The petrogenesis of carbonatite, melnoite and kimberlite from the Eastern Goldfields Province, Yilgarn Craton

We have obtained major and trace element data for a suite of rocks emplaced over an area of 45,000 km² in the Eastern Goldfields Province (EGP), Yilgarn Craton, that are petrographically and mineralogically described as kimberlites, melnoites and carbonatites. Kimberlites dominate the rock types found in the west whereas carbonatites and melnoites are common in the east. Compatible element data from the carbonatites and melnoites tend to lie along trends that imply silicate–carbonate fractionation. The kimberlites exhibit a much greater amount of compatible element scatter as a result of the variable contribution from continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). When compared to southern African kimberlites, the EGP kimberlites have consistently lower MgO and Os concentrations at comparable Ni concentrations. The opposite is true for Ti–Ni variation where the EGP kimberlites have higher Ti than the southern African kimberlites at comparable Ni concentrations. These data are interpreted to suggest that the CLM beneath the province was either melt metasomatised some time prior to kimberlite emplacement, or that the EGP CLM is less refractory (melt depleted) than the Kaaapvaal CLM.

In contrast, the incompatible element ratios and initial Nd values are constant throughout the entire rock suite. Carbonate C and O isotope data show a broad positive correlation, consistent with magmatic-hydrothermal trends found in many carbonatite complexes. These incompatible element and isotope data link all of the rocks within the province to the same mantle source that was similar to modern-day mantle plume sources.

Re–Os data for the various samples, including oxide minerals from all of the petrographic types, xenocryst-poor kimberlites and melnoites yield a precise Re–Os isochron of 2025±10 Ma and an initial γOs of 5.3±3.1 (MSWD=5.8). These data support the conclusion based on incompatible element, stable isotope and Sm–Nd isotope data that the rocks are comagmatic.

Initial Os isotopic compositions and Re/Os ratios for the xenocryst-rich kimberlites are also correlated. However, the correlation does not pass through the calculated initial γOs and Re/Os of the isochron. The Re–Os data show that the incompatible element-enriched melt exhibited very little control on the Re–Os variations of the xenocryst-rich kimberlites.

Correlations between deep mantle seismic velocities, petrology and whole-rock compatible element geochemistry suggest that the rheology and history of the EGP CLM played a significant role in determining the petrographic characteristics of the magmas that were ultimately emplaced into the EGP crust.     

Triassic magmatism in the eastern part of the South China Block: Geochronological and petrogenetic constraints from Indosinian granites

The granitic dykes in the Badu Group,Zhejiang Province,South China provide important insights on tectonic setting and crustal evolution of the South China Block(SCB) and the Indochina Block during Triassic.Here we report LA-ICP-MS U-Pb data of granitic rocks from the Hucun and Kengkou which show early Triassic ages of 242 ± 2 and 232 ± 3 Ma,respectively,representing their timing of emplacement.The dyke rocks are enriched in K,Al,LREE,Rb,Th.U,and Pb.and are depleted in Nb,Ta,Sr,and Ti.The rocks are characterized by highly fractionated REE patterns with(La/Yb)N ratios of 28.46-38.07 with strong negative Eu anomalies(Eu/Eu* = 0.65-0.73).In situ Hf isotopic analyses of zircons from the Hucun granite yielded ε_(Hf)(t) values of-13.9 to-6.4 and two-stage depleted mantle Hf model ages of 1.68-2.15 Ga,which indicate that the magma was formed by partial melting of the Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary protoliths in the Cathaysia Block.The zircons from the Kengkou granite have ε_(Hf)(t) values ranging from 40.7 to 31.5 and yield two-stage depleted mantle Hf model ages of 0.99-2.49 Ga,indicating magma origin from a mixed source.The Hucun and Kengkou dykes,together with the Triassic A-type granites in SE China were probably generated during magmatism associated with crust-mantle decoupling along the convergent plate boundary between SCB and the Indochina Block.     

