J.K. Mortensen

Tectonic escape of a crustal fragment during the closure of the Rheic Ocean: U–Pb detrital zircon data from the Late Palaeozoic Pulo do Lobo and South Portuguese zones, southern Iberia

Abstract: The Pulo do Lobo Zone, which crops out immediately north of the allochthonous South Portuguese Zone in southern Iberia, is classically interpreted as a polydeformed accretionary complex developed along the southern margin of the Gondwanan parautochthon (Ossa–Morena Zone), during the late Palaeozoic closure of the Rheic Ocean. This closure was a major event during the amalgamation of Pangaea. U–Pb laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry dating of detrital zircons from late Palaeozoic Devono-Carboniferous clastic units in the South Portuguese Zone and Pulo do Lobo Zone yield contrasting age populations and attest to the exotic nature of both zones. Detrital zircons from the South Portuguese Zone display populations typical of detritus derived from either Gondwana (Ossa–Morena Zone), or peri-Gondwanan terranes. In contrast, rocks from the Pulo do Lobo Zone contain populations consistent with derivation from Baltica, Laurentia or recycled early Silurian deposits along the Laurentian margin. An example of one such deposit is the Southern Uplands terrane of the British Caledonides. Taken together, these data can be reconciled by a model involving tectonic transport of a crustal fragment that was laterally equivalent to the Southern Uplands terrane between the allochthonous South Portuguese Zone and Gondwana as a result of an early Devonian collision between an Iberian indenter with Laurussia. Supplementary material: U–Pb data tables, concordia diagrams, methods and representative back-scattered electron images are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18441.

U-Pb isotopic ages of euhedral zircons in the Rhaetian of British Columbia: Implications for Cordilleran tectonics during the Late Triassic

New isotopic ages have been obtained from euhedral, first-cycle zircon grains recovered from Rhaetian strata preserved at the Black Bear Ridge section in northeastern British Columbia. Two statistically significant populations are present: an older population ca. 224 Ma, and a dominant younger population ca. 205 Ma. The younger population includes a group of grains with a weighted average 206 Pb/ 238 U age of 205.2 ± 0.9 Ma, which is interpreted to represent the maximum depositional age of the sediment. Potential sources for the two populations are found in the Quesnel terrane in central British Columbia, implying close proximity between this terrane and the autochxadthonous North American margin during the Late Triassic. This is supported by geochemical and structural evidence. The implication that the Quesnel terrane was close to its present-day latitude during the Late Triassic is in conflict with older estimates of paleolatitude based on paleomagnetic and paleontological evidence. The age of 205.2 ± 0.9 Ma obtained from the youngest population of zircons is also consistent with recently published estimates for the age of the Norian-Rhaetian boundary.

Contrasting geochemistry of orogenic gold deposits in Yukon, Canada and Otago, New Zealand

The Yukon-Tanana Terrane (YTT) of western Yukon Territory in NW Canada and Otago Schist belt (OSB) of South Island, New Zealand share similar geological evolutionary histories as convergent orogenic belts. Both belts host orogenic gold deposits of mainly Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. Jurassic mineralization in the YTT occurred during convergent orogenesis and stacking of previously-metamorphosed (Palaeozoic) greenschist-amphibolite facies metasediments, metavolcanic rocks, and metagranitoids. Early Cretaceous OSB mineralization occurred in the latter stages of terrane accretion of un-metamorphosed turbidites with minor basaltic rocks. Metamorphism of the OSB turbidites mobilised background levels of Au (0.6–1.3u2009ppb), As (2–20u2009ppm), Sb (0.1–1u2009ppm), and W (< 10u2009ppm), primarily under greenschist to lower amphibolite facies conditions when diagenetic pyrite (Au c. 0.5–2u2009ppm; As c. 500–10u2009000u2009ppm) transformed to pyrrhotite on a regional scale. In contrast, the previously-metamorphosed YTT rocks had generally low background As contents (1–2u2009ppm) apart from some As-rich quartzites (up to 100u2009ppm As). Consequently, there was less As available for orogenic mobilisation, and YTT Au deposits generally have lower concentrations of this pathfinder element compared to the OSB. YTT host rocks, especially metagranitoids, have anomalous levels of Mo (10–300u2009ppm), and many orogenic deposits contain elevated Mo, locally including molybdenite. OSB turbidites have elevated Mo (2–200u2009ppm), along with elevated Au and As, in diagenetic pyrite, but this Mo became largely dispersed through the metamorphic pile as metamorphic grade increased and pyrite transformed to pyrrhotite. OSB orogenic deposits have only marginally elevated Mo (c. 1u2009ppm), no molybdenite, and accessory scheelite in these deposits is distinctly Mo-poor. Only minor mobilisation of base metals occurred in these orogenic belts, and orogenic Au deposits contain sparse base metal sulphides. Orogenic deposits in the YTT and OSB differ in that Au (and other associated elements) in many of the orogenic deposits in the YTT was remobilised from relatively local sources (e.g. pre-existing Cu-Mo-Au porphyry or volcanogenic sulphide mineralization) whereas Au in the OSB was mobilised from larger volumes of homogeneous rock at depth.

