Search Results - (Author, Cooperation:A. Fallick)

2011-12-07

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

0036-8075

1095-9203

Biology

Chemistry and Pharmacology

Computer Science

Medicine

Natural Sciences in General

Physics

*Atmosphere ; Carbon Cycle ; Carbon Isotopes/*analysis ; Carbonates ; *Earth (Planet) ; Geologic Sediments/*chemistry ; Nitrogen Isotopes/analysis ; Organic Chemistry Processes ; Oxidation-Reduction ; *Oxygen ; Russia ; Time

1525-1314

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

Retrograde exchange of oxygen isotopes between minerals in igneous and metamorphic rocks by means of diffusion is explored using a finite difference computer model, which predicts both the zonation profile of δ18O within grains, and the bulk δ18O value of each mineral in the rock. Apparent oxygen isotope equilibrium temperatures that would be observed in these rocks are calculated from the δ18O values of each mineral pair within the rock. In systems which cool linearly from a sufficiently high temperature or at a low enough cooling rate, such that the final oxygen isotope values are not dependent upon the initial oxygen isotope values (‘slow cooling’), the apparent oxygen isotope temperature derived for a rock composed of a single mineral pair can be shown to be simply related to the Dodson closure temperatures (Tc) for the two phases and the mode of the rock. Adding a third phase into a system which undergoes ‘slow’ cooling will cause the apparent temperature derived for the two minerals already present to differ from the simple relationship for a two-phase system. In some systems oxygen isotope reversals can be developed. If cooling is not ‘slow’, then the mineral δ18O values resulting from cooling will be partly dependent upon the initial temperature of the system concerned. The model successfully simulates the mineral δ18O values that are often observed in granitic rocks. Application of the model will help in assessing the validity of oxygen isotope thermometry in different geological settings, and allows quantitative prediction of the oxygen isotope fractionations that are developed in cooling closed systems.

Electronic Resource

1525-1314

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

The highest grade pelitic and semipelitic rocks of the Ballachulish aureole are dominantly potash feldspar + cordierite + biotite hornfelses with widely variable amounts of quartz, plagioclase, andalusite, sillimanite and corundum (together with accessory phases). On a microscopic scale these hornfelses show textural evidence of the presence of melt, whilst on a mesoscopic scale they contain a variety of leucosomes. Oxygen isotope studies have been carried out on both whole rocks and mineral separates in order to: (1) assess the sources of molten and volatile constituents and (2) determine the extents of isotopic homogenization and equilibration. Data from localities with both restricted and extensive evidence of leucosomes and melt development are compared, as well as one locality with petrographic evidence of melt incursion from the igneous complex.The whole-rock δ18O values of the leucosomes (10.5–14.9%.) are in general similar to the immediately adjacent mesosomes (9.9–14.5%.) which are typically cordierite- and feldspar-rich hornfelses. Isotopic evidence is thus consistent with an in-situ partial melt origin for the leucosomes, without the substantial addition of externally derived components. In the area of extensive melt development, the ‘chaotic zone’, it is possible there was addition of an H2O-rich fluid phase (6-13 wt%) from the igneous complex which resulted in a slight lowering of δ18O values by 0.5–1.0%.Quartz mineral separates were used to assess the degree of local isotopic homogenization. In the extensively molten area (chaotic zone) there is extensive homogenization between rock layers (quartz δ18O usually within 1.0%), whilst in less molten areas δ18O quartz has a range of c. 3.0%. The greater homogenization in the chaotic zone is attributed to the increased degree of melting and infiltration of H2O-rich fluid from the igneous complex.

Electronic Resource

1525-1314

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

Calcite and quartz veins have formed, and are forming, in steeply dipping fissures in the actively rising Alpine Schist metamorphic belt of New Zealand. The fluids that deposited these minerals were mostly under hydrostatic pressure almost down to the brittle-ductile transition, which has been raised to 5-6 km depth by rapid uplift. Some fluids were trapped under lithostatic pressures. Fluids in the fissure veins were immiscible H2O + NaCl-CO2 mixtures at 200-350d̀ C. Bulk fluid composition is 15-20 mol% CO2 and 〈4.3 total mol CH4+ N2+ Ar/100mol H2O. Water hydrogen isotopic ratio δDH2O in the fissure veins spans -29 to -68‰, δ18OH2O -0.7 to 8.5‰, and bulk carbon isotopic ratio δ13C ranges from -3.7 to -11.7‰. The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic data suggest that the water has a predominantly meteoric source, and has undergone an oxygen isotope shift as a result of interaction with the host metamorphic rock. Similar fluids were present during cooling and uplift. Dissolved carbon is not wholly derived from residual metamorphic fluids; part may be generated by oxidation of graphite.