Geology of the High Sulfidation Copper Deposits,Monywa Mine,Myanmar

The 50 km² Monywa copper district lies near the Chindwin River within the northward continuation of the Sunda‐Andaman magmatic arc through western Myanmar. There are four deposits; Sabetaung, Sabetaung South, Kyisintaung, and the much larger Letpadaung 7 km to the southeast. Following exploration drilling which began in 1959, production of copper concentrates from a small open pit started at Sabetaung in 1983. Since 1997, when resources totaled 7 million tonnes contained copper in 2 billion tonnes ore, a heap leach–electro‐winning operation has produced over 400,000 t copper cathode from Sabetaung and Sabetaung South. Ore is hosted by mid‐Miocene andesite or dacite porphyry intrusions, and by early mid‐Miocene sandstone and overlying volcaniclastics including eruptive diatreme facies which the porphyries intrude. District‐wide rhyolite dykes and domes with marginal breccias probably post‐date andesite porphyries in the mine area and lack ore‐grade copper. Host rocks to mineralization are altered to phyllic and advanced argillic hydrothermal assemblages within an outer chlorite zone; hypogene alunite is most abundant at Letpadaung and Kyisintaung. Most mineralization is structurally‐controlled with digenite‐chalcocite in breccia dykes, in steeply dipping NE‐trending sheeted veins, and in stockwork and low‐angle sulfide veins. A high‐grade pipe at Sabetaung grades up to 30% Cu, and much of the ore at Sabetaung South is in a NE‐trending zone of mega‐breccia and stockworked sandstone. The hydrothermal alteration, together with replacement quartz, alunite and barite in breccia dykes and veins, the virtual absence of vein quartz, and the presence of chalcopyrite and bornite only as rare veins and as inclusions within the abundant pyrite, indicate that the deposits are high sulfidation. Regional uplift, resistance to erosion and leaching of the altered and mineralized rocks have resulted in porous limonite‐stained leached caps over 200 m thick forming the Letpadaung and Kyisintaung hills. The barren caps pass abruptly downwards at the water table into the highest grade ore at the top of the supergene enrichment zone, within which copper grade, supergene kaolinite and cubic alunite decrease, and pyrite increases with depth; in contrast, marcasite is mostly shallow. Much of the copper to depths exceeding 200 m below the water table occurs as supergene digenite‐chalcocite and minor covellite. Disseminated chalcocite is mostly near‐surface and hence almost certainly supergene. We infer that during prolonged uplift at all four deposits, oxidation of residual pyrite at the water table generated enough acid to leach all the copper from earlier supergene‐enriched ore; below the water table the resulting acid sulfate solutions partly replaced enargite, covellite, chalcopyrite, bornite and pyrite with supergene chalcocite. Undeformed upward‐fining cross‐bedded conglomerates and sands of the ancestral Chindwin River floodplain overlie the margins of the Sabetaung deposits, form a major aquifer up to 40 m thick, and are a potential host for exotic copper mineralization. A mid‐Miocene pluton is inferred to underlie the Monywa deposits, but the possibility of porphyry‐type mineralization within the district is at best highly speculative.     

华阳川铀多金属矿床碳酸岩脉矿化特征

华阳川铀多金属矿床是小秦岭成矿带中成矿特征最为独特的矿床,其碳酸岩脉破碎带是重要的成矿空间。区内碳酸岩分布很广泛,沿NW向张性和张扭性断裂及其伴生的次级裂隙充填,呈单脉状和网脉状穿插于变质岩、伟晶岩中。矿化碳酸岩脉中,脉石矿物大部分为方解石,少量为角闪石、石英、磁铁矿、碱性长石等;矿石矿物为铌钛铀矿、独居石、褐帘石、重晶石、天青石。铌钛铀矿是最主要的赋铀矿物,矿化元素铀、铌、钡、锶、稀土等平均含量分别为2554.20×10-6、1836.80×10-6、4145.78×10-6、4412.80×10-6、7348.44×10-6,可以综合开发利用。     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of early Cretaceous sub-alkaline mafic dykes from Swangkre-Rongmil,East Garo Hills,Shillong plateau,northeast India

