Polymetallic Mineralization at the Shin-Ohtoyo Deposit, Harukayama District, Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: The Shin-Ohtoyo Cu–Au deposit is located in the Harukayama district, 20 km west of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Both acid-type disseminated and adularia–quartz–type vein Au mineralizations have been recognized within a small distance of less than 500 m in the district. Mineralogical characteristics of sulfide ores from the Shin-Ohtoyo deposit have been proved to be polymetallic. Ore minerals containing Sn, V, Bi and Te are recognized. Nine ore types are recognized in terms of characteristic mineral assemblage; (1) chalcedonic quartz veinlets in silicified zone around the deposit, (2) bismuthinite, emplectite, friedrichite and tetrahedrite, (3) an unnamed Cu–Sn–Fe–Zn sulfide, colusite-series minerals, stannoidite, emplectite and tetrahedrite, (4) bournonite, Se-bearing galena and tetrahedrite, (5) luzonite/famatinite and Ag-bearing tetrahedrite, (6) colusite-series minerals, emplectite, aikinite and tetrahedrite/goldfieldite, (7) luzonite/famatinite, colusite-series minerals, mawsonite and tetra–hedrite/goldfieldite, (8) enargite, luzonite/famatinite and tetrahedrite, and (9) colusite-series minerals and tetrahedrite. The first occurrence of friedrichite and stibiocolusite from Japan are reported. The chemical formula of the unnamed phase corresponds to Cu₆(Cu, Fe, Zn)Sn₃S₁₀. Sulfur isotopic ratios (δ³⁴S) of sulfides from the stockpile range from –0. 5% to +1. 9%, and those from drill cores recovered by Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ) vary from –2. 7% to +0. 8%. Sulfur isotopic ratio of barite in a cavity in the silicified tuff breccia collected from the stock pile yields +27. 1%, while that of barite collected from MMAJ core is +21. 7%. Sulfur isotopic thermometry applied for a pair of barite (+21. 7%) and associated pyrite (+1. 8%) indicates about 300°C. High–Te tetrahedrite composition from both the chalcedonic quartz vein in the silicified zone around the Shin-Ohtoyo deposit and the polymetallic sulfide ores from the adit of the deposit, suggests that the Au mineralization in the former is attributed to a hydrothermal system marginal to the polymetallic mineralization.     

Aircraft observation of carbon dioxide at 8–13 km altitude over the western Pacific from 1993 to 1999

Abstract The spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric CO₂ at 8–13 km from April 1993 to April 1999 were observed by measuring CO₂ mixing ratios in samples collected biweekly from a commercial airliner between Australia and Japan. The CO₂ growth rate showed a considerable interannual variation, with a maximum of about 3 ppm yr⁻¹ during late 1997. This variation is related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. A year-to-year change related to the ENSO events was also found in the latitudinal distribution pattern of the CO₂ annual mean between 30°N and 30°S. The averaged CO₂ seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere gradually decayed toward the equator, and a relatively complicated variation with a double seasonal maximum appeared in the Southern Hemisphere. A significant yearly change of the seasonal cycle pattern was observed in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact of a tropical biomass-burning injection on the upper tropospheric CO₂ was estimated on the basis of the CO data from the same airliner observation.     

Long-range transport of carbon monoxide from tropical ground to upper troposphere: a case study for South East Asia in October 1997

High concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) were observed in October 1997 at the upper troposphere of the western tropical Pacific. Transport from the potential sources of CO due to biomass burnings in the tropics was investigated by using a global chemical transport model (CTM) driven by assimilated meteorological data provided from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). A CTM evaluation simulation using water vapor showed that the amount of vertical transport of moisture by large-scale flow was consistent with the precipitation predicted at the convective zone. A series of CTM simulations using 10-day emission periods of an artificial material with lifetime of 60 days indicated that vertical lifting of surface air at the Indonesian archipelago occurred in the concentrated convections west of Sumatra Island. No evidence was found that CO from the Amazon region or Africa significantly contributed to high concentrations in the western tropical Pacific. Transport formed a large-scale anvil below the tropopause by rapid vertical transport and by divergence flow. The average time required for the transport from Kalimantan and Sumatra Island to the point of high CO concentration was about 15 days. High concentrations at an altitude of 10 km in the Southern Hemisphere were transported by large-scale subsidence from the upper tropospheric maximum, which was presumably produced from the sources at Kalimantan and Sumatra Island. Estimated emissions of CO in September and October from Kalimantan and Sumatra were substantially larger than the previous estimates. Omission of chemical reaction was a possible problem for the overestimate, but not significant. The possible problems in the transport were incorrect CTM transport due to insufficient horizontal (2.5×2.5°) and vertical resolution of the CTM, and to inaccuracy in the wind fields at the upper part of the troposphere and a divergent flow pattern in the upper part of the troposphere.     