Electronic Resource

1525-1314

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

Vein-controlled retrograde infiltration of H2O-CO2 fluids into Dalradian epidote amphibolite facies rocks of the SW Scottish Highlands under greenschist facies conditions resulted in alteration of calcite-rich marble bands to dolomite and spatially associated 18O enrichment of about 10%. on a scale of metres. Fluid inclusion data indicate that the retrograde fluid was an H2O-salt mixture with a low CO2 content, and that the temperature of the fluid was about 400d̀ C. Detailed petrographic and textural (backscattered electron imaging) studies at one garnet-grade locality show that advection of fluid into marbles proceeded by a calcite-calcite grain edge flow mechanism, while alteration of non-carbonate wall-rock is associated with veinlets and microcracks.Stable isotopic analysis of carbonates from marble bands provides evidence for advection of isotopic fronts through carbonate wall-rocks perpendicular to dolomite veins, and fluid fluxes in the range 2.4–28.6 m3/m2 have been computed from measured advection distances. Coincidence of isotope and reaction fronts is considered to result from reaction-enhanced kinetics of isotope exchange at the reaction front. Front advection distances are related to the proportion of calcite to quartz in each marble band, with the largest advection distance occurring in nearly pure calcite matrix. This relationship indicates that fluid flow in carbonates is only possible along fluid-calcite-calcite grain edges. However, experimental constraints on dihedral angles in calcite-fluid systems require that pervasive infiltration occurred in response to calcite dissolution initiated at calcite-calcite grain junctions rather than to an open calcite pore geometry.The regional extent of the retrograde infiltration event has been documented from the high δ18O of dolomite-ankerite carbonates from veins and host-rocks over an area of least 50 × 50 km in the SW Scottish Highlands. Isotopically exotic 18O-rich retrograde fluids have moved rapidly upwards through the crust, inducing isotopic exchange and mineral reaction in wall-rocks only where lithology, pore geometry or mineral solubilities, pressure and temperature have been appropriate for pervasive infiltration to occur.

Electronic Resource

1525-1314

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

The contact aureole developed in siliceous carbonates surrounding the Beinn an Dubhaich granite, Skye, shows textural and stable isotope evidence for infiltration of aqueous fluids during both prograde and retrograde metamorphism. Strongly depleted isotope compositions of reaction-product calcite correlate with high silica and fluorine contents, demonstrating a strong link between isotopic alteration and metasomatism by fluids with a significant magmatic component, even at the margins of the aureole. The oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of the carbonates form a linear cluster with a positive slope of about five, consistent with the depletion of isotope compositions by the infiltration of magmatic and/or meteoric fluids. Rayleigh fractionation during devolatilization played a minor role in determining the final isotope composition.Stable isotope compositions of coexisting calcite–dolomite pairs show varying amounts of isotopic disequilibrium, which correlate with the inferred fluid infiltration mechanism. Much of the calcite in dolostones is the product of infiltration-driven reactions along fractures, and is greatly depleted isotopically relative to the host dolomite, especially at talc grade. At higher grades the calcite–dolomite fractionation is smaller, probably due to both increased fluid–rock interaction and a greater tendency for fluid infiltration to be pervasive on the grain-scale. Limestones generally show near-equilibrium fractionation of oxygen and carbon owing to the overwhelming compositional influence of the host calcite. Veins formed during late-stage hydrothermal circulation have strongly 18O-depleted compositions relative to the host rock.No small-scale spatial patterns to the isotopic depletion were observed, but the extent of fluid infiltration was greatest in the west of the aureole. Fluid infiltration was clearly highly heterogeneous, with no evidence of a consistent flow direction. It is not possible to determine fluid fluxes or flow directions from one-dimensional flow models based on continuum flow in the Beinn an Dubhaich aureole.