Numerous early Cretaceous mafic and alkaline dykes, mostly trending in N-S direction, are emplaced in the Archaean gneissic complex of the Shillong plateau, northeastern India. These dykes are spatially associated with the N-S trending deep-seated Nongchram fault and well exposed around the Swangkre-Rongmil region. The petrological and geochemical characteristics of mafic dykes from this area are presented. These mafic dykes show very sharp contact with the host rocks and do not show any signature of assimilation with them. Petrographically these mafic dykes vary from fine-grained basalt (samples from the dyke margin) to medium-grained dolerite (samples from the middle of the dyke) having very similar chemical compositions, which may be classified as basaltic-andesite/andesite. The geochemical characteristics of these mafic dykes suggest that these are genetically related to each other and probably derived from the same parental magma. Although, the high-field strength element (+rare-earth elements) compositions disallow the possibility of any crustal involvement in the genesis of these rocks, but Nb/La, La/Ta, and Ba/Ta ratios, and similarities of geochemical characteristics of present samples with the Elan Bank basalts and Rajmahal (Group II) mafic dyke samples, suggest minor contamination by assimilation with a small amount of upper crustal material. Chemistry, particularly REE, hints at an alkaline basaltic nature of melt. Trace element modelling suggests that the melt responsible for these mafic dykes had undergone extreme differentiation (∼ 50%) before its emplacement. The basaltic-andesite nature of these rocks may be attributed to this differentiation. Chemistry of these rocks also indicates ∼ 10–15% melting of the mantle source. The mafic dyke samples of the present investigation show very close geochemical similarities with the mafic rocks derived from the Kerguelen mantle plume. Perhaps the Swangkre-Rongmil mafic dykes are also derived from the Kerguelen mantle plume.     

广西凌云下甲二叠纪沉积灰岩墙和角砾灰岩体的成因及地质意义

20世纪70年代,广西地质八队在凌云下甲水晶矿区识别出中二叠世茅口期的沉积灰岩脉呈近直立状穿插在中泥盆统东岗岭阶或上泥盆统融县组灰岩中,同时在同层位识别出中二叠世茅口期生物碎屑灰岩胶结石炭纪—早二叠世生物碎屑角砾形成的角砾灰岩体。但对其成因解释与地质事实矛盾。笔者识别出沉积灰岩脉内有地震软沉积物流充填物和正常海底沉积物,同时识别出灰岩脉是台地边缘同沉积断层的伴生张裂隙,角砾灰岩体是同沉积断层产生的陡崖崩塌物及断层角砾岩。从而认为中二叠世时,由于频繁的同沉积正断层活动,使中、上泥盆统成为凌云地区碳酸盐岩台地的陡崖。一次新的断裂活动,在陡崖上形成张性裂隙,或者使已有裂隙张开,并诱发地震。最初,地震引发的碎屑流灌入裂隙,首先落入裂隙中的是中二叠世以前形成的固体岩石,可来自石炭系等,接着是台地上形成的内碎屑流,最后在安定期,台地形成的内碎屑也可缓慢落入裂隙中。与此同时,台地的断层陡崖崩塌,形成角砾灰岩体,其成分大部分是地震诱发的角砾岩。     

