scholarly journals Emplacement of the Nain anorthosite: diapiric versus conduit ascent

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1195-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
K R Royse ◽  
R G Park
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Border Zone ◽  
Crystal Mush ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Outer Border ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Nain Plutonic Suite

Estimation of settling velocities of large orthopyroxene megacrysts, found within anorthosite intrusions, are calculated and compared with ascent rates achieved by diapirism and conduit propagation. Calculations suggest that diapirism is far too slow to be an appropriate ascent mechanism for anorthositic crystal mush and favour conduit emplacement. The intrusions of the Nain Plutonic Suite (NPS) are located along the Abloviak shear zone, which marks the boundary between the Nain and Churchill provinces, and within the zone of juxtaposition of the Saglek and Hopedale blocks of the Nain Province. These crustal weaknesses have probably controlled the emplacement and distribution of the intrusions. Contact relations between intrusions of anorthosite and their gneissic host rock provide evidence for two emplacement styles within the NPS, the first typified by strongly deformed and recrystallized rocks, and the second by an outer border zone of mafic rocks. It is proposed that these differences in intrusive style are due to differences in ductility contrast between the magma and its surrounding host rocks, such that those intrusions emplaced into the thermally softened shear zone have deformed margins, whereas those intruded into the cooler Archaean crust have undeformed margins.

scholarly journals Magma Mixing Genesis of the Mafic Enclaves in the Qingshanbao Complex of Longshou Mountain, China: Evidence from Petrology, Geochemistry, and Zircon Chronology

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenheng Liu ◽  
Xiaodong Liu ◽  
Jiayong Pan ◽  
Kaixing Wang ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Rock ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Magma Mixing ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Calc Alkaline ◽  
Quartz Crystals ◽  
Alkaline Rocks ◽  
Mafic Enclaves ◽  
Normal Zoning ◽  
Host Rocks

The Qingshanbao complex, part of the uranium metallogenic belt of the Longshou-Qilian mountains, is located in the center of the Longshou Mountain next to the Jiling complex that hosts a number of U deposits. However, little research has been conducted in this area. In order to investigate the origin and formation of mafic enclaves observed in the Qingshanbao body and the implications for magmatic-tectonic dynamics, we systematically studied the mineralogy, petrography, and geochemistry of these enclaves. Our results showed that the enclaves contain plagioclase enwrapped by early dark minerals. These enclaves also showed round quartz crystals and acicular apatite in association with the plagioclase. Electron probe analyses showed that the plagioclase in the host rocks (such as K-feldspar granite, adamellite, granodiorite, etc.) show normal zoning, while the plagioclase in the mafic enclaves has a discontinuous rim composition and shows instances of reverse zoning. Major elemental geochemistry revealed that the mafic enclaves belong to the calc-alkaline rocks that are rich in titanium, iron, aluminum, and depleted in silica, while the host rocks are calc-alkaline to alkaline rocks with enrichment in silica. On Harker diagrams, SiO2 contents are negatively correlated with all major oxides but K2O. Both the mafic enclaves and host rock are rich in large ion lithophile elements such as Rb and K, as well as elements such as La, Nd, and Sm, and relatively poor in high field strength elements such as Nb, Ta, P, Ti, and U. Element ratios of Nb/La, Rb/Sr, and Nb/Ta indicate that the mafic enclaves were formed by the mixing of mafic and felsic magma. In terms of rare earth elements, both the mafic enclaves and the host rock show right-inclined trends with similar weak to medium degrees of negative Eu anomaly and with no obvious Ce anomaly. Zircon LA-ICP-MS (Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) U-Pb concordant ages of the mafic enclaves and host rock were determined to be 431.8 5.2 Ma (MSWD (mean standard weighted deviation)= 1.5, n = 14) and 432.8 4.2 Ma (MSWD = 1.7, n = 16), respectively, consistent with that for the zircon U-Pb ages of the granite and medium-coarse grained K-feldspar granites of the Qingshanbao complex. The estimated ages coincide with the timing of the late Caledonian collision of the Alashan Block. This comprehensive analysis allowed us to conclude that the mafic enclaves in the Qingshanbao complex were formed by the mixing of crust-mantle magma with mantle-derived magma due to underplating, which caused partial melting of the ancient basement crust during the collisional orogenesis between the Alashan Block and Qilian rock mass in the early Silurian Period.

