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.     

石英c轴组构影响因素探讨:以郯庐断裂带糜棱岩为例

石英是自然界中最主要的造岩矿物之一,也是地壳流变过程的主要变形矿物,其c轴组构特征与变形温度、剪切指向具有密切的关系,因而常被用来获取剪切指向、估计变形温度、计算运动学涡度等。但由于受到变形分解、先存构造、流体等因素的影响,同一岩石中常会得到多个不同的石英c轴组构结果。如果天然变形岩石同时受到多种因素的影响,其石英c轴组构会表现为何种特征?与岩石变形温度、剪切旋向是否仍具有很好的对应性?基于以上问题,本次工作以大别山东缘郯庐断裂带内经历了多期变形、富含流体活动的超糜棱岩为研究对象,在同一岩石薄片中选择不同区域,利用EBSD开展石英c轴组构分析。分析结果表明,选择的超糜棱岩的石英c轴组构点极密分布形态指示岩石变形发生于非共轴变形条件下;剪切指向方面,6个分析区域中区域1表现为左旋剪切指向特征,与薄片中优势剪切指向一致,而除区域4外的其他4个区域显示出与优势剪切指向相反的右旋剪切指向特征;变形温度方面,区域4以柱面滑移为主,显示了高温变形特征,而其余5个区域均以底面滑移为主,指示了低温变形环境。根据本次石英c轴组构特征分析结果,可以得出一些认识:岩石中石英表现为完全的GBM动态重结晶,所指示的温度明显高于大量沿糜棱面理分布的绿泥石所指示的绿片岩相环境,显示流体活动促进了岩石变形;而石英c轴组构指示的变形温度为绿片岩相环境,与绿泥石存在的现象一致,表明糜棱岩化过程中流体活动对石英c轴组构的影响并不明显。在发生过多期变形事件的岩石中,岩石中早期高温变形信息有可能保留下来并记录在石英c轴组构特征中,因而通过石英c轴组构分析有可能获得早期事件的信息;虽然石英c轴组构影响因素众多,但首先开展详细的显微镜下观察,然后有选择地对剪切指向清晰区域开展石英c轴组构分析,仍然能够得到与岩石中优势剪切指向一致的石英c轴组构结果。     

南蒙古地区西南欧玉花岗岩LA-MC-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年及其地质意义

对蒙古国南戈壁省东部的西南欧玉岩体黑云母花岗岩锆石进行了阴极发光照相,结果显示,其具有明显的振荡环带,为典型的岩浆锆石特征。对22颗锆石进行了LA-MC-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄测定,结果显示,21个测点的~(206)Pb/~(238)U年龄介于334±2~335±2Ma之间,年龄加权平均值为335±1Ma,表明西南欧玉岩体形成于早石炭世。     

Porphyry copper deposits: strike–slip faulting and throttling cupolas

Porphyry copper deposits sometimes form during the solidification of stocks of relatively oxidized magma of intermediate composition. Most workers have assumed ore-forming systems have special chemical attributes, but none has been found that is useful to guide exploration efforts. Stocks can form where strike–slip movements generate pull-apart pathways into which intrusions can rise from batholithic magma chambers. Upwelling of buoyant, bubble-bearing magma along the sides of a stock brings magmatic fluid to shallow depths where large bubbles can separate and pool under the cupola separating solidified igneous rock from mobile magma. Where rapid seismogenic movement on the bounding strike–slip fault ruptures the solidified, but hot and ductile carapace, downward propagating extension fractures can drain an accumulation of magmatic fluid. Decompression and cooling of fluid that jets upward into extension fractures causes mineral precipitation. Where strike–slip movements cause pull-aparts to dilate with sufficient recurrences – from decades to perhaps a century or so, throttling of the fluid accumulation acts as a safety valve that prevents explosive detonation of the system. Concurrently, the upward infiltration of magmatic fluid from the cupola is strongly focused into the pull-apart and generates the characteristic concentric alteration zones that guide exploration drilling. We conclude that porphyry copper ore deposits form where strike–slip movements are concurrent with the early stages of deep-seated bubbling (?6 km) along the walls of a rapidly cooling stock of magma. Supergiant deposits form where the bubbling front extends into the top of a parent batholith.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of an adakitic quartz-monzonitic porphyry stock and related cross-cutting dike suites,Kighal, northwest Iran

