Geochemical and isotopic (Sr,C, O) data from the alkaline complex of Grønnedal-ĺka (South Greenland): evidence for unmixing and crustal contamination

The alkaline intrusion of Grønnedal-ka (South Greenland) is the oldest of the ten major rift-related plutonic complexes of southern Greenland that intruded during the Gardar period between 1330 and 1150 Ma into the 2.6-Ga-old gneisses and metasediments of the Ketilidian basement. The Grønnedal-ka alkaline intrusion consists of carbonatites, silicocarbonatites, transitional carbonatites and nepheline-bearing syenites. The silicocarbonatites exhibit locally ocellar textures that are typical for immiscibility processes. A ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratio of about 0.703184 major and trace element compositions—including REE and C-, and O-isotope data from 15 carbonatite, 12 silicocarbonatite, 10 transitional carbonatite and 8 syenite and samples—provide evidence for minor crustal contamination of the mantle-derived magma that generated by unmixing carbonatites, silicocarbonatites and syenites. A scatter in major and trace element contents and isotope ratios is related to late- to post-magmatic alteration processes. The Grønnedal-ka silicocarbonatites are one of the rather rare cases in which unmixing of a highly alkaline mantle-derived magma into an alkalisilicate and a carbonatitic magma-fraction under plutonic conditions is well documented by textural and geochemical data.     

Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Geochemistry of the Amba Dongar Carbonatite Complex, Gujarat, India

A carbon and oxygen isotope survey based on 42 samples from the Amba Dongar carbonatite complex of Gujarat, India, indicates that the magmatic differentiation series sövite → alvikite → ankeritic carbonatite is beset with a distinct isotope trend characterized by a moderate rise in ¹³C coupled with a sizeable increase in ¹⁸O. From an average of −4.6 ± 0.4 ‰ [PDB] for the least differentiated (coarse) sövite member, δ¹³C values slowly increase in the alvikite (−3.7 ± 0.6 ‰) and ankeritic fractions (−3.0 ± 1.1 ‰), whereas δ¹⁸O rises from 10.3 ± 1.7 ‰ [SMOW] to 17.5 ± 5.8 ‰ over the same sequence, reaching extremes between 20 and 28 ‰ in the latest generation of ankeritic carbonatite. While an apparent correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O over the δ¹⁸O range of 7–13 ‰ conforms with similar findings from other carbonatite complexes and probably reflects a Rayleigh fractionation process, the observed upsurge of ¹⁸O notably in the ankeritic member is demonstrably related to a late phase of low-temperature hydrothermal activity involving large-scale participation of ¹⁸O-depleted groundwaters. As a whole, the Amba Dongar carbonatite province displays the characteristic ¹³C/¹²C label of deep-seated (primordial) carbon, reflecting the carbon isotope composition of the subcontinental upper mantle below the Narmada Rift Zone of the Indian subcontinent.     