Petrogenesis of the peralkaline Flowers River Igneous Suite and its significance to the development of the southern Nain Batholith

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Taylor A. Ducharme ◽  
Christopher R.M. McFarlane ◽  
Deanne van Rooyen ◽  
David Corrigan
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Discrete Events ◽  
Volcanic Event ◽  
Volcanic Succession ◽  
Intrusive Suite ◽  
Tectonic Boundaries ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Nain Plutonic Suite

Abstract The Flowers River Igneous Suite of north-central Labrador comprises several discrete peralkaline granite ring intrusions and their coeval volcanic succession. The Flowers River Granite was emplaced into Mesoproterozoic-age anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite–granite (AMCG) -affinity rocks at the southernmost extent of the Nain Plutonic Suite coastal lineament batholith. New U–Pb zircon geochronology is presented to clarify the timing and relationships among the igneous associations exposed in the region. Fayalite-bearing AMCG granitoids in the region record ages of 1290 ± 3 Ma, whereas the Flowers River Granite yields an age of 1281 ± 3 Ma. Volcanism occurred in three discrete events, two of which coincided with emplacement of the AMCG and Flowers River suites, respectively. Shared geochemical affinities suggest that each generation of volcanic rocks was derived from its coeval intrusive suite. The third volcanic event occurred at 1271 ± 3 Ma, and its products bear a broad geochemical resemblance to the second phase of volcanism. The surrounding AMCG-affinity ferrodiorites and fayalite-bearing granitoids display moderately enriched major- and trace-element signatures relative to equivalent lithologies found elsewhere in the Nain Plutonic Suite. Trace-element compositions also support a relationship between the Flowers River Granite and its AMCG-affinity host rocks, most likely via delayed partial melting of residual parental material in the lower crust. Enrichment manifested only in the southernmost part of the Nain Plutonic Suite as a result of its relative proximity to multiple Palaeoproterozoic tectonic boundaries. Repeated exposure to subduction-derived metasomatic fluids created a persistent region of enrichment in the underlying lithospheric mantle that was tapped during later melt generation, producing multiple successive moderately to strongly enriched magmatic episodes.

The Coles Hill Uranium Deposit, Virginia, USA: Geology, Geochemistry, Geochronology, and Genetic Model

2022 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-304
Author(s):  
S. M. Hall ◽  
J. S. Beard ◽  
C. J. Potter ◽  
R. J. Bodnar ◽  
L. A. Neymark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
Titanium Oxide ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Uranium Deposit ◽  
Uranium Mineralization ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Pb Isotope ◽  
Igneous Complex ◽  
Mineralizing Fluids