A late Oligocene–early Miocene quartz-monzonitic porphyry stock intrudes upper Eocene andesitic-latitic lava flows, producing Cu–Mo mineralization and hydrothermal alteration zones in the Kighal area, northwest Iran. Numerous cross-cutting dikes of various compositions, ranging from quartz-diorite to granodiorite and microdiorite, branch off from three later-stage barren sub-volcanic bodies, and intrude the porphyry stock. Both the stock and comagmatic dikes display I-type, magnesian, calc-alkaline to high-K calc-alkaline signatures and metaluminous to peraluminous geochemical characters, being emplaced within an active continental margin setting. Analysed samples display the typical geochemical characteristics of adakites. Moreover, rare earth elements exhibit a fractionated pattern with low heavy rare earth element concentrations. The general trend in an La/Yb–Yb diagram shows that partial melting, rather than fractional crystallization, was the dominant process of magma generation. Based on the compositional classification of modern adakites, the studied rocks are of high-SiO₂ adakite type. They were generated through low degrees of high-pressure partial melting of subducted rutile- and amphibole-bearing eclogitic Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab. The descending slab underwent break-off, leaving behind a residue rich in garnet + amphibole ± rutile, lacking significant plagioclase. Interaction of the slab-derived magma with the mantle-wedge peridotite is also evident.     

Triassic magmatism and Mo mineralization in Northeast China: geochronological and isotopic constraints from the Laojiagou porphyry Mo deposit

The Laojiagou Mo deposit is a newly discovered porphyry Mo deposit located in the Xilamulun Mo metallogenic belt, Northeast China. Mo mineralization mainly occurred within the monzogranite and monzogranite porphyry. Re–Os isochron dating of molybdenites indicate a mineralization age of 234.9 ± 3.1 Ma. Zircon LA–ICP–MS U–Pb analysis for monzogranite porphyry and monzogranite yield ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 238.6 ± 1.8 and 241.3 ± 1.5 Ma, respectively, indicating that Laojiagou Mo mineralization is related to Middle Triassic magmatism. Hf isotopic compositions of zircons from both monzogranite porphyry and monzogranite are characterized by positive ε_Hf(t) values [ε_Hf(t) = 2.9–7.3 and 1.5–7.9, respectively] and young T_DM2 model ages, which implies that the magma was derived from juvenile crust created during accretion of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Identification of the Laojiagou Mo deposit adds another important example of Triassic Mo mineralization in the Xilamulun Mo metallogenic belt where most Triassic Mo deposits in northeast China cluster around the northern margin of North China Craton. Based on the regional geological setting and geochronological and Hf isotope characteristics, we propose that Triassic Mo deposits and related magmatic rocks in northeast China formed during the last stages of evolution of the CAOB. These deposits formed during post-collisional extension after the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and amalgamation of the North China–Mongolian Block with the Siberian Craton.     

Palaeoproterozoic A-type magmatism in northern Wuyishan terrane,Southeast China: petrogenesis and tectonic implications

ABSTRACT

In this article we present zircon U–Pb ages, Hf isotopes, and whole-rock geochemistry of the Longzhu rhyolite porphyry from the Cathaysia Block, Southeast China to constrain its petrogenesis and provide insights into the early Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Cathaysia Block. LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating of a representative sample yields a weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb age of 1819 ± 16 Ma, interpreted as the crystallization age of the Longzhu rhyolite porphyry. Zircons from this sample have ε_Hf(t) values ranging from – 8.4 to – 2.2 and T^Hf_DM2 model ages from 2.76 to 2.46 Ga. The whole-rock Nd isotopic data from the Longzhu rhyolite porphyries yield ε_Nd(t) values spanning – 6.3 to – 4.7 and T^Nd_DM2 model ages from 2.81 to 2.69 Ga. The rhyolite porphyries have geochemical features similar to those of the typical A-type granites (rhyolites), with high SiO₂, total alkali contents and FeO^t/MgO ratios, and low CaO and MgO contents. Additionally, the rhyolite porphyries have high total rare earth element concentrations (627 ~ 760 ppm), high (La/Yb)_N values (14.5 ~ 26.9), strongly negative Eu anomalies (δEu = 0.28 ~ 0.41), and display enrichments of Rb, Ga, Th, and U and depletions of Sr, Nb, Ta, Eu, and Ti. The geochemical and Nd-Hf isotopic features suggest that the Palaeoproterozoic Longzhu rhyolite porphyries were generated by partial melting of source rocks similar to those of the Badu Complex in an intra-plate extensional setting. The results from this study, when combined with existing geochronological data, further demonstrate that the Palaeoproterozoic rocks of Wuyishan terrane probably represent a remnant of the Columbia supercontinent.     

