases xenon and krypton escaped with apparent ease during the 500,000 years the reactor was operative, and iodine seems to have been mobile. The Oklo reactor ores, significantly, occur in shale infilled into a fracture system in organo-argillaceous sandstone. So many of the fission-produced elements retained in this shale along with evidence that most others may have been only locally redistributed lends support to considering shales in geologically stable areas for radioactive waste disposal.     

宜昌上奥陶统钾质斑脱岩锆石U- Pb年龄、Lu- Hf同位素特征及其源区示踪意义

中扬子宜昌黄花场地区上奥陶统五峰组内出露多层钾质斑脱岩,斑脱岩以伊蒙混层黏土矿物为主,同时含六方双锥石英、锆石、磷灰石及铁质微球粒等,地球化学成分具有高钾、岛弧火山岩的特征。五峰组底部第一层斑脱岩ε_(Nd)(t)为-3.83,锆石U-Pb年龄445.4±2.0Ma,锆石ε_(Hf)(t)介于2.7～7.3之间,加权平均值为4.67±0.89,t_(DM2)值965～1249Ma,加权平均为1127±55Ma。五峰组中第八层斑脱岩ε_(Nd)(t)为-7.92,锆石U-Pb年龄444.1±2.2Ma,锆石ε_(Hf)(t)介于-6.6～-11.2之间,加权平均值为-8.74±0.88,t_(DM2)值1840～2130Ma,加权平均为1973±55Ma。斑脱岩的矿物成分、地球化学元素特征、锆石U-Pb年龄及Hf同位素特征表明其可能来自于早古生代扬子北缘秦岭地区的火山爆发,同时也限定了临湘组和五峰组界限年龄为(445.4±2.0)Ma,这些斑脱岩的频繁出现预示着晚奥陶世生物灭绝更替等重大地质事件的开端。     

Rare earth element behavior and Pb,Sr, Nd isotope systematics in a heavy metal contaminated soil

The aim of this study is to characterize the processes and phases which control migration and retention of rare earth elements (REE) in a heavy metal contaminated soil. In addition to concentration data, we used Pb, Sr and Nd isotopic compositions in order to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic trace metals and to characterize the phases leached away during the sequential extraction procedure.The samples were sequentially extracted in 3 steps with 1 N acetic acid (HAc), 1 N HCl and 1 N HNO₃. The Pb isotope data showed that anthropogenic Pb had mainly been retained in the uppermost 10 cm by the organic matter of the topsoil. The⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the HAc extracts are almost constant and indicate that soil carbonate is derived from regionally outcropping carbonate-rich sediments. Most HCl and HNO₃ extracts have more radiogenic Sr isotopic compositions, but it is unclear whether this reflects a growing influence of anthropogenic or silicate-derived Sr.The depth distribution of the REE is mainly controlled by two different parameters: soil pH for the HAc extractable REE and FeMn oxides for the REE in the HCl and HNO₃ extracts. A part of the HNO₃ extractable REE was also bound to the organic matter of the topsoil. The REE concentrations in the HAc extractable phase increase with depth and increasing soil pH, which indicates that they are derived from the surface and hence are of anthropogenic origin. This is confirmed by¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotope ratios which show a mixing between a natural end-member at the top and an anthropogenic end-member at the base of the profile. We assume that the anthropogenic REE were transported in dissolved form as carbonate complexes and then precipitated during downward migration as soil pH increased.     

Pb chronology and trace metal geochemistry at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, as evidenced by a sedimentary record from the Lago Verde crater lake

Lago Verde is a fresh-water maar found on the lower slopes of San Martin volcano, at the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, currently the northernmost remnant of the tropical rain forest in America. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs analyzed in a sediment core were used to reconstruct the historical fluxes of Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn to the site during the last ∼ 150 yr. The ²¹⁰Pb_xs-derived sediment accumulation rates, the magnetic susceptibility, C/N ratios and δ¹³C data evidenced background conditions at the lake until 1960s, when enhanced erosion related to the clearing of large forested areas at Los Tuxtlas promoted higher accumulation rates of a heavier and more magnetic sedimentary material. Recent sediments from Lago Verde were found enriched by Pb (26-fold natural concentration level [NCLs]) and moderately enriched by Cd > Cu > Zn and Hg (6-, 5-, 4- and 4-fold corresponding NCLs, respectively). The fluxes of Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn have significantly increased since 1940s, with peak ratios of total modern to pre-industrial fluxes of 11, 11, 19 and 49, respectively. The lake occupies a relatively pristine, non-industrialized basin, and therefore the increased metal fluxes might be related to long-distance aeolian transport of trace metals.     

