The synorogenic pegmatitic quartz veins of the Guacha Corral Shear zone (Sierra de Comechingones,Argentina): A textural,chemical, isotopic,cathodoluminescence and fluid inclusion study

The quartz veins and pegmatites of the Sierra de Comechingones (Sierras de Córdoba, NE Argentina) belong to the Comechingones Pegmatite field (CPF). For the quartz veins and the zoned pegmatites related parental granites are missing. The country rock of the quartz veins are mylonitic augengneisses in granulite to upper amphibolite facies. Field relations, microscopy, cathodoluminescence, radiometric age data, fluid inclusion, chemical and isotopic composition and literature define the quartz veins as synorogenic formed during the high-temperature phase of the Famatinian (480–460 Ma) event. During the Famatinian up to the Achalian (382–366 Ma) event the synorogenic quartz veins were subjected to high temperature ductile deformation documented by folding, boudinage and finally brittle shearing. K-Ar ages of illite from the shear zones of about 166 Ma document the final cooling of the Sierras Pampeanas below 100 °C. The long lasting thermal and deformational history of the study area is reflected by very different populations of fluid inclusions in vein quartz with remarkably high contents of thermogenic hydrocarbons in the early-formed fluid inclusions. LA–ICP–MS analysis reveals very low lattice-bound trace element contents, i.e. high purity quartz.     

Deformation and fluid flow in the Huab Basin and Etendeka Plateau,NW Namibia

The Lower Cretaceous Twyfelfontein sandstone formation in the Huab Basin in NW Namibia shows the effects of volcanic activity on a potential reservoir rock. The formation was covered by the Paraná-Etendeka Large Igneous Province shortly before or during the onset of South-Atlantic rifting. Deformation bands found in the sandstone trend mostly parallel to the continental passive margin and must have formed during the extrusion of the overlying volcanic rocks, indicating that their formation is related to South-Atlantic rifting. 2D-image porosity analysis of deformation bands reveals significant porosity reduction from host rock to band of up to 70%. Cementation of the sandstone, linked to advective hydrothermal flow during volcanic activity, contributes an equal amount to porosity reduction from host rock to band when compared to initial grain crushing. Veins within the basaltic cover provide evidence for hot fluid percolation, indicated by spallation of wall rock and colloform quartz growth, and for a later low-temperature fluid circulation at low pressures indicated by stilbite growth sealing cavities. Sandstone samples and veins in the overlying volcanic rocks show that diagenesis of the Twyfelfontein sandstone is linked to Atlantic rifting and was affected by both hydrothermal and low-thermal fluid circulation.     

Structural control on gold mineralization at Walhalla,Victoria

Gold mineralization associated with quartz reefs is related to the structural history of the Early Devonian, Walhalla Group. These reefs are situated in the Walhalla Synclinorium, developed during the Middle to Late Devonian Tabberabberan Orogeny. A pervasive north‐south‐trending axial planar cleavage and two styles of folding were produced during regional east‐west compression. The first are upright, open to close folds with sub‐horizontal fold axes. The second are plunging inclined, close to tight folds with fold axes that plunge steeply to the north and south. An extensional event is associated with the emplacement of the Woods Point Dyke swarm and a set of normal faults that offset all earlier structures. High‐angle reverse faults, which post‐date the folding and the emplacement of the dykes, were utilized as conduits for hydrothermal fluids and preferentially localize mineralization to laminated quartz veins. En echelon vein arrays formed during initial stages of reverse faulting became deformed during prolonged shearing to produce ptygmatic veins. Laminated quartz veins within high‐angle reverse faults contain arsenopyrite and pyrite in vein margins and gold in fractures that cross‐cut continuous quartz crystals. Gold, galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite may also be deposited adjacent to and within fractured arsenopyrite and pyrite. Late‐stage, cross faults developed in a regime of north‐south compression and post‐date the laminated quartz veins and mineralization.     

Gold mineralization paragenesis to tectonic structures in the Birimian of the eastern Dialé-Daléma Supergroup,Kédougou-Kéniéba Inlier,Senegal, West African Craton