粤北下庄铀矿田黄陂-张光营辉绿岩脉的成因：元素地球化学和Nd-Sr-Pb-O同位素证据

黄陂-张光营辉绿岩脉位于粤北贵东复式花岗岩岩体东部的下庄铀矿田内,形成于142．6±3．0Ma。岩石化学呈现拉斑玄武宕系列的特征,富集大离子亲石元素；在蛛网图上,Th表现出正异常,而Ba呈负异常,P轻度亏损,无Nb,Ta,Zr,Hf异常；轻、重稀土之间分馏不明显,基本无Eu异常。微量元素和稀土元素特征与板内玄武岩的相似；铅同位素具有典型的Dupal异常铅特征,ε_(Nd)(t)值为3．2～4．7,(~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr),为0．70446～0．70628；在Pb-Pb,Nd-Pd,Nd-Sr和Sr-Pb相关图解上,数据点都位于亏损地幔和富集地幔Ⅱ之间。地球化学特征表明,黄陂-张光营辉绿岩脉是在拉张的构造环境下由介于亏损地幔和富集地幔Ⅱ之间的、相对富集的地幔源区部分熔融形成的,而这种富集地幔可能是由俯冲带流体交代形成的。     

白云鄂博REE—Fe—Nb矿床酸岩墙锆石U—Pb年龄及其地质意义

对白云鄂博稀土 -铁 -铌矿矿区一火成碳酸岩内锆石 U - Pb年龄进行了测定 ,五颗锆石测定数据点拟合直线与谐合线的上交点年龄为 2 0 70± 33Ma,表明白云鄂博矿区火成碳酸岩脉的侵入时代最早可以追溯到早元古代 ,该年龄与矿区内正长岩和英云闪长岩锆石年龄等接近 ,构成了形成于裂谷环境的白云鄂博早元古代碱性岩 -碳酸岩杂岩体     

Geochronological and geochemical study of mafic dykes from the northwest Chinese Altai: Implications for petrogenesis and tectonic evolution

Fifteen zircons separated from a mafic dyke in the Chinese Altai give a concordant age population with a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 375.5 ± 4.8 Ma, suggesting a Devonian emplacement. On the basis of their mineralogical compositions and textures, the coeval dykes can be divided into gabbroic and doleritic types. They are both sub-alkaline, tholeiitic, characterized by similarly low SiO₂ contents (45.2–52.7 wt.%) and total alkaline (K₂O + Na₂O = 0.99–4.93 wt.%). Rare earth element patterns of the gabbroic dykes are similar to N-MORB (La/Yb_N = 0.86–1.1), together with their high ε_Nd(t) values (+ 7.6 to + 8.1), indicating that their precursor magma was mainly derived from a N-MORB-type depleted asthenospheric mantle. While the REE patterns of the doleritic dykes resemble that of E-MORB (La/Yb_N = 1.12–2.28), enriched in LILEs and strongly depleted in HFSEs, with relative low ε_Nd(t) values (+ 3.4 to + 5.4) and high initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7057–0.7060). The zircon Hf isotopic analysis of the doleritic dykes give ε_Hf(t) values from + 10.7 to + 13.8. These signatures suggest that a depleted mantle wedge metasomatized by slab-derived fluids and/or melts was possibly involved in the generation of the doleritic magma. The refractory peridotite may have been melted with variable degrees caused by upwelling of the hot asthenosphere. The petrogenesis of the mafic dykes suggest a high heat flux as a result of upwelling of the hot asthenosphere and the contrast geochemical signatures can be interpreted by a ridge subduction, which could be an important tectonic control in the accretionary process of the Chinese Altai.     

碳酸盐岩干酪根催化降解生烃过程及动力学研究

以甘肃平凉地区奥陶系碳酸盐岩干酪根为对象,利用热模拟实验方法和化工催化原理,从热解生烃组成特征、生烃量及生烃动力学等方面考察了不同介质对干酪根热解生烃过程的影响。结果表明,碳酸盐岩对干酪根生烃过程具有反催化作用,随着温度的增加,反催化作用越明显。膏岩CaSO₄则表现出正催化作用,各种盐类对干酪根生烃过程影响较小。干酪根热解动力学研究表明,生烃动力学参数活化能E与视频率因子A之间不是独立变化的,它们之间存在一定的关系,即:E与lnA呈线形关系,这对于认识碳酸盐岩干酪根的化学结构及热解生烃机理具有一定的参考价值。