赞比亚希富玛铜矿床含铜碳酸岩岩石学和地球化学及其成岩成矿意义

新发现的赞比亚希富玛IOCG碳酸岩铜矿床位于泛非造山带卢菲里安弧复向斜带中部南缘,处于NW向深断裂带与NEE-EW向断裂带的交会部位。铜矿体主要赋存于含铜碳酸岩内。含铜碳酸岩主要侵入于新元古界上部孔德龙古群上部火山碎屑岩中,与矿区及其外围的岩浆岩构成含铜碳酸岩的杂岩组合。含铜碳酸岩灰白色块状构造,常见气孔构造和流动构造;含围岩捕掳体、熔融包体和流体包体;半自形细粒不等粒结构为主,镶嵌结构和包含结构很普遍;方解石和白云石双晶发育;矿物成分达40余种,主要非金属矿物为方解石,其次是硬石膏、白云石和萤石等;主要金属矿物为磁铁矿、黄铜矿和黄铁矿,其次有磁黄铁矿、闪锌矿、赤铁矿、辉钼矿、斑铜矿等。含铜碳酸岩全岩矿化,矿石构造主要为浸染状构造和斑杂状构造,其次为块状构造及稠密浸染状构造;矿石结构有自形-半自形细粒结构,他形细粒结构,交代熔蚀结构,固溶体分解结构,海绵陨铁结构等。含铜碳酸岩富CaO、FeO和Fe_2O_3,贫MgO,属铁质方解石碳酸岩;REE含量高,ΣREE=57.75×10~(-6)~1076×10~(-6),轻重稀土明显分馏,LREE/HREE=6.3~83.8,强正铕异常,弱负铈异常;富集Ba、Sr、Pb、U、Nb、P和LREE,亏损Ta、Zr、Hf和Ti;Zr/Hf、Y/Ho值和Y含量反映含铜碳酸岩出现了高度演化的熔体-流体过渡的岩浆体系;(87Sr/86Sr)i=0.705315~0.706708,在世界主要碳酸岩范围内;Sr-Nd同位素示踪显示岩浆可能源自EMⅠ;方解石的δ13CV-PDB为-17.8‰~-2.6‰,δ18OV-SMOW值变化于14.5‰~21.9‰;白云石的δ13CV-PDB为-18.8‰,δ18OV-SMOW值为13.5‰,均在世界碳酸岩的范围内;2个磁铁矿样品的δ18OV-SMOW值分别为4.3‰和4.6‰,接近地幔的氧同位素组成范围;金属硫化物的δ34SV-CDT(‰)值变化范围为-4.1~+10.5,在岩浆硫的范围内。此矿床为铁氧化物-铜-金(IOCG)型碳酸岩铜矿床。成岩成矿发生于泛非造山运动后造山伸展阶段拉张应力场构造环境。含铜碳酸岩和成矿物质可能主要源自受到富CO2地幔流体交代形成的EMⅠ富集地幔端元。成岩成矿机制可能是:从地幔源区部分熔融出的初始熔浆随着上侵和演化,液态不混溶出碱性硅酸盐岩浆和碳酸盐+硫酸盐岩浆;铜等成矿元素因亲硫而在碳酸盐+硫酸盐岩浆中富集。此岩浆随着上侵和演化发生液态不混溶作用,形成富集成矿物质和挥发分的含铜碳酸岩浆-热液过渡态流体。随着温度下降,其中碳酸盐矿物、硫酸盐矿物和磁铁矿大量晶出,氧被大量消耗掉,致使氧逸度降低,硫逸度增高,还原硫产生并快速增加,与Cu、Fe、Zn、Co、Mo等金属离子化合形成金属硫化物而成矿。     

The Munali Ni sulfide deposit,southern Zambia: A multi-stage,mafic-ultramafic,magmatic sulfide-magnetite-apatite-carbonate megabreccia

The Munali Intrusive Complex (MIC) is a flattened tube-shaped, mafic-ultramafic intrusion located close to the southern Congo Craton margin in the Zambezi belt of southern Zambia. It is made up of a Central Gabbro Unit (CGU) core, surrounded by a Marginal Ultramafic-mafic Breccia Unit (MUBU), which contains magmatic Ni sulfide mineralisation. The MIC was emplaced into a sequence of metamorphosed Neoproterozoic rift sediments and is entirely hosted within a unit of marble. Munali has many of the characteristics of craton-margin, conduit-style, dyke-sill complex-hosted magmatic sulfide deposits. Three-dimensional modelling of the MUBU on the southern side of the MIC, where the Munali Nickel Mine is located, reveals a laterally discontinuous body located at the boundary between footwall CGU and hangingwall metasediments. Mapping of underground faces demonstrates the MUBU to have intruded after the CGU and be a highly complex, multi stage megabreccia made up of atypical ultramafic rocks (olivinites, olivine-magnetite rocks, and phoscorites), poikilitic gabbro and olivine basalt/dolerite dykes, brecciated on a millimetre to metre scale by magmatic sulfide. The breccia matrix is largely made up of a sulfide assemblage of pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite-pyrite with varying amounts of magnetite, apatite and carbonate. The sulfides become more massive towards the footwall contact. Late stage, high temperature sulfide-carbonate-magnetite veins cut the rest of the MUBU. The strong carbonate signature is likely due, in part, to contamination from the surrounding marbles, but may also be linked to a carbonatite melt related to the phoscorites. Ductile deformation and shear fabrics are displayed by talc-carbonate altered ultramafic clasts that may represent gas streaming textures by CO₂-rich fluids. High precision U-Pb geochronology on zircons give ages of 862.39 ± 0.84 Ma for the poikilitic gabbro and 857.9 ± 1.9 Ma for the ultramafics, highlighting the multi-stage emplacement but placing both mafic and later ultramafic magma emplacement within the Neoproterozoic rifting of the Zambezi Ocean, most likely as sills or sheet-like bodies. Sulfide mineralisation is associated with brecciation of the ultramafics and so is constrained to a maximum age of 858 Ma. The Ni- and Fe-rich nature of the sulfides reflect either early stage sulfide saturation by contamination, or the presence of a fractionated sulfide body with Cu-rich sulfide elsewhere in the system. Munali is an example of a complex conduit-style Ni sulfide deposit affected by multiple stages and sources of magmatism during rifting at a craton margin, subsequent deformation; and where mafic and carbonatitic melts have interacted along deep seated crustal fault systems to produce a mineralogically unusual deposit.     