Abstract The Coles Hill uranium deposit, with an indicated resource of about 130 Mlb of U3O8, is the largest unmined uranium deposit in the United States. The deposit is hosted in the Taconian (approx. 480–450 Ma) Martinsville igneous complex, which consists of the Ordovician Leatherwood Granite (granodiorite) and the Silurian Rich Acres Formation (diorite). The host rock was metamorphosed to orthogneiss during the Alleghanian orogeny (approx. 325–260 Ma), when it also underwent dextral strike-slip movement along the Brookneal shear zone. During the Triassic, extensional tectonics led to the development of the Dan River Basin that lies east of Coles Hill. The mineralized zone is hosted in brittle structures in the footwall of the Triassic Chatham fault that forms the western edge of the basin. Within brittle fracture zones, uranium silicate and uranium-bearing fluorapatite with traces of brannerite form veins and breccia-fill with chlorite, quartz, titanium oxide, pyrite, and calcite. Uranium silicates also coat and replace primary titanite, zircon, ilmenite, and sulfides. Sodium metasomatism preceded and accompanied uranium mineralization, pervasively altering host rock and forming albite from primary feldspar, depositing limpid albite rims on igneous feldspar, altering titanite to titanium oxide and calcite, and forming riebeckite. Various geothermometers indicate temperatures of less than ~200°C during mineralization. In situ U-Pb analyses of titanite, Ti-oxide, and apatite, along with Rb/Sr and U/Pb isotope systematics of whole-rock samples, resolve the timing of geologic processes affecting Coles Hill. The host Leatherwood Granite containing primary euhedral titanite is dated at 450 to 445 Ma, in agreement with previously obtained ages from zircon in the Martinsville igneous complex. A regional metamorphic event at 330 to 310 Ma formed anhedral titanite and some apatite, reequilibrated whole-rock Rb/Sr and U-Pb isotopes, and is interpreted to have coincided with movement along the Brookneal shear zone. During shearing and metamorphism, primary refractory uranium-bearing minerals including titanite, zircon, and uranothorite were recrystallized, and uranium was liberated and mixed locally with hematite, clay, and other fine-grained minerals. Uranium mineralization was accompanied by a metasomatic episode between 250 and 200 Ma that reset the Rb-Sr and U-Pb isotope systems and formed titanium oxide and apatite that are associated and, in places, intimately intergrown with uranium silicate dating mineralization. This event coincides with rifting that formed the Dan River Basin and was a precursor to the breakup of Pangea. The orientation of late-stage tectonic stylolites is compatible with their formation during Late Triassic to Early Jurassic basin inversion, postdating the main stage of uranium mineralization and effectively dating mineralization as Mesozoic. Based on the close spatial and temporal association of uranium with apatite, we propose that uranium was carried as a uranyl-phosphate complex. Uranium was locally reduced by coupled redox reactions with ferrous iron and sulfide minerals in the host rock, forming uranium silicates. The release of calcium during sodium metasomatic alteration of primary calcic feldspar and titanite in the host rock initiated successive reactions in which uranium and phosphate in mineralizing fluids combined with calcium to form U-enriched fluorapatite. Based on the deposit mineralogy, oxygen isotope geochemistry, and trace element characteristics of uranium silicate and gangue minerals, the primary mineralizing fluids likely included connate and/or meteoric water sourced from the adjacent Dan River Basin. High heat flow related to Mesozoic rifting may have driven these (P-Na-F-rich) fluids through local aquifers and into basin margin faults, transporting uranium from the basin or mobilizing uranium from previously formed U minerals in the Brookneal shear zone, or from U-enriched older basement rock.

Compositional variation in the chevkinite group: new data from igneous and metamorphic rocks

2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Macdonald ◽  
H. E. Belkin ◽  
F. Wall ◽  
B. Baginski
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microprobe ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Compositional Variation ◽  
Temperature Range ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Cation Sites ◽  
Dominant Cation

AbstractElectron microprobe analyses are presented of chevkinite-group minerals from Canada, USA, Guatemala, Norway, Scotland, Italy and India. The host rocks are metacarbonates, alkaline and subalkaline granitoids, quartz-bearing pegmatites, carbonatite and an inferred K-rich tuff. The analyses extend slightly the range of compositions in the chevkinite group, e.g. the most MgO-rich phases yet recorded, and we report two further examples where La is the dominant cation in the A site. Patchily- zoned crystals from Virginia and Guatemala contain both perrierite and chevkinite compositions. The new and published analyses are used to review compositional variation in minerals of the perrierite subgroup, which can form in a wide range of host rock compositions and over a substantial pressure- temperature range. The dominant substitutions in the various cation sites and a generalized substitution scheme are described.

