William C. Kelly

Rubidium-strontium dating of ore deposits hosted by Rb-rich rocks, using calcite and other common Sr-bearing minerals

The authors have tested a Rb-Sr technique that permits ore deposits to be dated using common gangue minerals such as calcite and fluorite. The only conditions the deposit must meet are that (1) it have minerals with a low Rb/Sr ratio and (2) it be enclosed by wall rock with a high Rb/Sr ratio. Because hydrothermal minerals acquire a strontium-isotope composition that is usually similar to that of the wall rock, minerals with low Rb/Sr ratio should record and retain the isotopic composition that the wall rock had at the time of mineralization. The difference between that ratio and that of the wall rock at present is a function of time and the Rb/Sr composition of the wall rock. The technique was tested fusing fluorite and calcite from three deposits ranging in age from Tertiary to Precambrian. In all cases the age determined here closely resembles that obtained by conventional K-Ar and Rb-Sr dating methods. The precision, however, can be poor and depends chiefly on the strontium-isotope heterogeneity of the wall rock and its Rb/Sr enrichment. 36 references, 1 figure, 1 table.

Magmatic and hydrothermal inclusions in carbonatite of the Magnet Cove Complex, Arkansas

The carbonatite at Magnet Cove, Arkansas, USA contains a great variety and abundance of magmatic and hydrothermal inclusions that provide an informative, though fragmentary, record of the original carbonatite melt and of late hydrothermal solutions which permeated the complex in postmagmatic time. These inclusions were studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy.Primary magmatic inclusions in monticellite indicate that the original carbonatite melt contained approximately 49.7 wt% CaO, 16.7% CO2, 15.7% SiO2, 11.4% H2O, 4.4% FeO+Fe2O3, 1.1% P2O5 and 1.0% MgO. The melt was richer in SiO2 and iron oxides than the carbonatite as now exposed; this is attributed to crystal settling and relative enrichment of calcite at shallower levels. The density of the carbonatite melt as revealed by the magmatic inclusions was approximately 2.2–2.3 g/cc. Such a light melt should separate rapidly from any denser parent material and could be driven forcibly into overlying crustal rocks by buoyant forces alone. Fluid inclusions in apatite suggest that a separate (immiscible) phase composed of supercritical CO2 fluid of low density coexisted with the carbonatite magma, but the inclusion record in this mineral is inconclusive with respect to the nature of any other coexisting fluids. Maximum total pressure during CO2 entrapment was about 450 bars, suggesting depths of 1.5 km or less for apatite crystallization and supporting earlier proposals of a shallow, subvolcanic setting for the complex.Numerous secondary inclusions in the Magnet Cove calcite contain an intriguing variety of daughter minerals including some 19 alkali, alkaline earth and rare earth carbonates, sulfates and chlorides few of which are known as macroscopic phases in the complex. The exotic fluids from which the daughter minerals formed are inferred to have cooled and diluted through time by progressive mixing with local groundwaters. These fluids may be responsible for certain late veins and elemental enrichments associated with the complex.

Precambrian oil inclusions in late veins and the role of hydrocarbons in copper mineralization at White Pine, Michigan

Liquid oil was trapped as primary fluid inclusions in calcite crystals in late Cu-Fe sulfide-bearing veins that crosscut and offset the cupriferous shale deposit at White Pine. The age of the calcite (1047 ±35 Ma) is an entrapment age and thus a minimum age for the oil. Close temporal and spatial associations of oil and metallic sulfides in the late veins suggest that liquid and solid hydrocarbons may have been dominant controls of the main-stage White Pine copper mineralization.

