G. S. Nikolaev

The Dovyren Intrusive Complex: Problems of Petrology and Ni Sulfide Mineralization

This paper presents a review of petrological-geochemical studies at the Yoko-Dovyren Massif with an emphasis on relations between parameters of the parental magma, a model for the genesis of the lower contact zone, and the nature of Ni sulfide ore mineralization, including the evaluation of the possible ore potential. Arguments are presented in support of the conclusion that the Dovyren magma brought much intratelluric olivine of the composition Fo85–87 into the chamber, and the composition of the initial melt corresponded to gabbronorite or moderately magnesian basite with no more than 10 wt % MgO. The probable temperature of the parental magma was approximately 1200–1250°C, and the sulfur solubility did not exceed 0.10–0.12 wt % (P = 1 kbar, WM buffer). The comparison of this estimate with the average S contents in the bottom plagioperidotites (0.12±0.06 wt %) indicates that the initial magma was saturated with a sulfide phase. For the first time the problem of the composition of contaminated dunites was formulated (these rocks occur in the Layered Series and contain more magnesian olivine Fo87–92). The reason for the increase in the mg# of olivine is thought to be the partial melting and compaction of the original cumulates due to the infiltration of intercumulus melt enriched in volatile components. The volatiles were presumably provided by the thermal decomposition of carbonate xenoliths, a process that resulted in an increase in the CO2 pressure and the transfer of calcite-magnesite components of carbonates into the melt. This follows from (1) the occurrence of magnesian skarn developing after carbonates, (2) high CaO contents in olivine form the contaminated dunite, (3) the appearance of olivine-bearing pyroxenites and wehrlites in the upper part of the dunite zone, (4) correlation between the olivine and chromite composition in the contaminated and uncontaminated dunites, (5) broad variations in the oxygen isotopic composition of olivine and plagioclase from rocks of the Layered Series, (6) experimental data on the dissolution of carbonates in alkali basalt melts, and (7) analogies with isotopic-geochemical characteristics of rocks from the Jinchuan ultramafic complex. Petrological implications of the interpretation of the Dovyren chamber are discussed with reference to closed and flow-through (during an initial stage) magmatic systems. A petrological-geological model is proposed for the genesis of the Synnyr-Dovyren volcanic-plutonic complex and related Ni sulfide ore mineralization. The potential resources of Cu-Ni sulfide ores in the plagioperidotites are evaluated with regard to the still-unexposed part of the massif.

Geochronology of the Dovyren intrusive complex, northwestern Baikal area, Russia, in the Neoproterozoic

The paper reports newly obtained data on the geochronology of the Dovyren intrusive complex and associated metarhyolites of the Inyaptuk Formation in the Synnyr Range. The data were obtained by local LA-ICPMS analysis of zircons in samples. The U-Pb age of olivine-free gabbronorite from near the roof of the Yoko-Dovyren Massif is 730 ± 6 Ma (MSWD = 1.7, n = 33, three samples) is close to the estimated age of 731 ± 4 Ma (MSWD = 1.3, n = 56, five samples) of a 200-m-thick sill beneath the pluton. These data overlap the age of recrystallized hornfels found within the massif (“charnockitoid”, 723 ± 7 Ma, MSWD = 0.12, n = 10) and a dike of sulfidated gabbronorite below the bottom of the massif (725 ± 8 Ma, MSWD = 2.0, n = 15). The estimates are also consistent with the age of albite hornfels (721 ± 6 Ma, MSWD = 0.78, n = 12), which was produced in a low-temperature contact metamorphic facies of the host rocks. The average age of the Dovyren Complex is 728.4 ± 3.4 Ma (MSWD = 1.8, n = 99) based on data on the sill, near-roof gabbronorite, and “charnockitoid”) and is roughly 55 Ma older than the estimate of 673 ± 22 Ma (Sm-Nd; [13]). The U-Pb system of zircon in two quartz metaporphyre samples from the bottom portion of the Inyaptuk volcanic formation in the northeastern part of the Yoko-Dovyren Massif turns out to be disturbed. The scatter of the data points can be explained by the effect of two discrete events. The age of the first zircon population is then 729 ± 14 Ma (MSWD = 0.74, n = 8), and that of the second population is 667 ± 14 Ma (MSWD = 1.9, n = 13). The older value pertains to intrusive rocks of Dovyren, and the age of the “rejuvenated” zircon grains corresponds to the hydrothermal-metasomatic processes, which affected the whole volcano-plutonic sequence and involved the serpentinization of the hyperbasites. This is validated by the results of Rb-Sr isotopic studies with the partial acid leaching of two serpentinized peridotite samples from the Verblyud Sill. These studies date the overprinted processes at 659 ± 5 Ma (MSWD = 1.3, n = 3).