Lead isotope constraints on the origin of Cenozoic orogenic gold systems in the Southern Alps and northwestern Otago, South Island, New Zealand

Abstract Lead isotopic compositions were determined for sulphides from Pliocene-Pleistocene gold-bearing veins in the Alpine Schist and from Miocene gold-bearing veins and vein breccias from the Shotover-Macetown area in the northwest Otago Schist belt. The lead isotopic signatures are consistent with derivation of Pb in the vein minerals predominantly from metasedimentary rocks that underlie the region. Differences in Pb isotopic signatures between deposits are interpreted to result from lateral and vertical lithological variability within the source rock mass. The host rocks also contain metabasic rocks with N-MORB, E-MORB or within-plate basalt chemistry. However, the observed Pb isotopic signatures in the gold-bearing veins preclude incorporation of significant amounts of Pb from the metabasites. The Pb isotopic signatures of lamprophyre dikes that were intruded into the Otago Schist coeval with Miocene gold mineralisation are distinctly more radiogenic than those of the hydrothermal veins. Thus, although the lamprophyre dikes were emplaced into similar extensional structural sites to the gold-bearing veins, there was no genetic relationship between lamprophyre dikes and gold mineralisation.

Differentiating sources of dissolved lead in mine waters using lead isotope techniques, Sullivan Mine, British Columbia

[1]xa0This study investigates the use of Pb isotopes in acid rock drainage studies and outlines a protocol for sampling and analysis of dissolved Pb in mine waters. Groundwaters and surface waters were sampled at the Sullivan Mine, British Columbia, to quantify Pb isotope ratios and to identify possible sources of Pb in mine effluent and back groundwaters, respectively. The Sullivan Deposit is a sediment-hosted Fe-Pb-Zn massive sulphide deposit with a well-defined homogeneous Pb isotopic composition, which provided a suitable end-member for the isotopic study. The Pb isotopic compositions of water samples define a mixing line between the homogeneous Pb isotopic signature of the Sullivan Ore and at least one other more radiogenic end-member. This end-member may correspond to Pb in the host rocks (Aldridge Formation), Pb from aerosols that have infiltrated the local surficial deposits with recharge, or Pb from the surficial deposits themselves. Further study is needed to more completely characterize the composition of potential isotopic end-members in the study area. The study demonstrates that different source regions for Pb have distinct and measurable isotopic compositions, which enable “fingerprinting” sources of Pb contamination that result from ore deposits or from other sources.

A new indicator mineral methodology based on a generic Bi-Pb-Te-S mineral inclusion signature in detrital gold from porphyry and low/intermediate sulfidation epithermal environments in Yukon Territory, Canada

Porphyry-epithermal and orogenic gold are two of the most important styles of gold-bearing mineralization within orogenic belts. Populations of detrital gold resulting from bulk erosion of such regions may exhibit a compositional continuum wherein Ag, Cu, and Hg in the gold alloy may vary across the full range exhibited by natural gold. This paper describes a new methodology whereby orogenic and porphyry-epithermal gold may be distinguished according to the mineralogy of microscopic inclusions observed within detrital gold particles. A total of 1459 gold grains from hypogene, eluvial, and placer environments around calc-alkaline porphyry deposits in Yukon (Nucleus-Revenue, Casino, Sonora Gulch, and Cyprus-Klaza) have been characterized in terms of their alloy compositions (Au, Ag, Cu, and Hg) and their inclusion mineralogy. Despite differences in the evolution of the different magmatic hydrothermal systems, the gold exhibits a clear Bi-Pb-Te-S mineralogy in the inclusion suite, a signature which is either extremely weak or (most commonly) absent in both Yukon orogenic gold and gold from orogenic settings worldwide. Generic systematic compositional changes in ore mineralogy previously identified across the porphyry-epithermal transition have been identified in the corresponding inclusion suites observed in samples from Yukon. However, the Bi-Te association repeatedly observed in gold from the porphyry mineralization persists into the epithermal environment. Ranges of P-T-X conditions are replicated in the geological environments which define generic styles of mineralization. These parameters influence both gold alloy composition and ore mineralogy, of which inclusion suites are a manifestation. Consequently, we propose that this methodology approach can underpin a widely applicable indicator methodology based on detrital gold.