Pb and nd isotope and trace element constraints on the origin of basic rocks in an early proterozoic igneous complex,minnesota

A suite of early Proterozoic basic to granitic rocks exposed near St. Cloud, Minnesota are cut by northeast-trending basaltic dikes. Pb isotope data for all of these rocks overlap and plot about an 1800 Ma PbPb correlation line. The basic rocks, which are light REE enriched, have ϵ_Nd values between +0.4 and −4.8. Petrogenetic considerations suggest that the basic rocks were derived from a light REE enriched source which had an Fe/Mg ratio greater than that for pyrolite. The enrichment in Fe/Mg is probably a result of the addition of basic melts to the source. The light REE enrichment may have a mantle origin by the addition of mantle-derived, light REE enriched basic melts or fluids; or a sedimentary origin by the addition of light REE enriched fluids or melts derived from subducted sediments with an early Proterozoic provenance. In either case, the Nd isotopes suggest that the light REE enriched component existed since c. 2300 Ma. The igneous complex may have formed at a convergent margin. An anorthositic gabbro near Mora, has an ϵ_Nd of +5 indicating that it was derived from a mantle source with a history of light REE depletion. This gabbro may have been part of an early Proterozoic ocean crust.     

Impact of NaSO4 dominated ionic strength on trace metal removal products in vertical flow bioreactors

Vertical flow bioreactors (VFBR) are often used as a component of passive treatment systems (PTS) to treat mine drainage. One of the primary purposes of VFBR is to remove trace metals from mine drainage and retain them in the organic substrate. Elevated ionic strength may impact the performance of VFBR and affect their ability to remove trace metals. A paired-comparison study was performed to determine how products of trace metal removal may change when ionic strength is elevated due to increased concentrations of common contributors to TDS, specifically sodium and sulfate. A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) and acid-volatile sulfide/simultaneously extracted metals analyses (AVS/SEM) were used to determine dominant Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn removal products in bench-scale VFBR. Elevated ionic strength resulted in more Pb being retained in the substrates as an insoluble sulfide and less Mn being removed via adsorption to the substrates. An increase in ionic strength had a greater impact on adsorption when sulfate reduction was inhibited, with percentages of Mn and Zn removed via this mechanism decreasing by at least half. This finding could be particularly significant at the start of VFBR operation when adsorption is expected to be the primary removal mechanism.     

Lead isotope and trace metal characteristics of particulates accumulated on vehicular tunnel ceilings in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, SE China

Ever-increasing accumulation of trace metals in the environment is a serious health concern. This is a valid apprehension particularly in urban settings where the population and the level of trace metal contamination are increasing rapidly. Hong Kong and Guangzhou are the most populated cities in the region of the Pearl River Delta, the fastest growing economic region in the world. In unconfined urban compartments, particulates deposited on the earth surface such as road dusts and gully sediments are good indicators to assess the level of trace metal contamination. In such locations, however, source partitioning of the pollution, which is essential to assess and then reduce the potential environmental risk, is a difficult task. This is mainly due to the complexity and variability of site-specific natural and anthropogenic conditions. This leads us to focus on the particulates accumulated in relatively confined settings, such as vehicular tunnels. Our recent studies demonstrated that particulates accumulated on the ceiling of tunnels are useful to characterize particulates mainly derived from traffic related activities. With this in mind, Pb isotope ratios and trace metal contents of the ceiling dusts from the Cross-Harbor Tunnel （CHT） in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Tunnel （PRT） in Guangzhou were characterized and compared with each other in order to evaluate the environmental impact of traffic derived inorganic pollutants in the region. The ceiling dusts from both tunnels were dominated by silt-sized particles （〈63 μm） which are significantly freer than those of road dusts, usually larger than （〉200 μm）. In general, Cr, Ni, Pb and especially Cu contents of the ceiling dusts from CHT were noticeably higher than those from PRT. This was partly attributed to longer residence time of particulates in CHT, which has been operating since 1976, while the PRT was open to public in 1996. On the other hand, Co, Fe, Mn and Zn contents of the ceiling dusts from CHT were similar to those from PRT, while Ca and Mg contents were noticeably lower.     

江苏盘石山玄武岩中橄榄岩包体的氧同位素和微量元素地球化学

本文研究了8个来自江苏盘石山新生代碱性玄武岩中的橄榄岩包体，利用ICP—MS技术测定了橄榄岩中单斜辉石的微量元素组成；利用激光氟化技术系统地分析了橄榄石、单斜辉石和斜方辉石的氧同位素比值。结果显示，盘石山橄榄岩包体矿物的氧同位素比值落在“正常”地幔矿物的氧同位素变化范围之内，而且矿物之间达到了氧同位素平衡。部分单斜辉石不相容元素富集的特征表明，有些样品经历了隐性地幔交代作用（cryptical metasomatism），配合氧同位素的数据来看，影响盘石山上地幔的交代介质为来自地幔内部的熔体，不合有地壳组分。从盘石山和安徽女山（盘石山以北约100km）的对比看来，影响女山上地幔的洋壳流体可能来自于华南一华北陆陆碰撞之前的海洋板块俯冲，因此华南一华北的深部缝合带可能就在女山和盘石山之间。     