Competence and lithostratigraphy of host rocks govern kimberlite pipe morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-137
Author(s):  
David E. Newton ◽  
Amy G. Ryan ◽  
Luke J. Hilchie
Keyword(s):  
Host Rock ◽  
Sedimentary Rock ◽  
Kimberlite Pipe ◽  
Crystalline Rock ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Compressed Air ◽  
Unconsolidated Sediments ◽  
Final Shape ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Host Rocks

We use analogue experimentation to test the hypothesis that host rock competence primarily determines the morphology of kimberlite pipes. Natural occurrences of kimberlite pipes are subdivided into three classes: class 1 pipes are steep-sided diatremes emplaced into crystalline rock; class 2 pipes have a wide, shallow crater emplaced into sedimentary rock overlain by unconsolidated sediments; class 3 pipes comprise a steep-sided diatreme with a shallow-angled crater emplaced into competent crystalline rock overlain by unconsolidated sediments. We use different configurations of three analogue materials with varying cohesions to model the contrasting geological settings observed in nature. Pulses of compressed air, representing the energy of the gas-rich head of a kimberlitic magma, are used to disrupt the experimental substrate. In our experiments, the competence and configuration of the analogue materials control the excavation processes as well as the final shape of the analogue pipes: eruption through competent analogue strata results in steep-sided analogue pipes; eruption through weak analogue strata results in wide, shallow analogue pipes; eruption through intermediate strength analogue strata results in analogue pipes with a shallow crater and a steep-sided diatreme. These experimental results correspond with the shapes of natural kimberlite pipes, and demonstrate that variations in the lithology of the host rock are sufficient to generate classic kimberlite pipe shapes. These findings are consistent with models that ascribe the pipe morphologies of natural kimberlites to the competence of the host rocks in which they are emplaced.

scholarly journals Permeability Changes Resulting from Quartz Precipitation and Dissolution around Upper Crustal Intrusions

Geofluids ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel W. Scott ◽  
Thomas Driesner
Keyword(s):  
Host Rock ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Rock Permeability ◽  
Permeability Changes ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Porosity And Permeability ◽  
Fluid Convection ◽  
Flow Heat ◽  
Primary Porosity ◽  
Host Rocks

It has long been recognized that quartz precipitation from circulating hydrothermal fluids may reduce porosity and permeability near intrusions. However, the magnitude of permeability changes and potential feedbacks between flow, heat transfer, and quartz precipitation/dissolution remain largely unquantified. Here, we present numerical simulations of fluid convection around upper crustal intrusions which explicitly incorporate the feedback between quartz solubility and rock permeability. As groundwater is heated to ~350°C, silica dissolves from the host rock, increasing porosity and permeability. Further heating to supercritical conditions leads to intensive quartz precipitation and consequent permeability reduction. The initial host rock permeability and porosity are found to be main controls on the magnitude and timescales of permeability changes. While the permeability changes induced by quartz precipitation are moderate in host rocks with a primary porosity ≥ 0.05, quartz precipitation may reduce rock permeability by more than an order of magnitude in host rocks with a primary porosity of 0.025. Zones of quartz precipitation transiently change locations as the intrusion cools, thereby limiting the clogging effect, except for host rocks with low initial porosity. This permeability reduction occurs in timescales of hundreds of years in host rocks with initial high permeability and thousands of years in host rocks with intermediate permeability.

scholarly journals Characterizing mineralogy and redox reactivity in potential host rocks for a UK geological disposal facility

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1353-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Quirke ◽  
C. M. B. Henderson ◽  
R. A. D. Pattrick ◽  
K. M. Rosso ◽  
A. Dent ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Content ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Azo Dye ◽  
Total Iron ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Potential Host ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Reducing Conditions ◽  
Redox Reactivity ◽  
Host Rocks