Electronic Resource

1365-3091

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

In topographic flat areas, sedimentary settings may vary from one outcrop to another. In these settings, calcite precipitates may yield macroscopically similar columnar features, although they are products of different sedimentary or diagenetic processes. Three columnar calcite crystal fabrics, i.e. rosettes, palisade crusts and macro-columnar crystal fans, have been differentiated near and at the contact between Upper Tournaisian dolomites and limestones along the southern margin of the Brabant-Wales Palaeohigh. Their petrographic characteristics, and geochemical and fluid inclusion data provide information on the (dia)genetic processes involved. Rosettes composed of non-luminescent columnar calcite crystal fans (1–5 cm in diameter) developed on top of one another, forming discrete horizons in repetitive sedimentary cycles. The cycles consist of three horizons: (I) a basal horizon with fragments from the underlying horizon, (II) a micrite/microspar horizon with incipient glaebules, (III) an upper horizon consisting of calcite rosettes, with desiccation features. The petrographical features and δ18O signatures of −10·0 to −5·5‰ and δ13C values of −5·5 to −3·2‰ support either evaporative growth, an evaporative pedogenic origin, or overprinting of marine precipitates. Palisade crusts, composed of a few to 10 mm long non-luminescent calcite crystals, coat palaeokarst cavities. Successive palisade growth-stages occur which are separated by thin laminae of micrite or detrital quartz, displaying a geopetal arrangement. Palisade crusts are interpreted as intra-Mississippian speleothems. This interpretation is supported by their petrographic characteristics and isotopic signature (δ18O = −8·7 to −6·5‰ and δ13C = −4·8 to −2·5‰). Macro-columnar crystals, 1–50 cm long, developed mainly perpendicular to cavity walls and dolomite clasts. Crystal growth stages in the macro-columnar crystals are missing. δ18O values vary between −16·4 and −6·8‰ and δ13C values between −5·2 and −0·9‰. These features possibly support a late diagenetic high temperature precipitation in relation to hydrothermal karstification.

Electronic Resource

1365-3091

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

Spheroidal dolomite crystals occur in the karstified top of a Dinantian dolomite sequence in eastern Belgium. The spheroidal dolomite crystals are best developed at the base of the karst system. The dolomite crystals are characterized by a spherulitic or dumb-bell inclusion pattern, and are overgrown by dolomite cements with a rhombohedral outline. They are considered to be bacterially related precipitates based on, (1) textural similarities with documented bacteriogenic precipitates, (2) the presence of ‘bacterial’microspheres and framboidal pyrite embedded within the dolomite, and (3) their general geological setting. The geochemical characteristics of the dolomites and associated minerals support a bacterial origin. The ubiquity of framboidal pyrite, depleted in 34S (δ34S=— 22.4 to — 25.5%oCDT), testifies to a period of bacterial sulphate reduction. The isotopic composition of the spheroidal dolomites (δ13C=— 2.4 to - 3.2%oPDB and δ18O=— 3.8 to - 3.4%oPDB) suggest a contribution from oxidized organic carbon produced during bacterial sulphate reduction. Sulphate reduction may also result in a concomitant 18O depletion if the system is nearly closed. It is however, evident from the sulphur isotopic composition of associated framboidal pyrite that the system was fairly open. The 18O depletion of the spheroidal dolomite crystals (δ18O=— 3.8 to — 3.4%oPDB) and their occurrence adjacent to, and within karst cavities suggests a mixing zone origin, with a significant proportion of freshwater in it. The rhombohedral cement-overgrowths have calculated δ18O values in the range of 0 to +5.3%oPDB, which reflect precipitation from normal to slightly evaporated contemporaneous seawater.