ABSTRACT

New field and petrographic data from the Birimian of the Kolia-Boboti Basin in the Kédougou-Kéniéba inlier indicate two phases of gold mineralization related to Eburnean tectono-magmatic events. Syn- to late-tectonic (D₂/D₃) mineralization, controlled by stockwork sulphide-bearing quartz-chlorite and quartz-carbonate veins, is associated with fluid circulation related to magmatic intrusions. V₂ veins and disseminated assemblages are mainly composed of quartz + chlorite + pyrite and ± gold. Haematite and arsenopyrite are added in the sediments (pelite, greywake, sandstone, quartzite, and marble) and albite in the felsic rocks (andesite, rhyolite, granodirite, and diorite). V₃ veins assemblage is composed of quartz + carbonate + pyrite + chalcopyrite and ± gold. Pyrrhotite appears in the sediments (greywacke, quartzite, marble). Sericite, tourmaline, haematite, and magnetite are common in both V₂ and V₃ assemblages. The first sulphide-bearing quartz-chlorite assemblage is related to the hydrothermal activity of the Eburnean D₂ deformation, which was focused mostly along NW- to NNE-trending tectonic structures. The second sulphide-bearing quartz-carbonate assemblage is associated with hydrothermal activity during late Eburnean D₃ deformation, mainly located in NE- to E–W-trending tectonic structures. Gold is correlated with the abundance of sulphides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite), and sulphide stockworks are more abundant in the veins sub-parallel (V_2b) or oblique (V_2c) to the N–S- to NNE-oriented S₂ foliation, as well as in the N45°–N90°-oriented V₃ veins. V₁ veins, which are related to D₁ Eburnean tectonics, are highly deformed (folded and boudinaged) and are poor in sulphides. The host structures of mineralization (V₂ and V₃ veins) represent the low- and medium-stress domains resulting from the Eburnean D₂ and D₃ tectonic phases, respectively. The intra-crystalline deformation of the quartz grains associated with these three vein types indicates relatively low temperatures. These different features suggest that most of the mineralization was associated with sulphides formed during the D₂ and D₃ Eburnean tectono-magmatic events dated around 2080 ± 0.9 and 2061 ± 15 Ma, respectively.     

Syn- to late-orogenic quartz veins marking a retrograde deformation path in a slate belt: Examples from the High-Ardenne slate belt (Belgium)

An integrated structural, petrographic and microthermometric methodology has been applied on syn- to late-orogenic quartz veins from the High-Ardenne slate belt (Belgium) to define their relative timing. The quartz precipitates, which do not show any mutual cross-cutting relationships, represent the meso-scale brittle accommodation during fold initiation, amplification and locking. Crystal-plastic deformation structures and P–T trapping conditions indicate that the different processes accommodating folding occurred in a progressive manner along a retrograde deformation path, associated with the gradual exhumation of the slate belt from ca. 7.5 to 6 km depth. Successive veining occurred from peak metamorphic conditions (ca. 300 °C and 190 MPa), measured in extrados veins, to subsequent lower P–T conditions in the periphery of a lenticular vein (ca. 275 °C and 180 MPa), late-orogenic saddle reef filling (ca. 245 °C and 160 MPa), and the core of a lenticular vein (ca. 220 °C and 150 MPa). Open-cavity growth and fluid-assisted brecciation indicate that veining occurred under overpressured fluid conditions. It is therefore fair to assume that the High-Ardenne slate belt acted – at least episodically – as a mid-crustal overpressured fluid reservoir, not only in the earliest and latest stages, but also during the main stage of orogeny.     

Fluid flow and Al transport during quartz-kyanite vein formation, Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland

Quartz‐kyanite veins, adjacent alteration selvages and surrounding ‘precursor’ wall rocks in the Dalradian Saxa Vord Pelite of Unst in the Shetland Islands (Scotland) were investigated to constrain the geochemical alteration and mobility of Al associated with channelized metamorphic fluid infiltration during the Caledonian Orogeny. Thirty‐eight samples of veins, selvages and precursors were collected, examined using the petrographic microscope and electron microprobe, and geochemically analysed. With increasing grade, typical precursor mineral assemblages include, but are not limited to, chlorite+chloritoid, chlorite+chloritoid+kyanite, chlorite+chloritoid+staurolite and garnet+staurolite+kyanite+chloritoid. These assemblages coexist with quartz, white mica (muscovite, paragonite, margarite), and Fe‐Ti oxides. The mineral assemblage of the selvages does not change noticeably with metamorphic grade, and consists of chloritoid, kyanite, chlorite, quartz, white mica and Fe‐Ti oxides. Pseudosections for selvage and precursor bulk compositions indicate that the observed mineral assemblages were stable at regional metamorphic conditions of 550–600 °C and 0.8–1.1 GPa. A mass balance analysis was performed to assess the nature and magnitude of geochemical alteration that produced the selvages adjacent to the veins. On average, selvages lost about −26% mass relative to precursors. Mass losses of Na, K, Ca, Rb, Sr, Cs, Ba and volatiles were −30 to −60% and resulted from the destruction of white mica. Si was depleted from most selvages and transported locally to adjacent veins; average selvage Si losses were about −50%. Y and rare earth elements were added due to the growth of monazite in cracks cutting apatite. The mass balance analysis also suggests some addition of Ti occurred, consistent with the presence of rutile and hematite‐ilmenite solid solutions in veins. No major losses of Al from selvages were observed, but Al was added in some cases. Consequently, the Al needed to precipitate vein kyanite was not derived locally from the selvages. Veins more than an order of magnitude thicker than those typically observed in the field would be necessary to accommodate the Na and K lost from the selvages during alteration. Therefore, regional transport of Na and K out of the local rock system is inferred. In addition, to account for the observed abundances of kyanite in the veins, large fluid‐rock ratios (10²–10³ m³_fluid m⁻³_rock) and time‐integrated fluid fluxes in excess of ∼10⁴ m³_fluid m⁻²_rock are required owing to the small concentrations of Al in aqueous fluids. It is concluded that the quartz‐kyanite veins and their selvages were produced by regional‐scale advective mass transfer by means of focused fluid flow along a thrust fault zone. The results of this study provide field evidence for considerable Al mass transport at greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions, possibly as a result of elevated concentrations of Al in metamorphic fluids due to alkali‐Al silicate complexing at high pressures.     

