scholarly journals Criteria for the recognition of Archean calc-alkaline lamprophyres: examples from the Abitibi Subprovince

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Mathieu ◽  
Émile Bouchard ◽  
Francis Guay ◽  
Alizée Liénard ◽  
Pierre Pilote ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Chemical Analyses ◽  
Calc Alkaline ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Mafic Intrusions ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Archean Greenstone Belts ◽  
Alkaline Lamprophyres

Lamprophyres are minor intrusions with atypical sources and crystallisation sequences. Among lamprophyres, the calc-alkaline (CAL) type on which this study focuses has the least distinctive chemistry and petrology. CAL correspond to small-volume mafic intrusions characterised by the early fractionation of amphibole and (or) biotite. In the Archean Superior Province (Canada), CAL are temporally and spatially related to several gold deposits and may thus be relevant to mineral exploration. This study focuses on several altered and metamorphosed intrusions of the Abitibi and La Grande subprovinces, which were designated lamprophyres based on field observations. Several criteria established from thin sections, whole-rock chemical analyses, and SEM data are applied to the studied rocks to distinguish CAL from other types of magma. As a result, only one of the studied dykes has the morphology, chemistry, and petrology typical of CAL, while the other intrusions are either too altered to be classified or may correspond to metamorphosed and metasomatized gabbro and diorite. This study shows that thin sections and whole-rock chemical analyses are not always sufficient to unequivocally classify an altered and metamorphosed intrusion as a CAL. Also, intrusions as challenging to recognise as CAL should not be used by exploration geologists to prospect for orogenic gold deposits. Much remains to be done to document the distribution and volume represented by lamprophyres in Archean greenstone belts and to confirm their spatial dependence with gold deposits.

scholarly journals Tonalite-Dominated Magmatism in the Abitibi Subprovince, Canada, and Significance for Cu-Au Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Mathieu ◽  
Alexandre Crépon ◽  
Daniel J. Kontak
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Heavy Rare Earth ◽  
Geological Surveys ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Heavy Rare Earth Elements ◽  
Pressure Melting ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Archean Greenstone Belts

In Archean greenstone belts, magmatism is dominated by intrusive and volcanic rocks with tholeiitic affinities, as well as tonalite- and granodiorite-dominated large-volume batholiths, i.e., tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suites. These intrusions are associated with poorly documented mineralization (Cu-Au porphyries) that, in the Neoarchean Abitibi Subprovince (>2.79 to ~2.65 Ga), Superior Province, Canada, are associated with diorite bearing plutons, i.e., tonalite–trondhjemite–diorite (TTD) suites. The importance of TTG versus TTD suites in the evolution of greenstone belts and of their magmatic-hydrothermal systems and related mineralization is unconstrained. The aim of this study was to portray the chemistry and distribution of these suites in the Abitibi Subprovince. The study used data compiled by the geological surveys of Québec and Ontario to evaluate the chemistry of TTG and TTD suites and uncovered two coeval magmas that significantly differentiated (fractional crystallization mostly): 1) a heavy rare earth elements (HREE)-depleted tonalitic magma from high pressure melting of an hydrated basalt source; and 2) a hybrid HREE-undepleted magma that may be a mixture of mantle-derived (tholeiite) and tonalitic melts. The HREE-depleted rocks (mostly tonalite and granodiorite) display chemical characteristics of TTG suites (HREE, Ti, Nb, Ta, Y, and Sr depletion, lack of mafic unit, Na-rich), while the other rocks (tonalite and diorite) formed TTD suites. Tonalite-dominated magmatism, in the Abitibi Subprovince, comprises crustal melts as well as a significant proportion of mantle-derived magmas and this may be essential for Cu-Au magmatic-hydrothermal mineralizing systems.

scholarly journals Oxygen Fugacity and Volatile Content of Syntectonic Magmatism in the Neoarchean Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Superior Province, Canada

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 966
Author(s):  
Baptiste Madon ◽  
Lucie Mathieu ◽  
Jeffrey H. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Fugacity ◽  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Temporal Association ◽  
Volatile Content ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince

Neoarchean syntectonic intrusions from the Chibougamau area, northeastern Abitibi Subprovince (greenstone belt), may be genetically related to intrusion related gold mineralization. These magmatic-hydrothermal systems share common features with orogenic gold deposits, such as spatial and temporal association with syntectonic magmatism. Genetic association with magmatism, however, remains controversial for many greenstone belt hosted Au deposits. To precisely identify the link between syntectonic magmas and gold mineralization in the Abitibi Subprovince, major and trace-element compositions of whole rock, zircon, apatite, and amphibole grains were measured for five intrusions in the Chibougamau area; the Anville, Saussure, Chevrillon, Opémisca, and Lac Line Plutons. The selected intrusions are representative of the chemical diversity of synvolcanic (TTG suite) and syntectonic (e.g., sanukitoid, alkaline intrusion) magmatism. Chemical data enable calculation of oxygen fugacity and volatile content, and these parameters were interpreted using data collected by electron microprobe and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The zircon and apatite data and associated oxygen fugacity values in magma indicate that the youngest magmas are the most oxidized. Moreover, similar oxygen fugacity and high volatile content for both the Saussure Pluton and the mineralized Lac Line intrusion may indicate a possible prospective mineralized system associated with the syntectonic Saussure intrusion.

scholarly journals VI.—Notes on the Witwatersrand Beds, Transvaal

1903 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 543-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick H. Hatch
Keyword(s):  
Microscopic Examination ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Igneous Intrusion ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Igneous Origin