Electronic Resource

1365-3121

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Geosciences

The origins and volumes of waters which mass-transport silica in sedimentary basins remain obscure. Many previous analytical studies have illustrated cases where quartz cements in sandstones originate from complex and variable fluids. By contrast we show, by using a combination of separation and analytical techniques, that in Lower Permian sandstones of the southern North Sea the cementing fluid was isotopically uniform during growth of quartz cement with a δ1BO of 19.6 + 1.0%‰ V-SMOW. In this relatively uniform fluid quartz cements grew and developed complex cathodoluminescence (CL) zonations. Petrographic data show that 8–10% quartz cement (locally 30%) was imported into this 380 km2× 180 m thick aeolian sandstone, and cement distribution controlled by depositional permeabilities. We infer a large-scale, high volume, flux of evolved meteoric fluid during 2 km deep burial, and show that complex CL zonation may arise from relatively subtle changes in water composition.

Electronic Resource

1476-4687

Nature Archives 1869 - 2009

Biology

Chemistry and Pharmacology

Medicine

Natural Sciences in General

Physics

[Auszug] Variations in deuterium abundance are usually small and are reported relative to standard mean ocean water (SMOW): r(P/H)sample-(D/H)sMow1 (D/H)S J x 1,000%, Hydrogen in terrestrial waters and other materials has a range of isotopic compositions falling within several hundred per mil of the ...

Electronic Resource

1432-0975

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Biology

Geosciences

Abstract We determined the δ18O and δ13C composition of the same fixed growth increment in severalPorites lutea coral skeletons from Phuket, South Thailand. Skeletal growth rate and δ18O are inversely related. We explain this in terms of McConnaughey's kinetic isotopic disequilibria model. Annual trends in δ18O cannot be solely explained by observed variations in seawater temperature or salinity and may also reflect seasonal variations in calcification rate. Coral tissue chlorophylla content and δ13C of the underlying 1 mm of skeleton are positively related, suggesting that algal modification of the dissolved inorganic carbonate pool is the main control on skeletal δ13C. However, in corals that bleached during a period of exceptionally high seawater temperatures in the summer of 1991, δ13C of the outer 1 mm of skeleton and skeletal growth rate (over 9 months up to and including the bleaching event) are inversely related. Seasonal variations in °13C may reflect variations in calcification rate, zooxanthellae photosynthesis or in seawater δ13C composition. Bleached corals had reduced calcification over the 9-month period up to and including the bleaching event and over the event they deposited carbonate enriched in13C and18O compared with unaffected corals. However, calcification during the event was limited and insufficient material was deposited to influence significantly the isotopic signature of the larger seasonal profile samples. In profile, overall decreases in δ18O and δ13C were observed, supporting evidence that positive temperature anomalies caused the bleaching event and reflecting the loss of zooxanthellae photosynthesis.

Electronic Resource

1432-0975

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Biology

Geosciences

Abstract.  We determined the δ18O and δ13C composition of the same fixed growth increment in several Porites lutea coral skeletons from Phuket, South Thailand. Skeletal growth rate and δ18O are inversely related. We explain this in terms of McConnaughey’s kinetic isotopic disequilibria model. Annual trends in δ18O cannot be solely explained by observed variations in seawater temperature or salinity and may also reflect seasonal variations in calcification rate. Coral tissue chlorophyll a content and δ13C of the underlying 1 mm of skeleton are positively related, suggesting that algal modification of the dissolved inorganic carbonate pool is the main control on skeletal δ13C. However, in corals that bleached during a period of exceptionally high seawater temperatures in the summer of 1991, δ13C of the outer 1 mm of skeleton and skeletal growth rate (over 9 months up to and including the bleaching event) are inversely related. Seasonal variations in δ13C may reflect variations in calcification rate, zooxanthellae photosynthesis or in seawater δ13C composition. Bleached corals had reduced calcification over the 9-month period up to and including the bleaching event and over the event they deposited carbonate enriched in 13C and 18O compared with unaffected corals. However, calcification during the event was limited and insufficient material was deposited to influence significantly the isotopic signature of the larger seasonal profile samples. In profile, overall decreases in δ18O and δ13C were observed, supporting evidence that positive temperature anomalies caused the bleaching event and reflecting the loss of zooxanthellae photosynthesis.