INFOREX-3.0: a database on experimental studies of phase equilibria in igneous rocks and synthetic systems II: data description and petrological applications

The purpose of the paper is to provide details of the application of the INFOREX-3.0 database, a package designed to store, retrieve, and process phase equilibria information. This most recent release of the system accesses data of 162 experimental studies, conducted from 1962 to 1994, including a total of 6174 experiments with 5188 addressed to natural igneous rocks and 986 runs carried out in synthetic systems, mostly CMAS. The total database was divided into 3893 “dry” conditions experiments, and 2281 runs performed in the presence of H2O and/or CO2: 1618 of the “wet” runs represented are water saturated. The number of 1 atm experiments (3750) is greater than the number of high-pressure runs (2474). The INFOREX database contains 8311 coexisting phase compositions: 3197 for glasses, 1247—olivine, 1429—pyroxenes, 501—spinels, 842—plagioclase. One block of the INFOREX information includes 298 liquid compositions where the Fe3+Fe2+ ratio was determined. Data for sulfur and water solubility experiments also have been systematized. The INFOREX data management system allows users to find and print out data on a specific set of mineral-melt or two mineral equilibrium experiments requested for a given range of temperatures, pressures, oxygen fugacities, and compositions in a matter of a few seconds. In addition, one can use subsets of the data to develop mineral-melt geothermometers for equilibria including olivine, plagioclase, pyroxenes, and spinels for any specific system type. Two examples illustrate the use of INFOREX for testing empirical equations proposed for the calculation of water solubility and Fe3+Fe2+ ratio in basic to acid melts.

Test of the Ballhaus–Berry–Green Ol–Opx–Sp oxybarometer and calibration of a new equation for estimating the redox state of melts saturated with olivine and spinel

Testing the Ballhaus–Berry–Green Ol–Opx–Sp oxybarometer (BBG) on independent experimental data indicates that it overestimates the oxygen fugacity by 0.6–1.3 log units under mildly reduced conditions (near the C–CO buffer) and by as much as 2–3 log units under reduced conditions (at the IW buffer and below it). A newly developed oxibarometer is suggested to minimize this effect and enhance the capabilities of redoxometry of low-pressure mineral associations, including magmatic melts undersaturated with respect to orthopyroxene (Opx). The new empirical equation of the oxybarometer is applicable to a wide range of mafic–ultramafic magmas of normal alkalinity, including terrestrial, lunar, and meteoritic systems under pressures of 0.001–25 kbar and oxygen fugacity ranging from IW–3 to NNO + 1. The derived regression fits the ΔQFM values of the calibration dataset (154 experiments) accurate to ~0.5 log units. The new oxybarometer eliminates systematic errors when redox parameters are evaluated for the reduced region (from IW–3 to C–CO) and for crystallization of magmas without Opx on the liquidus. The efficiency of the suggested model is demonstrated by its application to natural rocks: (1) low-Ti lunar basalts, (2) tholeiites from the Shatsky Rise, (3) Siberian flood basalts, (4) rocks of the layered series of the Yoko-Dovyren intrusion, and (5) mantle xenoliths collected in southern Siberia, Mongolia, China, and the southern Russian Far East. The values yielded by such oxybarometers for intrusive rocks, which underwent long-lasting cooling and postcumulus reequilibration, should be regarded with reserve.