AbstractGeological disposal facilities (GDF) are intended to isolate and contain radioactive waste within multiple protective barriers, deep underground, to ensure that no harmful quantities of radioactivity reach the surface environment. The last line of defense in a multi-barrier GDF is the geosphere, where iron is present in the host rock mineralogy as either Fe(II) or Fe(III), and in groundwater as Fe(II) under reducing conditions. The mobility of risk-driving radionuclides, including uranium and technetium, in the environment is affected significantly by their valence state. Due to its low redox potential, Fe(II) can mediate reduction of these radionuclides from their oxidized, highly mobile, soluble state to their reduced, insoluble state, preventing them from reaching the biosphere. Here a study of five types of potential host rocks, two granitoids, an andesite, a mudstone and a clay-rich carbonate, is reported. The bulk rocks and their minerals were analysed for iron content, Fe(II/III) ratio, and for the speciation and fine-grained nature of alteration product minerals that might have important controls on groundwater interaction. Total iron content varies between 0.9% in clays to 5.6% in the andesite. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals that Fe in the granitoids and andesite is predominantly Fe(II), and in mudstones, argillaceous limestone and terrestrial sandstone is predominantly Fe(III). The redox reactivity of the potential host rocks both in the presence and absence of Fe(II)-containing 'model' groundwater was investigated using an azo dye as a probe molecule. Reduction rates as determined by reactivity with the azo dye were correlated with the ability of the rocks to uptake Fe(II) from groundwater rather than with initial Fe(II) content. Potential GDF host rocks must be characterized in terms of mineralogy, texture, grain size and bulk geochemistry to assess how they might interact with groundwater. This study highlights the importance of redox reactivity, not just total iron and Fe(II)/(III) ratio, when considering the host rock performance as a barrier material to limit transport of radionuclides from the GDF.

2D thermo-mechanical-chemical coupled numerical models of interactions between a cooling magma chamber and a visco-elastic host rock

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dániel Kiss ◽  
Evangelos Moulas ◽  
Lisa Rummel ◽  
Boris Kaus
Keyword(s):  
Magma Chamber ◽  
Host Rock ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Bulk Composition ◽  
Inertial Forces ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Consistent System ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
2D Numerical Model ◽  
Crustal Magma

<p>A recent focus of studies in geodynamic modeling and magmatic petrology is to understand the coupled behavior between deformation and magmatic processes. Here, we present a 2D numerical model of an upper crustal magma (or mush) chamber in a visco-elastic host rock, with coupled thermal, mechanical and chemical (TMC) processes. The magma chamber is isolated from deeper sources of magma and it is cooling, and thus shrinking. We quantify the mechanical interaction between the shrinking magma chamber and the surrounding host rock, using a compressible visco-elastic formulation, considering several geometries of the magma chamber.</p><p>We present a self-consistent system of the conservation equations for coupled TMC processes, under the assumptions of slow (negligible inertial forces), visco-elastic deformation and constant chemical bulk composition. The thermodynamic melting/crystallization model is based on a pelitic melting model calculated with Perple_X, assuming a granitic composition and is incorporated as a look-up table. We will discuss the numerical implementation, show the results of systematic numerical simulations, and illustrate the effect of volume changes due to crystallization on stresses in the host rocks.</p>

Structural evolution of sulphide tectonites and their host rocks, Stratmat mine, New Brunswick

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian F. Park
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
New Brunswick ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Quartz Vein ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Fluid Migration ◽  
Soft Sediment ◽  
Polyphase Deformation ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Host Rocks

The sulphide orebodies at the Stratmat mine in New Brunswick are treated as tectonites, because their primary characteristics have been so modified by deformation, recrystallization, and vein injection that most of their original features have been obscured. Pb–Zn–Cu sulphide orebodies at the Stratmat mine consist of sulphide and sulphide–silicate tectonites, gneisses, schists, phyllites, and slates produced by the mixing of two sulphide precursors and silicate host rocks by polyphase deformation, much of which relates to progressive non-coaxial deformation. Quartz-vein injection during and after this period of deformation, and the intermixing of nonsulphide lithotypes, led to dilution of the initial ore composition. Both the deformation of the orebodies and fluid migration, manifested by vein injection, reflect processes that were operative in a major shear zone. No indisputable primary characteristics of the orebodies are preserved, although a number of tectonic and (or) tectonically modified features mimic depositional features, e.g., quartz mylonites resemble "cherts," festoon veinlets resemble dismembered stockwork veins, sulphide mylonites resemble rock with an original fine-grain size and "extra" fold phases that could be mistaken for soft sediment folds.

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