Emplacement age and isotope geochemistry of Sung Valley alkaline–carbonatite complex, Shillong Plateau, northeastern India: implications for primary carbonate melt and genesis of the associated silicate rocks

The early Cretaceous (Albian–Aptian) Sung Valley ultramafic–alkaline–carbonatite complex is one of several alkaline intrusions that occur in the Shillong Plateau, India. This complex comprises calcite carbonatite and closely associated ultramafic (serpentinized peridotite, pyroxenite and melilitolite) and alkaline rocks (ijolite and nepheline syenite). Field relationship and geochemical characteristics of these rocks do not support a genetic link between carbonatite and associated silicate rocks. There is geochemical evidence that pyroxenite, melilitolite and ijolite of the complex are genetically related. Stable (C and O) and radiogenic (Nd and Sr) isotope data clearly indicate a mantle origin for the carbonatite samples. The carbonatite Nd (+0.7 to +1.8) and Sr (+4.7 to +7.0) compositions overlap the field for Kerguelen ocean island basalts. One sample of ijolite has Nd and Sr isotopic compositions that also plot within the field for Kerguelen ocean island basalts, whereas the other silicate–carbonatite samples indicate involvement with an enriched component. These geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the rocks of the Sung Valley complex were derived from and interacted with an isotopically heterogeneous subcontinental mantle and is consistent with interaction of a mantle plume (e.g. Kerguelen plume) with lithosphere. A U–Pb perovskite age of 115.1±5.1 Ma obtained for a sample of Sung Valley ijolite also supports a temporal link to the Kerguelen plume. The observed geochemical characteristics of the carbonatite rocks indicate derivation by low-degree partial melting (0.1%) of carbonated mantle peridotite. This melt, containing a substantial amount of alkali elements, interacted with peridotite to form metasomatic clinopyroxene and olivine. This process could progressively metasomatize lherzolite to form alkaline wehrlite.     

Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions of the Kovdor phoscorite–carbonatite complex, Kola Peninsula, NW Russia

The Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions for the Kovdor phoscorite–carbonatite complex (PCC), Kola Peninsula, NW Russia, have been determined to characterize the mantle sources involved and to evaluate the relative contributions of a plume and subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the formation of the complex. The Kovdor PCC is a part of the Kovdor ultramafic–alkaline–carbonatite massif, and consists of six intrusions. The initial isotopic ratios of the analyzed samples, calculated at 380 Ma, display limited variations: ε_Nd, + 2.0 to + 4.7; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, 0.70319 to 0.70361 (ε_Sr, − 12.2 to − 6.2); ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 18.38 to 18.74; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 15.45 to 15.50; ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 37.98 to 39.28. The Nd and Sr isotope data of the Kovdor PCC generally fit the patterns of the other phoscorites and carbonatites from the Kola Alkaline Province (KAP), but some data are slightly shifted from the mixing line defined as the Kola Carbonatite Line, having more radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios. However, the less radiogenic Nd isotopic compositions and negative Δ7/4 values of Pb isotopes of the analyzed samples exclude crustal contamination, but imply the involvement of a metasomatized lithospheric mantle source. Isotopic variations indicate mixing of at least three distinct mantle components: FOZO-like primitive plume component, EMI-like enriched component and DMM-like depleted component. The isotopic nature of the EMI- and DMM-like mantle component observed in the Kovdor samples is considered to be inherited from metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle. This supports the previous models invoking plume–lithosphere interaction to explain the origin of the Devonian alkaline carbonatite magmatism in the KAP.     