Electronic Resource

1476-4687

Nature Archives 1869 - 2009

Biology

Chemistry and Pharmacology

Medicine

Natural Sciences in General

Physics

[Auszug] Agate formation temperatures 〉375 C were proposed6 on the basis of a crystallite size geothermometer. Data on agate geochemistry7 and stable oxygen isotope ratios2 have also been reported. Preliminary d18O values (in % relative to SMOW- Standard Mean Ocean Water) on 13 agates ranged from 22.4 to ...

Electronic Resource

1476-4687

Nature Archives 1869 - 2009

Biology

Chemistry and Pharmacology

Medicine

Natural Sciences in General

Physics

[Auszug] Supracrustal rocks from the Loch Maree Group of the Lewisian were deposited after the main 2.7-Gyr granulite facies metamorphic event. These rocks include marbles, graphite schists, iron formations and quartzofeldspathic gneisses which underwent amphibolite facies metamorphism at 1.8 Gyr. The ...

Electronic Resource

1432-0967

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract Poorly crystalline carbonaceous matter was observed in chlorite to sillimanite grade metasediments from the Trois Seigneurs Massif, in contrast to other studies of carbon crystallinity which observed well crystallised graphite under upper greenschist facies conditions. Using transmission electron microscopy four types of carbon particle were identified; globular carbon, composite flakes, homogeneous flakes and crystalline graphite. Globular carbon and composite flakes are poorly crystalline microporous carbon. Homogeneous flakes decompose in the electron beam and are probably composed of heavy volatile hydrocarbons. Graphite is confined to samples from retrograde shear zones and often occurs with globular carbon. The lack of graphitisation in metasediments is probably a consequence of the microporous structure of the carbonaceous matter combined with low f O 2. The preservation of carbonaceous matter in the Trois Seigneurs metasediments is not compatible with the metasediments having been externally buffered by a high X H2O fluid syn-metamorphism. An alternative hypothesis of internal buffering is preferred to explain the carbonaceous matter in the Trois Seigneurs metasediments.

Electronic Resource

1432-0967

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract Dalradian metamorphic rocks, Lower Ordovician meta-igneous rocks (MGS) and Caledonian granites of the Connemara complex in SW Connemara all show intense retrograde alteration. Alteration primarily involves sericitization and saussuritization of plagioclase, the alteration of biotite and hornblende to chlorite and the formation of secondary epidote. The alteration is associated with sealed microcracks in all rocks and planes of secondary fluid inclusions in quartz where it occurs, and was the result of a phase of fluid influx into these rocks. In hand specimen K-feldspar becomes progressively reddened with increasing alteration. Mineralogical alteration in the MGS and Caledonian granites took place at temperatures ∼275±15°C and in the MGS Pfluid is estimated to be ≤1.5 kbar during alteration. The °D values of alteration phases are:-18 to-29‰ (fluid inclusions),-47 to-61‰ (chlorites) and-11 to-31‰ (epidotes). Chlorite δ18O values are +0.2 to +4.3‰, while δ18O values for quartz-K-feldspar pairs show both positively sloped (MGS) and highly unusual negatively sloped (Caledonian granites) arrays, diverging from the normal magmatic field on a δ-δ plot. The stable isotope data show that the fluid that caused retrogression continued to be present in most rocks until temperatures fell to 200–140°C. The retrograde fluid had δD ∼-20 to-30‰ in all lithologies, but the fluid δ18O varied both spatially and temporally within the range-4 to +7‰. The fO2 of the fluid that deposited the epidotes in the MGS varied with its δ18O value, with the most 18O-depleted fluid being the most oxidizing. The δD values, together with low (〈0‰) δ18O values for the retrograde fluid in some lithologies indicate that this fluid was of meteoric origin. This meteoric fluid was probably responsible for the alteration in all lithologies during a single phase of fluid infiltration. The variation in retrograde fluid δ18O values is attributed to the effects of variable oxygen isotope shifting of this meteoric fluid by fluid-rock interaction. Infiltration of meteoric fluid into this area was most likely accomplished by convection of pore fluids around the heat anomaly of the Galway granite soon after intrusion at ∼400 Ma. However convective circulation of meteoric water and mineralogical alteration could possible have occurred considerably later.