Relations between deformation and sediment-hosted copper mineralization: Evidence from the White Pine part of the Midcontinent rift system

Detailed studies over the past decade have significantly extended and revised our knowledge of the geologic history of the well-known White Pine mining district of northern Michigan, and indicate that the location of faults exerted a strong control on copper mineralization in this part of the Midcontinent rift system. At White Pine there is evidence for three episodes of faulting: (1) synsedimentary faulting, (2) subsequent high-angle, dominantly normal faulting, and (3) thrusting. Two stages of copper mineralization are present at White Pine and in the nearby Presque Isle syncline. The first, main-stage mineralization, formed a classic sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposit during early diagenesis. Synsedimentary faults may have provided important conduits for cupriferous brines flowing from underlying red beds of the Copper Harbor Conglomerate into the reduced silts and shales of the Nonesuch Formation, where main-stage copper sulfides and native copper were precipitated. The second stage of copper mineralization was synchronous with thrusting and introduced additional copper to the White Pine ore body and the Presque Isle syndine. Thrust faults and cogenetic tear faults provided conduits for second-stage mineralizing fluids. Collectively, these observations indicate strong control by regional deformation on fluid migration and mineralization in the rocks of the Midcontinent rift, similar to proposed relations between deformation and mineralization in other tectonic settings.

Dawsonite as a daughter mineral in hydrothermal fluid inclusions

Traces of dawsonite (NaAlCO3(OH)2) are extremely common as a daughter product in fluid inclusions in gold-quartz veins and altered wallrock of the Oriental mine, Alleghany district, California. A very similar daughter salt occurs in hydrothermal inclusions in quartz from 19 other mining localities of worldwide distribution.Vein fluids of the Oriental mine were probably CO2-rich sodium bicarbonate brines that contained at least 1 weight percent dissolved aluminum. These fluids precipitated quartz and oligoclase in the veins and adjacent altered rocks. The precipitation of dawsonite rather than albite or oligoclase in the cooled inclusion brines suggests either that sodic plagioclase gives way to dawsonite plus quartz as the stable pair at low temperatures or that the dawsonite is a metastable daughter mineral. The rarity of dawsonite as a separate vein mineral or alteration product at the Oriental mine and elsewhere is attributed to its high solubility under normal conditions of mineralization.Dawsonite contributes 190 ppm or more to the aluminum content of some Oriental mine quartz. Large errors would result if the dawsonite were overlooked and the aluminum geothermometer of Dennen et al. (1970) were applied to this quartz. The combination of high primary inclusion filling temperatures and very low aluminum contents of optically clear quartz indicate that major revisions are needed in the published thermometer curve.

Effects of Annealing on Deformation Textures in Galena

Experimental annealing of galena samples with known deformation histories shows that this mineral has the necessary properties to be a valuable source of information about low-grade deformational environments. Annealed galena displays recovery and/or recrystallization features dependent upon the type of texture inherited from the tectonic event, which in turn is closely linked to deformation temperatures.In samples deformed at temperatures less than 200 ° C in the laboratory, later annealing produced subgrains, mosaics of new grains, or rapid grain boundary migration as the annealing temperatures were varied from 200 ° C to 700 ° C. Kink bands maintained characteristic straight simple boundaries inherited from the deformation event. Samples deformed above 300 ° C developed “syntectonically” recrystallized textures. Kink bands had been converted to elongate grains with complex sutured grain boundaries during deformation, and mosaics of new grains were found in highly deformed regions. These textures were extremely stable through later annealing. Despite our changing annealing temperatures through 500 ° C, we did not produce similar textures from both low and high temperature deformation runs.Examination of polished and etched galena from low-grade tectonic settings may well be worth the effort since galena textures appear to display features indicative of deformational evironments, even after being subjected to considerable post-tectonic thermal perturbations.

Paleomagnetism, Rock Magnetism, and Aspects of Structural Deformation of the Butte Mining District, Butte, Montana

Previously, field relations in the Butte District, Montana, have been interpreted to indicate a regional, 40-60° or greater westward tilting of the Late Cretaceous Butte quartz monzonite (BQM), the host rock to mineralization. The tilting was inferred to be Eocene or younger in age, based upon structural features in the overlying Eocene Lowland Creek Volcanics. Extensive paleomagnetic data reveal a more complicated picture. For surface exposure BQM, the in situ mean direction of characteristic magnetization of 13 site means is D = 1.5°, I = 73.3° (K = 27.6,

Geology, geochronology, fluid inclusions, and isotope geochemistry of the Rodalquilar gold alunite deposit, Spain

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