Fluid–rock interaction at a carbonatite-gneiss contact, Alnö, Sweden

We evaluate balanced metasomatic reactions and model coupled reactive and isotopic transport at a carbonatite-gneiss contact at Alnö, Sweden. We interpret structurally channelled fluid flow along the carbonatite-gneiss contact at ～640°C. This caused (1) metasomatism of the gneiss, by the reaction: ${\hbox{biotite} + \hbox{quartz} + \hbox{oligoclase} + \hbox{K}_{2} \hbox{O} +\,\hbox{Na}_{2}\hbox{O} \pm \hbox{CaO} \pm \hbox{MgO} \pm \hbox{FeO} = \hbox{albite} + \hbox{K-feldspar} + \hbox{arfvedsonite} + \hbox{aegirene-}\hbox{augite} + \hbox{H}_{2} \hbox{O} + \hbox{SiO}_{2}}We evaluate balanced metasomatic reactions and model coupled reactive and isotopic transport at a carbonatite-gneiss contact at Aln?, Sweden. We interpret structurally channelled fluid flow along the carbonatite-gneiss contact at ∼640°C. This caused (1) metasomatism of the gneiss, by the reaction: , (2) metasomatism of carbonatite by the reaction: calcite + SiO₂ = wollastonite + CO₂, and (3) isotopic homogenization of the metasomatised region. We suggest that reactive weakening caused the metasomatised region to widen and that the metasomatic reactions are chemically (and possibly mechanically) coupled. Spatial separation of reaction and isotope fronts in the carbonatite conforms to a chromatographic model which assumes local calcite–fluid equilibrium, yields a timescale of 10²–10⁴ years for fluid–rock interaction and confirms that chemical transport towards the carbonatite interior was mainly by diffusion. We conclude that most silicate phases present in the studied carbonatite were acquired by corrosion and assimilation of ijolite, as a reactive by-product of this process and by metasomatism. The carbonatite was thus a relatively pure calcite–H₂O−CO₂–salt melt or fluid.     

碳酸岩的地质地球化学特征及其大地构造意义

从已知碳酸岩的地质产状、岩石学特征、Nd-Sr-Pb-O-C同位素及痕量元素地球化学特征数据,结合高温高压实验岩石学资料,论述了其地幔源区的物质成分、交代过程软流圈地幔部分熔融机制和碳酸岩岩浆的演化模型。碳酸岩既可以产生于拉张岩石圈构造背景,也能够产生于挤压而派生的引张岩石圈构造背景。前者以产于裂谷环境、与硅酸不饱和过碱性岩构成环状碳酸岩—碱性杂岩为特征,主要由起源于软流圈地幔的霞石质超基性—基性岩浆经液态不混溶作用而形成;后者产于碰撞造山过程中派生的引张岩石圈断裂带,以单一的透镜状、条带状和似层状碳酸岩体为标志,直接由导源岩石圈富集地幔的低程度部分熔融作用而产生的碳酸岩浆侵入或喷发所形成。     

碳酸岩型稀土矿床成矿流体演化机制研究现状及展望

与碱性岩有关的碳酸岩型内生稀土矿床在中国乃至世界上轻稀土资源储量中占有极为重要的地位,诸如我国内蒙古的白云鄂博稀土矿床、川西冕宁—德昌稀土成矿带中的牦牛坪、大陆槽等稀土矿床、山东微山县郗山稀土矿床以及美国的Mountain Pass稀土矿床等都属于这种类型的稀土矿床.当前,对于这类稀土矿床的成矿流体演化机制,学界主要存...