Fluid inclusion study of the Plomositas–Los Arcos polymetallic epithermal vein tract, Plomosas district, Sinaloa, Mexico

The most important deposit in the Plomosas–Rosario district, Sinaloa, is the vein tract named Plomositas–Plomosas–Los Arcos. These are NNW–SSE striking veins hosted in rocks of the Lower Volcanic Supergroup (LVS), and also in rocks at the bottom of the Upper Volcanic Supergroup (UVS). Both supergroups belong to the Sierra Madre Occidental. These veins evolved from an early intermediate sulfidation stage (1), rich in base metal sulfides, to a low sulfidation stage (2), rich in silver sulfides and sulfosalts. There is also a 45 m-wide stockwork with native silver and gold. Stage 1 is found in the deeper portion of the veins whereas stage 2 is found in the most shallow portion of the deposit. These stages record fluid inclusion salinities ranging from 7 to 12 wt.% NaCl equiv., and from 0.2 to 3.5 wt.% NaCl equiv., respectively. Homogenization temperatures range from 120 °C for surface samples to 200 °C at a depth of 320 m. The low homogenization temperatures recorded, and the dispersion of veins within host rocks as veinlets, suggest that this deposit formed at shallow depths and was probably blind.     

商州市石英脉型金矿地质特征及找矿方向研究

商州市金矿区位于北秦岭造山带与中秦岭造山带接合部的北秦岭南部边缘。该区含金石英脉型金矿均产于中元古界武关岩群控矿韧性剪切带之中。受左行剪切作用控制呈雁行状排列的单条含金石英脉中金矿构造透镜体规模小、品位低、间隔大而不利于机掘开采。同一条控矿韧性剪切带内发育走向相同,倾向相反,含金石英脉交汇部位矿体变厚,品位增高,因而是成矿有利地段。深大断裂附近出露的构造蚀变岩带有一定找矿潜力,建议加强基础地质研究,以发现构造蚀变岩型金矿体。     

Characters of fluid inclusions in quartz veins in pyroclastic rock of Budate Group, Hailar Basin

It was adopted that the fluorescence microscope, Gas-Flow Heating/Freezing System, Laser-Raman Spectroscopy, etc. are the multimedia techniques for analysing fluid inclusions of quartz veins in Budate Group, Hailar Basin. The results show that fluid inclusions in quartz veins are small ( 1～5μm) monophase, two-phase (liquid vapour) aqueous inclusions; the two-phase aqueous inclusions homogcniese to the liquid phase between 120 ～ 180℃, two dominant types for oil inclusions were determined in quartz veins: ① the primary inclusions, almostly gas, measurement by Laser-Raman Spectroscopy show that both gas phase are enriched in CH4 (94.50%～99.25% ) and C6H6 (0.75%～2.70%), under these conditions, inclusions may have come from juvenile fliud followingly the quartz veins formation. While the quartz veins exhibiting different striking luminescence has been proved by cathodoluminescence, it would be impossible to come from the deep magmas and strata. ② aqueous, liquid and two-phase (liquid vapour) oil inclusions, belong to secondary hydrocarbon inclusions. The oil inclusions of this stage represent mainly the large scale of oil accumulation, located within the quartz microfracture.     

准噶尔盆地西北缘石炭—二叠系火山岩裂缝中方解石脉成因

准噶尔盆地西北缘石炭—二叠系火山岩裂缝十分发育, 普遍充填方解石矿物。通过对钻井岩心裂缝类型划分、 方解石脉原生流体包裹体均一温度测试、 方解石地球化学数据测试与分析, 揭示了方解石脉成因。结果表明, 石炭—二叠系火山岩中的裂缝主要包括风化裂缝、 构造裂缝、 成岩裂缝和溶蚀裂缝。裂缝中方解石的原生流体包裹体均一温度分布为40℃～150℃, 变化范围较大, 具有低温、 高温及混合流体特征。方解石的碳、 氧同位素表明, 方解石的形成与大气淡水和埋藏流体有关, 锶同位素和锰元素进一步证实, 埋藏流体为深部热液流体或埋藏流体溶蚀了火山物质。准噶尔盆地西北缘石炭—二叠系火山岩受逆冲推覆构造和风化淋滤作用双重影响, 构造裂缝和风化裂缝彼此连通并沟通了深部热液与大气淡水。在火山岩裂缝中形成了兼具大气淡水与深部热液流体特征的方解石充填物。