In discussing a paper by Mr. J. S. Curtis on the Witwatersrand Gold Deposits, Mr. George Denny has raised the point that the slates or shales of the Witwatersrand, which especially characterise, but are not confined to, the Lower Witwatersrand Beds (Hospital Hill Series), are not of sedimentary, but of igneous origin. He relies chiefly on the fact that he has observed in places that a so-called band of slate cuts across the bedding of the quartzites. I think we are all prepared to agree with him that, where he can point out that this occurs, the rock which traverses the bedded formation must be an igneous intrusion; but such cases are rare. In the vast majority of sections where the slates are exposed, they are found to occur truly bedded, and in conformable relation with the quartzites with which they are associated. It seems to me that, after all, this is in the main a petrological question, which can be easily settled by the examination of the rocks in question under the microscope.With this end in view I have examined a number of thin sections of these rocks, in all cases prepared from the cores of boreholes, on account of the difficulty of obtaining near the surface specimens sufficiently fresh and unweathered for microscopic examination; and I have selected geological horizons which are well known on the Witwatersrand. They are (1) the band of slates which occurs in the neighbourhood of the Bird Reef Series, and (2) the slates which occur in the footwall of the Main Reef itself, in both cases in the eastern portion of the Witwatersrand, as at Van Ryn and Geduld.

Rubidium–strontium ages from the Oxford Lake – Knee Lake greenstone belt, northern Manitoba

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 560-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Clark ◽  
S.-P. Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Granitic Intrusion ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Archean Greenstone Belts

Rb–Sr whole-rock ages have been determined for rocks from the Oxford Lake – Knee Lake – Gods Lake greenstone belt, in the Superior Province of northeastern Manitoba.The age of the Magill Lake Pluton is 2455 ± 35 Ma (λ87Rb = 1.42 × 10−11 yr−1), with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7078 ± 0.0043. This granitic stock intrudes the Oxford Lake Group, so it is post-tectonic and probably related to the second, weaker stage of metamorphism.The age of the Bayly Lake Pluton is 2424 ± 74 Ma, with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7029 ± 0.0001. This granodioritic batholith complex does not intrude the Oxford Lake Group. It is syn-tectonic and metamorphosed.The age of volcanic rocks of the Hayes River Group, from Goose Lake (30 km south of Gods Lake Narrows), is 2680 ± 125 Ma, with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7014 ± 0.0009.The age for the Magill Lake and Bayly Lake Plutons can be interpreted as the minimum ages of granitic intrusion in the area.The age for the Hayes River Group volcanic rocks is consistent with Rb–Sr ages of volcanic rocks from other Archean greenstone belts within the northwestern Superior Province.

scholarly journals THE CELL ENVELOPES OF TWO EXTREMELY HALOPHILIC BACTERIA

1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 681-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Brown ◽  
C. D. Shorey
Keyword(s):  
Single Unit ◽  
Cell Envelope ◽  
Halophilic Bacteria ◽  
Layered Compound ◽  
Halobacterium Halobium ◽  
Chemical Analyses ◽  
Unit Membrane ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Whole Cells ◽  
Cell Envelopes

The cell envelope of Halobacterium halobium was seen in thin sections of permanganate-fixed cells to consist of one membrane. This membrane appeared mostly as a unit membrane but in a few preparations it resembled a 5-layered compound membrane. The cell envelope of Halobacterium salinarium at high resolution was always seen as a 5-layered structure different in appearance from the apparent compound membrane of H. halobium. The "envelopes" which were isolated in 12.5 per cent NaCl from each organism were indistinguishable from each other in the electron microscope and comprised, in each case, a single unit membrane with an over-all thickness of about 110 A. Some chemical analyses were made of isolated membranes after freeing them from salt by precipitating and washing with trichloroacetic acid. Such precipitated membranes consisted predominantly of protein, with little carbohydrate and no peptido-aminopolysaccharide (mucopeptide). Sectioned whole cells of H. halobium contained intracellular electron-opaque structures of unknown function.

Geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotopic composition of Eocene lamphrophyre dykes, southeastern British Columbia

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 853-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
J H Sevigny ◽  
R J Thériault
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Calc Alkaline ◽  
Lithospheric Thinning ◽  
Enriched Mantle ◽  
Mantle Enrichment ◽  
Mantle Reservoir ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
Alkaline Lamprophyres

Mineral compositions, geochemical analyses, and Sr–Nd isotopic compositions are reported for alkaline and calc-alkaline lamprophyres collected along the southern margin of the Valhalla Complex, southeastern British Columbia. The lamprophyres were emplaced during Eocene extension and lithospheric thinning associated with tectonic denudation of the Valhalla Complex. SiO2 contents range from 44.4–51.6 wt.%, K2O from 1.3–3.7 wt.%, and volatile contents (H2O + CO2 + SO3) from 0.8–4.6 wt.%. MgO and Cr contents are 9.5–7.6 wt.% and 540–130 ppm, respectively, for samples with Mg#s between 0.69 and 0.65. Chrondrite-normalized rare-earth element patterns are strongly fractionated with Cen = 120–375 and Ybn = 8.4–12.7. Alkaline lamprophyres contain biotite ± kaersutite ± calcic plagioclase and exhibit a limited range in initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.7051–0.7057), initial εNd (–3.7 to –4.3), and TDM (766–796 Ma). Calc-alkaline lamprophyres contain F-rich phlogopite and sodic plagioclase, and exhibit a wider range in initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.7064–0.7090), initial εNd (–6.3 to –11.9), and TDM (917–1,614 Ma). Alkaline lamprophyres are interpreted as uncontaminated melts derived from a long-term, volatile, and incompatible element-enriched mantle reservoir. Mantle enrichment coincided with continental rifting of western North America (ca. 760 Ma). The enriched mantle reservoir remained isolated for ~700 Ma. Lamprophyres were generated by partial melting of the mantle reservoir in response to adiabatic decompression and lithospheric thinning during Eocene extension.

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