Brent I.A. McInnes

Hydrous metasomatism of oceanic sub-arc mantle, Lihir, Papua New Guinea : petrology and geochemistry of fluid-metasomatised mantle wedge xenoliths

Abstract Ultramafic, mafic and sedimentary xenoliths have been recovered from a recently erupted, shoshonitic submarine cinder cone (Tubaf and Edison volcanoes) from the Tabar–Lihir–Tanga–Feni island arc, located in the New Ireland basin of Papua New Guinea. These samples represent a proxy drill hole that can be re-assembled into an ‘ophiolite-type’ model of oceanic lithosphere. Petrographic and geochemical examination of the gabbroic and depleted mantle xenoliths indicates that the New Ireland fore-arc lithosphere is a fragment of ancient Pacific Plate generated at a mid-ocean ridge spreading centre and transported to the Pacific–Australian Plate margin. Convergent margin processes subjected the harzburgitic mantle wedge to hydrofracturing and hydration metasomatism at T=790–1030°C as a consequence of dewatering of a subducted slab. Advection of a high-density, H2O-rich fluid containing a substantial dissolved component (alkali aluminosilicate melt and aqueous carbon and sulphur species) through these mantle fractures caused a net transfer of soluble elements from the lower to upper mantle wedge and created a network of oxidised (ΔFMQ≈1.8–2.0) metasomatised peridotite enriched in orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, phlogopite, amphibole, magnetite, and Fe–Ni sulphides. The vein mineral assemblage magnetite+sulphide indicates precipitation from a hydrous fluid with high SO2/H2S, consistent with the hydrous fluid being derived from dehydration of subducted, altered oceanic crust. Preferential partial melting of these metasomatically enriched mantle wedge regions could account for the highly oxidised, sulphur- and alkali-rich nature of the high-K calc-alkaline volcanoes of the Tabar–Lihir–Tanga–Feni island chain.

Two subgroups of A-type granites in the coastal area of Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces, SE China: age and geochemical constraints on their petrogenesis

Late Cretaceous (90–100 Ma) A-type granites are widespread in the coastal area of the Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces, SE China. According to mineralogical and geochemical characteristics, the A-type granites in this belt can be further divided into aluminous and peralkaline subgroups. The aluminous subgroup often contains aluminous-rich minerals (e.g. spessartine and Mn-rich muscovite), while the peralkaline subgroup usually contains riebeckite, arfvedsonite and aegirine. Geochemically, the aluminous A-type granites show lower Nb, Zr, Ga, Y and REE abundances, and lower FeO*/MgO and Ga/Al than the peralkaline subgroup. When they occur in the same area, the two subgroups of A-type granites display quite similar initial Nd isotopic compositions, which are indicative of mixing of ancient basement crustal rocks with variable amounts of mantle materials. Integrated geological and geochemical investigations indicate that both the aluminous and the peralkaline magmas are highly evolved and reflect the residual liquids left after high degrees of fractional crystallisation in a deep magma chamber. The present authors suggest that the mineralogical and geochemical differences between the aluminous and peralkaline subgroups are likely to have been generated via different differentiation paths controlled by varying fluorine contents of the parent magmas.

Imaging fluid inclusion content using the new CSIRO–GEMOC nuclear microprobe

Abstract The analysis of fluid inclusions in minerals holds the key to understanding ore formation processes. PIXE analysis of fluid inclusions using the nuclear microprobe provides a direct non-destructive method to determine the composition of these trapped fluids. However, some results have been controversial. In order to demonstrate the reliability of the PIXE approach, and eliminate spurious sources of important elements, the internal contents of fluid inclusions have been imaged using the new CSIRO–GEMOC nuclear microprobe (NMP) in a method that uses identification and quantitative integration of the inclusion signal from PIXE images. Examples of this approach show clearly the elements that reside within the fluid inclusions, and allow discrimination against solid phases outside and in close proximity to the inclusions.

Observations and sampling of an ongoing subsurface eruption of Kavachi volcano, Solomon Islands, May 2000

A serendipitous encounter with an erupting, shallow submarine volcano in the Solomon Islands provided a rare opportunity to map and sample the dispersal of volcanogenic emissions into the surrounding water column. Kavachi, episodically active since at least 1939, is a forearc volcano located on the Pacific plate only ∼30 km northeast of its convergent boundary with the downgoing Indo-Australian plate. During 14 May 2000 we observed explosive phreatomagmatic eruptions at several minute intervals, creating a complex distribution of plumes of volcanic glass shards throughout the water column at a distance of ∼1.5 km from the summit. At distances of 4–5 km, shallow-water ( 3 He, Fe, and Mn (one sample only), but not in CO 2 . We infer that the volcano flanks were essentially impermeable to fluid emissions and that the observed particle halo was created by magma shattering and resuspension. Most magmatic and hydrothermal fluids were thus discharged directly from the summit into the atmosphere.