The Arinem Te‐Bearing Gold‐Silver‐Base Metal Deposit,West Java,Indonesia

The vein system in the Arinem area is a gold‐silver‐base metal deposit of Late Miocene (8.8–9.4 Ma) age located in the southwestern part of Java Island, Indonesia. The mineralization in the area is represented by the Arinem vein with a total length of about 5900 m, with a vertical extent up to 575 m, with other associated veins such as Bantarhuni and Halimun. The Arinem vein is hosted by andesitic tuff, breccia, and lava of the Oligocene–Middle Miocene Jampang Formation (23–11.6 Ma) and overlain unconformably by Pliocene–Pleistocene volcanic rocks composed of andesitic‐basaltic tuff, tuff breccia and lavas. The inferred reserve is approximately 2 million tons at 5.7 g t^?1 gold and 41.5 g t^?1 silver at a cut‐off of 4 g t^?1 Au, which equates to approximately 12.5t of Au and 91.4t of Ag. The ore mineral assemblage of the Arinem vein consists of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, marcasite, and arsenopyrite with small amounts of pyrrhotite, argentite, electrum, bornite, hessite, tetradymite, altaite, petzite, stutzite, hematite, enargite, tennantite, chalcocite, and covellite. These ore minerals occur in quartz with colloform, crustiform, comb, vuggy, massive, brecciated, bladed and calcedonic textures and sulfide veins. A pervasive quartz–illite–pyrite alteration zone encloses the quartz and sulfide veins and is associated with veinlets of quartz–calcite–pyrite. This alteration zone is enveloped by smectite–illite–kaolinite–quartz–pyrite alteration, which grades into a chlorite–smectite–kaolinite–calcite–pyrite zone. Early stage mineralization (stage I) of vuggy–massive–banded crystalline quartz‐sulfide was followed by middle stage (stage II) of banded–brecciated–massive sulfide‐quartz and then by last stage (stage III) of massive‐crystalline barren quartz. The temperature of the mineralization, estimated from fluid inclusion microthermometry in quartz ranges from 157 to 325°C, whereas the temperatures indicated by fluid inclusions from sphalerite and calcite range from 153 to 218 and 140 to 217°C, respectively. The mineralizing fluid is dilute, with a salinity <4.3 wt% NaCl equiv. The ore‐mineral assemblage and paragenesis of the Arinem vein is characteristically of a low sulfidation epithermal system with indication of high sulfidation overprinted at stage II. Boiling is probably the main control for the gold solubility and precipitation of gold occurred during cooling in stage I mineralization.     

Nature and growth rate of the Northern Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) arc crust and their implications for continental crust formation

The bulk composition of the continental crust throughout geological history is thought by most previous workers to be andesitic. This assumption of an andesitic bulk composition led to an early hypothesis by 72 ) that the continental crust was created by arc magmatism. This hypothesis for the origin of continental crust was challenged by several authors because: (i) the mean rate of arc crust addition obtained by 50 ) is too small to account for some certain phases of rapid crustal growth; and (ii) the bulk composition of ocean island arcs, the main contributor to the Archean and early Proterozoic crust, is basaltic rather than andesitic ( 4 ; 49 ). New data from the Northern Izu–Bonin arc are presented here which support the 72 ) hypothesis for the origin of the continental crust by andesitic arc magma. A geological interpretation of P wave crustal structure obtained from the Northern Izu–Bonin arc by 66 ) indicates that the arc crust has four distinctive lithologic layers: from top to bottom: (i) a 0.5–2-km-thick layer of basic to intermediate volcaniclastic, lava and hemipelagite (layer A); (ii) a 2–5-km-thick basic to intermediate volcaniclastics, lavas and intrusive layer (layer B); (iii) a 2–7-km-thick layer of felsic (tonalitic) rocks (layer C); and (iv) a 4–7-km-thick layer of mafic igneous rocks (layer D). The chemical composition of the upper and middle part of the northern Izu–Bonin arc is estimated to be similar to the average continental crust by 73 ). The rate of igneous addition of the Northern Izu–Bonin arc since its initial 45-Ma magmatism was calculated as 80 km³/km per million years. This rate of addition is considered to be a reasonable estimate for all arcs in the western Pacific. Using this rate, the global rate of crustal growth is estimated to be 2.96 km³/year which exceeds the average rate of crustal growth since the formation of the Earth (1.76 km³/year). Based on this estimate of continental growth and the previously documented sediment subduction and tectonic erosion rate (1.8 km³/year, 24 ), several examples of growth curves of the continental crust are presented here. These growth curves suggest that at least 50% of the present volume of the continental crust can be explained by arc magmatism. This conclusion indicates that arc magmatism is the most important contributor to the formation of continental crust, especially at the upper crustal level.     

