Characteristics and chronology of fracture — fluid infiltration in the Archean,Eye Dashwa Lakes pluton,Superior Province: evidence from H,C, O-isotopes and fluid inclusions

The Archean Eye Dashwa Lakes pluton (2672±24 Ma) has domains of mineralogically fresh isotropic granite, domains that have undergone bulk hydrothermal alteration, and at least eleven sets of sequential fracture arrays, each with distinctive mineral assemblages. Fresh granite is characterized by whole rock ¹⁸O=8.1 to 8.6 and primary magmatic quartz-feldspar (+1.3), quartz-biotite (5.2 to 5.4) and quartz-magnetite (+9.8) fractionations. Magmatic fluids had a calculated isotopic composition of ¹⁸O=7.9±0.5, and D=–80±5. These isotropic volumes of the granite have not experienced significant incursion of external thermal waters. Pegmatites, quartz-molybdenite veins, and phlogopite-muscovite coated fractures are sporadically distributed in the granite, and were precipitated from high-temperature magmatic fluids where ¹⁸O=8.0 to 10.3 and D=–80±5.The most abundant variety of fracture filling assemblage is epidote-quartz-chlorite±muscovite: fractures are bounded by domains of mineralogically similar bulk hydrothermal alteration of the granite. These minerals formed at 160 to 280° C, in the presence of NaCl, and NaCl-MgCl₂ brines (up to 25 wt% NaCl equivalent) of probable evolved marine water origin ( ¹⁸O=+0.4 to +3.8, D=–10 to –35) undergoing transient boiling. Upper plateau ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages for the muscovite are 2650±15 Ma. Sequentially in the chronology of fracture-infiltration events, calcite-fluorite veins were deposited from boiling fluids at 340 to 390° C, isotopically characterized by ¹⁸O=4.7 and ¹³C=–5; and rare prehnite-chlorite lined fractures formed at 250 to 290° C. A generation of adularia-bearing veins precipitated at 140 to 230° C, from CaCl₂-NaCl brines, where ¹⁸O=0 to –6.5 and D=–10 to –30. Incremental ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra on the K-feldspar yield an upper plateau of 1100 Ma. Subsequently, hematite developed during reactivation of earlier fractures, at 140 to 210° C in the presence of fluids characterized by ¹⁸O=–0.4 to –5.4 and D=–15 to –25. Arrays of open fractures partially occupied by gypsum and goethite reflect a fluid infiltration event at temperatures <50° C. Many of the earlier generations of fracture minerals have transgranular fracture infillings which record the presence of low temperature (88–190° C), hypersaline CaCl₂-NaCl brines. Narrow fractures lined with clays±calcite are sites for seepage of modern ground-waters. The isotopic signature of clay ( ¹⁸O=12 to 20, D=–80±5) plots near the line for modern kaolinites, confirming its formation in the presence of recent surface waters. Calcites coexisting with the clay minerals, and in fractured pegmatite show a common isotopic signature ( ¹⁸O=23±0.5, ¹³C=–13.6), indicating precipitation from modern groundwaters, where reactivated fractures have acted as conduits for infiltration of surface waters to depths of 200 m. Intermittent fracture-infiltration has occurred over 2.7 Ga. The early sequences of fracture-related fluid flow are interpreted in terms of devolatilization of the granite, followed by thermal contraction fracturing, incursion of marine water and convective cooling in the Archean. Hematite and adularia fracture fillings correspond to a stage when meteoric water infiltrated the volcanicplutonic terrain during Proterozoic and later times. Episodic fracture-fluid expulsion events may have been driven by seismic pumping, in response to magmatically and tectonically induced stresses within the Shield, with surface waters penetrating to depths of 15 km in the crust.