Seeing is believing: Visualization of He distribution in zircon and implications for thermal history reconstruction on single crystals

Inverse modeling of intracrystal (U-Th)/(Pb-He) abundances in individual zircons constrains the thermal history of Earth’s crust. Zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometry is an established radiometric dating technique used to place temporal constraints on a range of thermally sensitive geological events, such as crustal exhumation, volcanism, meteorite impact, and ore genesis. Isotopic, crystallographic, and/or mineralogical heterogeneities within analyzed grains can result in dispersed or anomalous (U-Th)/He ages. Understanding the effect of these grain-scale phenomena on the distribution of He in analyzed minerals should lead to improvements in data interpretation. We combine laser ablation microsampling and noble gas and trace element mass spectrometry to provide the first two-dimensional, grain-scale zircon He “maps” and quantify intragrain He distribution. These maps illustrate the complexity of intracrystalline He distribution in natural zircon and, combined with a correlated quantification of parent nuclide (U and Th) distribution, provide an opportunity to assess a number of crystal chemistry processes that can generate anomalous zircon (U-Th)/He ages. The technique provides new insights into fluid inclusions as potential traps of radiogenic He and confirms the effect of heterogeneity in parent-daughter isotope abundances and metamictization on (U-Th)/He systematics. Finally, we present a new inversion method where the He, U, and Th mapping data can be used to constrain the high- and low-temperature history of a single zircon crystal.

New hydrothermal activity and alkalic volcanism in the backarc Coriolis Troughs, Vanuatu

The Vanuatu Australia Vents Expedition (VAVE) to the Coriolis Troughs in southern Vanuatu during September 2001 aboard the RV Franklin discovered a new hydrothermall vent field-herein informally named Nifonea-and recent alkallic volcanic activity. The Nifonea field in the central Vate Trough was located by coincident light transmission and CH4 anomalies in a hydrothermal plume of ∼60 km2 extent, best developed between 1600 and 1750 m depth at ∼150 m above the seafloor. Extensive hydrothermal fauna and yellow-brown crusts and mounds cover an area of ∼1 km2. Very fresh, glassy, variably vesicular, sparsely phyric and aphyric basalt, trachybasalt, and basaltic trachyandesite (with ∼5-6 wt% combined alkalies at ∼ 51%-53% SiO2 and enriched light rare earth elements, Nb, and Zr) samples were dredged from youthful curtain, tube, and sheet flows, plus iron oxyhydroxide deposits. The alkalic composition of lavas in this tectonic setting is unique and attributed to thin ocean crust being developed in an incipient rifting phase involving a relatively low percentage of source-mantle melting. The Coriolis Troughs are among Earths most youthful backarc basins and thus provide valuable insights to incipient rifting and hydrothermal processes.

Re-Os geochronology and isotope systematics of the Tanami, Tennant Creek and Olympic Dam Cu-Au deposits

The 187Re–187Os system can determine directly the age of formation of ore deposits and can characterise the isotopic provenance of metals in ore systems. We report rhenium–osmium (Re–Os) isotope data from the Callie gold deposit of the Tanami district in the Northern Territory, the Gecko Cu–Au–Bi deposit of the Tennant Creek district in the Northern Territory and the giant Olympic Dam Cu–Au–U deposit in South Australia. Re–Os data for vein sulfides from the Callie deposit produce an isochron age of 1622±120 Ma, indicating that gold mineralisation occurred after emplacement of adjacent granitoid plutons in the Tanami region. Sulfide minerals from the Callie gold–quartz vein system have initial Os isotope ratios that overlap mantle values, indicating that the Os in the Callie gold deposit was derived from a non-radiogenic source with a distinctly different isotopic composition than the surrounding crustal rocks. Cu–Au–Bi sulfide ores from the Gecko 44 Deposit in the Tennant Creek camp produced a Re–Os age of 1665±66 Ma, confirming a post-Barramundi epigenetic formation age for the Cu-sulfide ores. The Re–Os age supports earlier hypotheses that late-stage granitoids (e.g. Warrego Granite) were a potential source of fluids and Cu, Au, Bi, U and S to the sulfide stage deposits of the Tennant Creek district. The initial Os isotope ratio of the Gecko Cu-sulfide deposit is non-radiogenic and suggests a mantle-like source for Os. Whole-rock ore samples and mineral separates from the chalcopyrite zone of the Olympic Dam Cu–Au–U deposit yielded a Re–Os age of 1258±28 Ma. Because the ages of both the associated Roxby Downs Granite and felsic dykes that cross-cut mineralisation are much older (ca1590 Ma), the ca 1258 Ma age is interpreted as the time when the Re–Os isotope system at Olympic Dam was reset by a secondary process, possibly related to thermal metamorphism or supergene alteration.