Electronic Resource

1432-0967

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract  Infiltration of a metabasite sill from Islay, Scotland by an H2O-CO2 fluid caused (1) modification of δ18O and (2) carbonation at the sill margins. Maps of δ18O and reaction progress were constructed from a 20 × 47.7 metre sample grid across the sill. The grid consisted of 300 samples, spaced at m, dm and cm intervals, many of which were analysed for both δ18O and reaction progress. The δ18O was determined by laser fluorination of whole rock silicate powders and reaction progress was determined by rapid field-based measurement of % calcite (“fizz-o-meter”, Skelton et al. 1995). Reaction and isotope fronts outlined tube-like features that emanate from the sill margin and discrete nodes that, although detached from the sill margin in two dimensions, are thought to represent sections through similar tubes in three dimensions. We envisage that these protrusions are the fossil record of metamorphic “fluid pathways” whereby fluid permeated the sill. Isotope and reaction fronts are found to correlate spatially as predicted by a modified form of the chromatographic equation which describes this envisaged geometry, that is where isotopic and reactive transport in the fluid phase are facilitated by advection along specific fluid pathways and transverse diffusion in the surrounding rock. These fluid pathways consist of bundles of anastomosing grain boundary channels or micro-cracks, which are thought to propagate through transient cyclic infiltration, reaction, porosity enhancement and fracturing. This mechanism is self-perpetuating and accentuates random perturbations at the sill margin to form the observed tubes. We argue that this is the earliest stage of the infiltration process which has affected metabasites of the SW Scottish Highlands and that subsequent shear deformation of the reacted rims of these pathways, has caused their re-orientation and juxtaposition to form the reacted sill margins described by Skelton et al. (1995).

Electronic Resource

1432-0967

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract Fluid inclusions in granite quartz and three generations of veins indicate that three fluids have affected the Caledonian Galway Granite. These fluids were examined by petrography, microthermometry, chlorite thermometry, fluid chemistry and stable isotope studies. The earliest fluid was a H2O-CO2-NaCl fluid of moderate salinity (4–10 wt% NaCl eq.) that deposited late-magmatic molybdenite mineralised quartz veins (V1) and formed the earliest secondary inclusions in granite quartz. This fluid is more abundant in the west of the batholith, corresponding to a decrease in emplacement depth. Within veins, and to the east, this fluid was trapped homogeneously, but in granite quartz in the west it unmixed at 305–390 °C and 0.7–1.8 kbar. Homogeneous quartz δ18O across the batholith (9.5 ± 0.4‰n = 12) suggests V1 precipitation at high temperatures (perhaps 600 °C) and pressures (1–3 kbar) from magmatic fluids. Microthermometric data for V1 indicate lower temperatures, suggesting inclusion volumes re-equilibrated during cooling. The second fluid was a H2O-NaCl-KCl, low-moderate salinity (0–10 wt% NaCl eq.), moderate temperature (270–340 °C), high δD (−18 ± 2‰), low δ18O (0.5–2.0‰) fluid of meteoric origin. This fluid penetrated the batholith via quartz veins (V2) which infill faults active during post-consolidation uplift of the batholith. It forms the most common inclusion type in granite quartz throughout the batholith and is responsible for widespread retrograde alteration involving chloritization of biotite and hornblende, sericitization and saussuritization of plagioclase, and reddening of K-feldspar. The salinity was generated by fluid-rock interactions within the granite. Within granite quartz this fluid was trapped at 0.5–2.3 kbar, having become overpressured. This fluid probably infiltrated the Granite in a meteoric-convection system during cooling after intrusion, but a later age cannot be ruled out. The final fluid to enter the Granite and its host rocks was a H2O-NaCl-CaCl2-KCl fluid with variable salinity (8–28 wt% NaCl eq.), temperature (125–205 °C), δD (−17 to −45‰), δ18O (−3 to + 1.2‰), δ13CCO2 (−19 to 0‰) and δ34Ssulphate (13–23‰) that deposited veins containing quartz, fluorite, calcite, barite, galena, chalcopyrite sphalerite and pyrite (V3). Correlations of salinity, temperature, δD and δ18O are interpreted as the result of mixing of two fluid end-members, one a high-δD (−17 to −8‰), moderate-δ18O (1.2–2.5‰), high-δ13CCO2 (〉 −4‰), low-δ34Ssulphate (13‰), high-temperature (205–230 °C), moderate-salinity (8–12 wt% NaCl eq.) fluid, the other a low-δD (−61 to −45‰), low-δ18O (−5.4 to −3‰), low-δ13C (〈−10‰), high-δ34Ssulphate (20–23‰) low-temperature (80–125 °C), high-salinity (21–28 wt% NaCl eq.) fluid. Geochronological evidence suggests V3 veins are late Triassic; the high-δD end-member is interpreted as a contemporaneous surface fluid, probably mixed meteoric water and evaporated seawater and/or dissolved evaporites, whereas the low-δD end-member is interpreted as a basinal brine derived from the adjacent Carboniferous sequence. This study demonstrates that the Galway Granite was a locus for repeated fluid events for a variety of reasons; from expulsion of magmatic fluids during the final stages of crystallisation, through a meteoric convection system, probably driven by waning magmatic heat, to much later mineralisation, concentrated in its vicinity due to thermal, tectonic and compositional properties of granite batholiths which encourage mineralisation long after magmatic heat has abated.

