Isotopic fronts in hydrothermally mineralized carbonate rocks

Advective-dispersive fluid flow through permeable and porous rock causes systematic alteration of the infiltrated rock. O and Sr isotopes can be used as tracers to monitor exchange processes between mineralizing hydrothermal solutions and carbonate host rocks. Fluid infiltration into rock of initially uniform isotopic composition leads to characteristic changes in ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr in the rock, that depend on infiltration distance, fluid velocity, diffusivity and reaction kinetics. For fast fluid-solid equilibrium during advective flow, the shape of such alteration profiles can be described by the dimensionless Peclet number (P _e ), which expresses the fluid flux, infiltration distance and diffusivity. In the case of mineralization from low to moderate temperature solutions, isotope exchange is not instantaneous, but kinetically controlled, and a similar parameter, the Damköhler number (N _d ) expressing fluid flux, isotope exchange rate and infiltration distance, becomes more useful. N _d - and P _e -values have been estimated for various examples of carbonatehosted hydrothermal mineralization in the Eastern Alps (Austria) and the Benue Trough (Nigeria) by modelling O and Sr isotope data from ore (or gangue minerals) and host rock. The values obtained enable a rough differentiation between pervasive and channelled fluid flow as the prevailing transport mechanism to be made. Results indicate that both highly channelled fluid flow through fractures without significant interaction with the wall-rock, and pervasive fluid flow with infiltration distances into the percolated host rock of the order of 100 m, occur near mineral deposits. In the latter case, the extent of O and Sr isotopic alteration of the host rock can be used as an effective exploration tool.