An in situ technique for (U–Th–Sm)/He and U–Pb double dating

We report on a new laser-based technique for rapid, quantitative and automated in situ double dating (U–Pb and (U–Th–Sm)/He) of minerals, for applications in geochronology, thermochronology and geochemistry. In situ laser microanalysis offers several advantages over conventional bulk crystal methods in terms of spatial resolution, productivity, and safety. This new approach/methodology utilizes an interoperable and integrated suite of analytical instruments including a 193 nm ArF excimer laser system, quadrupole ICP-MS, quadrupole helium mass spectrometry system and swappable flow-through and ultra-high vacuum analytical chambers. We describe the analytical protocols for zircon analysis including grain mounting in Teflon, parameters for parent and daughter isotopic measurement, and standard development, and provide a freeware application for determining (U–Th–Sm)/He ‘pairwise’ ages from analytical data. The in situ double dating method described is applied to the Ellendale lamproite pipe and country rocks, Western Australia and successfully replicates conventional U–Pb and (U–Th–Sm)/He age variations determined previously by conventional techniques.

Exhumation history of the Peake and Denison Inliers: insights from low-temperature thermochronology

ABSTRACT Multi-method thermochronology applied to the Peake and Denison Inliers (northern South Australia) reveals multiple low-temperature thermal events. Apatite fission track (AFT) data suggest two main time periods of basement cooling and/or reheating into AFT closure temperatures (∼60–120°C); at ca 470–440 Ma and ca 340–300 Ma. We interpret the Ordovician pulse of rapid basement cooling as a result of post-orogenic cooling after the Delamerian Orogeny, followed by deformation related to the start of the Alice Springs Orogeny and orocline formation relating to the Benambran Orogeny. This is supported by a titanite U/Pb age of 479 ± 7 Ma. Our thermal history models indicate that subsequent denudation and sedimentary burial during the Devonian brought the basement rocks back to zircon U–Th–Sm/He (ZHe) closure temperatures (∼200–150°C). This period was followed by a renewal of rapid cooling during the Carboniferous, likely as the result of the final pulses of the Alice Springs Orogeny, which exhumed the inlier to ambient surface temperatures. This thermal event is supported by the presence of the Mount Margaret erosion surface, which indicates that the inlier was exposed at the surface during the early Permian. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, the inlier was subjected to minor reheating to AFT closure temperatures; however, the exact timing cannot be deduced from our dataset. Cretaceous apatite U–Th–Sm/He (AHe) ages coupled with the presence of contemporaneous coarse-grained terrigenous rocks suggest a temporally thermal perturbation related with shallow burial during this time, before late Cretaceous exhumation cooled the inliers back to ambient surface temperatures.

Exhumation history of the Sanshandao Au deposit, Jiaodong: constraints from structural analysis and (U-Th)/He thermochronology

The Sanshandao gold deposit contains an estimated Au resource of >1500 tons, however little is known about the history of exhumation, and the magnitude of displacement on the ore-hosting fault. Structural measurement revealed two phases of normal and one phase of sinistral movement on the fault. Despite of intra-sample dispersions, (U-Th)/He ages from two sub-vertical profiles show decreasing trends from the surface down to −3560 m (zircon: 123 Ma to 55 Ma; apatite 103 Ma to 0.3 Ma). Over-dispersion of AHe ages likely reflects the presence of undetected inclusions. According to the age-depth pattern, we infer that the deposit underwent an early phase of rapid cooling in the late Early Cretaceous, which was followed by a short period of thermal stagnation and a revived rapid cooling between 75 Ma and 55 Ma in response to a combined effects of late normal movement and erosion. Since the Eocene, the deposit has experienced a slow monotonic cooling. Exhumation magnitude estimates suggest that the deposit have been denudated > 5.1 km. The two phases of normal displacement along the fault occurred in the late Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, leading to a total offset magnitude of 0.5–2.3 km.