Petrology,Geochemistry, and Fluid Inclusion Microthermometry of Sphalerite from the Laloki and Federal Flag Strata‐Bound Massive Sulfide Deposits,Papua New Guinea: Implications for Gold Mineralization

The Laloki and Federal Flag deposits are two of the many (over 45) polymetallic massive sulfide deposits that occur in the Astrolabe Mineral Field, Papua New Guinea. New data of the mineralogical compositions, mineral textures, and fluid inclusion studies on sphalerite from Laloki and Federal Flag deposits were investigated to clarify physiochemical conditions of the mineralization at both deposits. The two deposits are located about 2 km apart and they are stratigraphically hosted by siliceous to carbonaceous claystone and rare gray chert of Paleocene–Eocene age. Massive sulfide ore and host rock samples were collected from each deposit for mineralogical, geochemical, and fluid inclusion studies. Mineralization at the Laloki deposit consists of early‐stage massive sulfide mineralization (sphalerite‐barite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite–marcasite) and late‐stage brecciation and remobilization of early‐stage massive sulfides that was accompanied by late‐stage sphalerite mineralization. Occurrence of native gold blebs in early‐stage massive pyrite–marcasite‐chalcopyrite ore with the association of pyrrhotite‐hematite and abundant planktonic foraminifera remnants was due to reduction of hydrothermal fluids by the reaction with organic‐rich sediments and seawater mixing. Precipitation of fine‐grained gold blebs in late‐stage Fe‐rich sphalerite resulted from low temperature and higher salinity ore fluids in sulfur reducing conditions. In contrast, the massive sulfide ores from the Federal Flag deposit contain Fe‐rich sphalerite and subordinate sulfarsenides. Native gold blebs occur as inclusions in Fe‐rich sphalerite, along sphalerite grain boundaries, and in the siliceous‐hematitic matrix. Such occurrences of native gold suggest that gold was initially precipitated from high‐temperature, moderate to highly reduced, low‐sulfur ore fluids. Concentrations of Au and Ag from both Laloki and Federal Flag deposits were within the range (<10 ppm Au and <100 ppm Ag) of massive sulfides at a mid‐ocean ridge setting rather than typical arc‐type massive sulfides. The complex relationship between FeS contents in sphalerite and gold grades of both deposits is probably due to the initial deposition of gold on the seafloor that may have been controlled by factors such as Au complexes, pH, and fO₂ in combination with temperature and sulfur fugacity.     

Metastable growth of corundum adjacent to quartz in a spinel-bearing quartzite from the Archaean Napier Complex, Antarctica

In a granulite-facies spinel-bearing quartzite, corundum, orthopyroxene and sapphirine (and rarely cordierite and sillimanite) form partial rims separating spinel from quartz. Textures indicate the reactions:
spinel + quartz = orthopyroxene + corundum, and
spinel + quartz = orthopyroxene + sapphirine.
Thus, corundum and sapphirine are produced by reactions involving quartz. The low Al-content of the orthopyroxene (0.5–2.8 wt %) and low values for Mg–Fe distribution coefficient for spinel–sapphirine and spinel–orthopyroxene reflect low-temperature conditions during formation of the reaction products. Absence of zoning in spinel and a constant Mg–Fe distribution coefficient for spinel–sapphirine and spinel–orthopyroxene, over a compositional range, indicate Mg–Fe equilibration. It is suggested that stable reactions such as spinel + quartz = cordierite or spinel + quartz = garnet + sillimanite were over-stepped and that metastable reactions give rise to the anomalous juxtaposition of corundum + quartz.     

Plio–Pleistocene Hydrothermal Activity Related to Gold Mineralization in the Seta Area, Northeastern Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract: Plio–Pleistocene hydrothermal activity resulted in high grade low sulfidation epithermal gold mineralization in the Seta area, the southern end of the Monbetsu-Kamishihoro Graben of northeastern Hokkaido, Japan. Hydrothermal activity and accompanying hydrothermal eruptions began at approximately 2 Ma along NNW-SSE trending faults, the Tohbu-ko fault I and II. This activity resulted in two main zones of gold mineralization, the west quartz-adularia veins(QAV) and east stock-work zone(STZ), formed between 1. 8 and 1. 2 Ma. A smectite-chlorite alteration zone is observed at deeper levels, while kaolinite and kaolinite-smectite zones occur at shallower levels with an acid-leached zone present near the surface. The kaoli-nite and kaolinite-smectite zones are also distributed along faults and the STZ, to depths of several hundred meters. δ³⁴S values of pyrite and alunite from the kaolinite and silicified zones indicate alunite formed by the oxidation of sulfide, either H₂S(vapor) or mineral.
Formation of the STZ and the southern part of the QAV took place during lacustrine sedimentation, while formation of the northern part of the QAV took place after eruption of andesitic lava; the latter being associated with widespread alteration formed under neutral-pH conditions. δ¹⁸O values of quartz veins and silicified rocks indicate that the paleo-hydrothermal waters have a large meteoric component, increasing with decreasing depth in the STZ. Acid hydrothermal waters, resulting from near surface oxidation of H₂S were responsible for acid-leaching and kaolinization of surrounding rocks. Between 1. 4 and 0. 3 Ma, the acid hot waters drained back along the STZ to depths of at least 500m, as a result of a fall in the paleo-water table level.