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     

^210Pb chronology and trace metal geochemistry at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, as evidenced by a sedimentary record from the Lago Verde crater lake

Lago Verde is a fresh water maar found in the San Martin volcano, at the Sierra of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, currently the northernmost remnant of the tropical rain forest in America. A sediment core from Lago Verde was analyzed for ^210Pb and ^137Cs in order to assess the evolution of the accretion rates in the lake and to reconstruct the historical fluxes of heavy metals （Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn） to the site during the last -140 years. C/N ^13C were used to evaluate the provenance of the organic atomic ratios and matter accumulated in the sediments. Modem sediments from Lago Verde were found enriched in Pb （26-fold natural concentration level, NCL＇s） and moderately enriched in Cd〉Cu〉Zn and Hg （6, 5, 4 and 4 fold corresponding NCL＇s）. The excess fluxes of Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn have importantly increased during the last 60 years, with peak ratios of total modem to preindustrial fluxes （FR） of 11, 11, 19 and 49, respectively. The lake occupies a relatively pristine, non-industrialized basin, surrounded mostly by pasture lands and sugar cane fields; therefore the increased metal fluxes recorded in the sediment core are most likely related to the enhanced rate of erosion within the watershed, promoted by changes in land use and the irrational deforestation of the tropical rain forest, which have occurred during the past.     

有色矿山废物利用大有可为

以寿王坟铜矿开发利用尾矿砂、废石做原料 ,建成尾矿砼小型空心砌块和高级彩色光亮室外地坪砌块新型建材生产线为例 ,论述黏土砖逐渐被淘汰 ,新型建材日益受宠且受到国家政策扶持 ,国内市场潜力巨大 ,经济效益可观 ,有色矿山利用废弃物开发新型建材的可能性     

Pb and Sr isotope and geochemical data from the Pb–Zn deposit Bleiberg (Austria): constraints on the age of mineralization

Summary The timing of Zn–Pb mineralization hosted by early dolomitized lagoonal limestones (Crest facies) at Bleiberg (Carinthia, Austria) has been constrained using Sr-isotopes. This late stage Zn–Pb mineralization is a special feature of the Bleiberg deposit. Samples of the mineralized Crest facies are characterized by higher concentrations of minor and trace elements (except Ba and Sr) compared to samples from the weakly mineralized Wetterstein limestone of the lagoonal facies. The samples from the Crest facies indicate that a fluid with a minimum ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7083 reacted at 210±30 Ma with carbonate rocks having ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of approximately 0.7077 during a late stage of ore formation. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios correlate with the Mn and Cl concentrations. Lead isotope data of whole rock samples of Bleiberg yielded an isochron age of 180±40 Ma. They furthermore confirm the presence of two types of common lead; an isotopically distinct ore lead component is present within and close to the ore bodies. The other common Pb component is present in host rocks and in gangue minerals and is distinguished from the ore lead by lower ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios. The Sr and the Pb ages are consistent with geological evidence indicating a Triassic age of Pb–Zn mineralization and support genetic models emphasizing the role of bacteriogenic sulfate reduction at low temperatures prior to subsidence and burial. Elevated ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values (>0.7080) of gangue minerals indicate an epigenetic origin of strontium. Our results are consistent with a genetic model postulating formation of the ore-bearing hydrothermal fluids “at depth” where they leached lead from pre-Upper Carboniferous basement rocks.     

Origin and formational history of some Pb-Zn deposits from Alborz and Central Iran: Pb isotope constraints

Several Pb-Zn deposits and occurrences within Iran are hosted by Mesozoic–Tertiary-aged sedimentary and igneous rocks. This study reports new Pb isotope analyses for galena from 14 Pb-Zn deposits in the Alborz and Central Iran structural zones. In general, Pb isotope ratios are extremely variable with data plotting between the upper crustal and orogenic curves in a plumbotectonic diagram. The latter may be attributed to Pb inputs from crustal and mantle end-members. Most of the galena samples are characterized by high ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios, suggesting significant input of Pb from old continental crust or pelagic sediment. Pb isotope data also indicate that some of the deposits, which are hosted by sedimentary rocks in Central Iran and Alborz, have similar Pb isotopic compositions and hence suggest similar source regions. Most of the galenas yield Pb model ‘ages’ that vary between ~140 and ~250 Ma, indicating that mineralization resulted from the extraction of ore-bearing fluids from Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic sequences. The similarity in Pb isotope ratios for the Pb-Zn deposits located within these zones suggests analogous crustal evolution histories. Our preferred interpretation is that Pb-Zn mineralization within the sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Central Iran and Alborz tectonic regions occurred following a Late Cretaceous–Tertiary accretionary stage of crustal thickening in Iran.