Cu–Ni–PGE fertility of the Yoko-Dovyren layered massif (northern Transbaikalia, Russia): thermodynamic modeling of sulfide compositions in low mineralized dunite based on quantitative sulfide mineralogy

The geology and major types of sulfide mineralization in the Yoko-Dovyren layered massif (northern Transbaikalia, Russia) are presented. This study focuses on the structure, mineralogy, and geochemistry of poorly mineralized plagiodunite and dunite in the lower part of the intrusion. Assuming these rocks contain key information on the timing of sulfide immiscibility in the original cumulate pile, we apply a novel approach which combines estimates of the average sulfide compositions in each particular rock with thermodynamic modeling of the geochemistry of the original sulfide liquid. To approach the goal, an updated sulfide version of the COMAGMAT-5 model was used. Results of simulations of sulfide immiscibility in initially S-undersaturated olivine cumulates demonstrate a strong effect of the decreasing fraction of the silicate melt, due to crystallization of silicate and oxide minerals, on the composition of the intercumulus sulfide liquid. Comparison of the observed and modeled sulfide compositions indicates that the proposed modeling reproduces well the average concentrations of Cu, Cd, Ag, and Pd in natural sulfides. This suggests the sulfide control on the distribution of these elements in the rocks. Conversely, data for Pt and Au suggest that a significant portion of these elements could present in a native form, thus depleting the intercumulus sulfide melt at an early stage of crystallization.

Inner Structure, Composition, and Genesis of the Chineiskii Anorthosite-Gabbronorite Massif, Northern Transbaikalia

The Chineiskii anorthosite-gabbronorite massif is the most typical layered intrusion in Russia, which is accompanied by large V and Cu deposits. This massif is first considered to be a component of the Proterozoic volcanic-plutonic system of the Kodar-Udokan district, whose largest massifs are Chineiskii and Lukturskii. This system also comprises numerous dikes (including the Main gabbronorite dike at the Udokan deposit, whose thickness reaches 200 m), which are likely the magmatic feeders of ancient volcanism. An intermediate position in the vertical section of the magmatic system is occupied by gabbroids, whose exposures occur in the peripheral part of the Lurbunskii granite massif. The intrusive rocks were proved to be genetically interrelated and show certain similar geochemical features: they bear elevated TiO2 concentrations and have similar trace element patterns and (La/Sm)N and (Gd/Yb)N ratios (1.5–2.3 and 1.87–2.06, respectively). The Chineiskii Massif is thought to have been formed by the successive emplacement of genetically similar basic magmas, which produced four rock groups with fine and coarse layering and cyclicity of variable rank (microrhythms, rhythms, units, and series). The results of cluster analysis indicate that the rocks can be classified into 13 petrochemical types. The phase and chemical characteristics of the parental melts of these compositions were simulated with the use of the COMAGMAT-3.5 computer model, which was also applied to evaluate the composition of the most primitive initial magma of the whole Chineiskii Massif. Our results indicate that the primitive magma was heterogeneous (olivine + plagioclase ± titanomagnetite + melt) at a temperature of approximately 1130°C. The initial melt had a ferrobasaltic composition and was close to saturation with magnetite at ∼NNO ± 0.5

SPINMELT-2.0: Simulation of spinel–melt equilibrium in basaltic systems under pressures up to 15 kbar: I. model formulation, calibration, and tests

The paper presents results of testing currently used models proposed to describe Cr-spinel–melt equilibrium: models of the MELTS family by M.S. Ghiorso with colleagues, the SPINMELT program by A.A. Ariskin and G.S. Nikolaev, and the “MELT–CHROMITE spinel calculator” by А.А. Pustovetov and R.L. Roeder. The new calibration of the SPINMELT model presented in this publication enables calculating a sixcomponent (Mg, Fe2+, Cr, Al, Fe3+, and Ti) composition of Cr-spinel and the

The COMAGMAT-5: Modeling the Effect of Fe–Ni Sulfide Immiscibility in Crystallizing Magmas and Cumulates

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