Ore-forming granites from Jurassic porphyry Mo deposits,east–central Jilin Province,China: geochemistry,geochronology, and petrogenesis

ABSTRACT

The east–central part of Jilin Province, NE China, hosts an important polymetallic metallogenic district that contains more than 10 recently discovered large-, medium-, and small-scale Mo deposits. The Mo deposits in this area include porphyry-, skarn-, and quartz vein-type mineralization, of which the porphyry-type deposits dominate. Few studies of these mineralization-related granitoids have been undertaken. Here, we present the results of a systematic regional survey of the geochemistry and geochronology of Mo mineralization-related granites in this area. Zircon U–Pb dating of the Fuanpu, Jidetun, Shuangshan, and Jiapigou granites, all of which are associated with Mo mineralization, yielded weighted mean ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of 167.05 ± 0.81, 170.91 ± 0.83, 183.8 ± 1.1, and 182.3 ± 2.2 Ma, respectively, indicating that these plutons were emplaced during the Early–Middle Jurassic. They have SiO₂ = 62.59–73.5 wt.%, Al₂O₃ = 13.74–16.19 wt.%, and K₂O/Na₂O = 0.8–2.18. Chemically, they are metaluminous to peraluminous and belong to the high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic series. Moreover, they are enriched in large ion lithophile elements and light rare earth elements, and are depleted in high field strength elements, which are characteristics of I type granite. Whole rock Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic compositions of these granitoids are similar (initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70404 to 0.70554; εNd(t) = –0.9 to 2.4; (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_t = 15.549–15.567, (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_t = 18.035–18.530, ⁽²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_t = 37.966–38.229) and altogether suggest that the magmas from which the Mo deposits were generated originated from the mantle or juvenile crust. Combining our results with regional Jurassic tectonic setting, we conclude that the mineralization of these granitoids reflected Pacific plate subduction which induced magma underplating and promoted the remelting of the juvenile crust, resulting in voluminous granitic magma.     

甘肃北山地区白山堂铜矿地质特征及成矿流体研究

北山地区是我国重点成矿区带,蕴含很大的矿产资源潜力。以往工作发现斑岩型铜矿是北山地区重要的成矿类型,白山堂铜矿是其代表性斑岩型铜矿,但该矿至今一直未开展成矿流体的相关研究。本文进一步研究矿床地质特征,系统开展了矿床流体包裹体研究,发现其流体包裹体形态简单、多为气液两相,中低温(成矿期含矿石英脉均一温度230℃～260℃及160℃～170℃,共生黄铜矿爆裂温度约301℃)、低盐度[w(NaCleq)]为11%～15%,均值11.32%及3.4%～7.7%,均值4.8%)、中等密度(约0.95～1.00 g/cm3)、中低压力(约5×103～101×103 kPa)等物理化学特征,综合认为流体具有中低温热液脉型矿化特征,结合地质特征及近矿外围一系列环绕石板泉二长花岗岩分布的中低温热液脉型-矽卡岩型-斑岩型Cu、Fe、Pb和Zn等矿化分带模式,认为白山堂铜矿为中低温热液脉型矿化类型,代表岩浆热液系统演化到晚期阶段的产物,并认为环绕石板泉二长花岗岩周缘的系列斑岩型-矽卡岩型-热液脉型矿化存在某种联系。     

大回线源瞬变电磁接收装置的改进

针对当前瞬变电磁勘探中存在的接收有效面积较小的问题,提出使用接收有效面积更大的磁棒代替传统的接收面积较小的空心线圈,并在山西大同进行了试验,取得理想的探测结果。将改进装置用于西藏某钼矿勘探中,探测深度达到1 000 m,远远超过原有装置的探测深度,为大回线源瞬变电磁应用于更深度空间探测矿和石油提供了可行性借鉴。