Electronic Resource

1432-0967

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract Prograde metamorphic reactions involving the growth of phyllosilicates and accompanying cleavage development have been investigated in Dalradian metasediments from the biotite zone of eastern Scotland. Crystallization of muscovite within the psammites of the Southern Highland Group is linked to the replacement of plagioclase porphyroclasts. This reaction is triggered by significant alkali metasomatism during active deformation and plays an important role in the formation of a prominent spaced cleavage within the psammites. The Si content of most of these early-formed muscovites is partially buffered by the quartz content of the rock, although close to the Highland Boundary Fault, evidence of greater influence from externally derived fluids on muscovite compositions is preserved. Locally higher fluid fluxes adjacent to the fault are also indicated by a relatively high δ 18O(SMOW) signature in the rocks. The biotite-producing reaction in these greenschist-facies rocks is linked to the later production of a celadonite-poor muscovite which formed as overgrowths around pre-existing white micas. This reaction is sensitive to the initial composition of muscovite and preferentially occurs in quartz-rich metasediments containing a celadonite-rich muscovite. A systematic increase in the progress of the biotite-producing reaction northwards across the biotite zone confirms the presence of high geothermal gradients along the southern margin of the Dalradian block, adjacent to the Highland Boundary Fault.

Electronic Resource

1432-1866

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Geosciences

Abstract The Tallberg deposit is situated in the Skellefte District in northern Sweden. It is a Palaeoproterozoic equivalent of Phanerozoic poryphyry-type deposits. The mineralization is situated within the Jörn granitoid complex and is associated with intrusive quartz-feldspar porphyries. The granitoids are coeval with mainly felsic volcanic rocks hosting several massive sulphide deposits. The alteration is generally of a mixed phyllic-propylitic type, but areas or zones associated with high gold grades exhibit phyllic alteration. Ore minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, magnetite, and trace amounts of molybdenite. In this stable isotope study, quartz, sericite, and chlorite from the alteration zones were sampled. The magmatic quartz has a ∂18O composition of + 6.2 to +6.7‰ whereas the quartz in the hydrothermal alteration zones have values ranging from +7.5 to +10.6‰. The calculated temperatures for this fractionation range from 430° to 520°C. The sericites have ∂18O ranging from +4.6 to +8.2‰ (average +6.6‰) and ∂D -31 to -54‰ (average -41‰). Chlorites range from ∂18O +4.2 to +7.7‰ and ∂D from −34 to −44‰. The range of ∂34S of 11 pyrite samples is +3.8 to +5.5‰ with an average of +4.6 ± 0.5‰, suggesting a relatively homogeneous sulphur source, probably of magmatic origin. Modelling waters in equilibrium with the minerals indicates early magmatic fluids with ∂18O of ≈ 6.5‰. This fluid mixed with a low ∂18O and high ∂D fluid, which is tentatively identified as seawater. The ∂18O signature of sericite and chlorite also indicates significant water-rock exchange, explaining the positive ∂18O values for the waters in equilibrium with the hydrated minerals.

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