Contrasting geochemical patterns in the 3.7-3.8 Ga pillow basalt cores and rims, Isua greenstone belt, Southwest Greenland: implications for postmagmatic alteration processes

Pillow basalts from the early Archean (3.7 to 3.8 Ga) Isua greenstone belt, West Greenland, are characterized by well-preserved rims and concentric core structures. The pillow rims and cores have different mineral assemblages, and chemical and isotopic compositions. The rims have systematically higher contents of Fe₂O₃, MgO, MnO, K₂O, Rb, Ba, Ga, Y, and transition metals than the cores. In contrast, the cores possess higher concentrations of SiO₂, Na₂O, P₂O₅, Sr, Pb, U, Nb, and the light rare earth elements (REEs than the rims). These compositional variations in the rims and cores are likely to reflect the mobility of these elements during posteruption alteration. Variations of many major and trace element concentrations between the rims and cores of the Isua pillow basalts are comparable to those of modern pillow basalts undergoing seafloor hydrothermal alteration. Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Th, Zr, and the heavy REEs display similar values in both rims and cores, suggesting that these elements were relatively immobile during postemplacement alteration.In addition, the rims and cores have distinctive Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic compositions in that the rims are characterized by higher ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios than the cores. The pillow basalts yield 2569 ± 170 Ma and 1604 ± 170 Ma errorchron ages on ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd vs. ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr vs. ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁶Sr diagrams, respectively. The Sm-Nd errorchron age may correspond, within errors, to a late Archean tectonothermal metamorphic event recorded in the region. The Sm-Nd errorchron may have resulted from a combination of isotopic homogenization and preferential loss of Nd, relative to Sm, during late Archean metamorphism. Although the Rb-Sr errorchron age overlaps with the timing of an early to mid-Proterozoic tectonothermal metamorphic event recorded in the region, because of a considerably large mean square of weighted deviates value and scatter in ⁸⁶Sr/⁸⁷Sr and ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁶Sr ratios, this age may not have a precise geological significance. The 1.6 Ga Rb-Sr errorchron is likely to have resulted from the loss of radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr. Collectively, the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr data obtained from the 3.7-3.8 Ga Isua pillow basalt rims and cores are consistent with disturbances of the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr systems by tectonothermal metamorphic events long after their eruption.In contrast to the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr systems, the Lu-Hf system appears to be largely undisturbed by metamorphism. Five core samples and three rim samples yield a 3935 ± 350 Ma age, within error of the approximate age of eruption (3.7 to 3.8 Ga). Two rim samples that have gained Lu give an age of 1707 ± 140 Ma, within error of the Rb-Sr errorchron age. Initial ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios of the undisturbed samples at 3.75 Ga lie within ±1 ε-unit of the chondritic value, suggesting no long-term depletion in the mantle source of the basalts.     

Metasomatism of ferroan granites in the northern Aravalli orogen,NW India: geochemical and isotopic constraints,and its metallogenic significance

The late Palaeoproterozoic (1.72–1.70 Ga) ferroan granites of the Khetri complex, northern Aravalli orogen, NW India, were extensively metasomatised ~900 Ma after their emplacement, at around 850–830 Ma by low-temperature (ca. 400 °C) meteoric fluids that attained metamorphic character after exchanging oxygen with the surrounding metamorphic rocks. Albitisation is the dominant metasomatic process that was accompanied by Mg and Ca metasomatism. A two-stage metasomatic model is applicable to all the altered ferroan intrusives. The stage I is represented by a metasomatic reaction interface that developed as a result of transformation of the original microcline–oligoclase (An_12–14) granite to microcline–albite (An_1–3) granite, and this stage is rarely preserved. In contrast, the stage II metasomatic reaction front, where the microcline-bearing albite granite has been transformed to microcline-free albite granite, is readily recognisable in the field and present in most of the intrusives. Some of them lack an obvious reaction interface due to the presence of stage II albite granites only. When studied in isolation, these intrusives were incorrectly classified and their tectonic setting was misinterpreted. Furthermore, our results show that the mafic mineralogy of metasomatised granites has a significant impact on the characterisation of such rocks in the magmatic classification and discrimination diagrams. Nevertheless, the stage I metasomatised granites can be appropriately characterised in these diagrams, whereas the characterisation of the stage II granites will lead to erroneous interpretations. The close spatial association of these high heat producing ferroan granites with iron oxide–copper–gold (IOCG), U and REE mineralisation in the region indicates a genetic link between the metasomatism and the mineralisation. World-class IOCG, U and REE deposits are associated with metasomatised ferroan granites, suggesting that such a relationship may act as a critical first-order exploration target for undiscovered mineral deposits.