Alkali alteration styles and mechanisms, and their implications for a ‘brine factory’ source of base metals in the rift‐related McArthur group, Australia

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

Volumn 45, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 33-49

  Davidson, G J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA   (Australia)

Author keywords

Alkali alteration; Fluid migration; Geochemistry; HYC deposit; McArthur Group; Oxygen isotopes

Indexed keywords

ALKALI ALTERATION; FLUID MIGRATION; GEOCHEMISTRY; METASOMATISM;

AUSTRALIA;

EID: 0031850491     PISSN: 08120099     EISSN: 14400952     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08120099808728365     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. ALTANER S. P., HOWER J., WHITNEY G. & ARONSON J. L. 1984. Model for K-bentonite formation: evidence from zoned K-bentonites in the disturbed belt, Montana. Geology 12, 412-415.
2. BEESON R., BERG R. C. & CRASE N. J. 1989. Lithogeochemical exploration for shale-hosted lead-zinc deposits: case studies from the McArthur River and Mt Isa districts, Northern Australia. Mineralium Deposita 24, 299-307.
3. BULL S. W. 1998. Sedimentology of the Palaeoproterozoic Barney Creek Formation in DDH BMR McArthur 2, southern McArthur Basin, Northern Territory Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 45, 21-31.
4. CHAPIN C. E. & LINDLEY J. I. 1986. Potassium metasomatism of igneous and sedimentary rocks in detachment terranes and other sedimentary basins: economic implications. Arizona Geological Digest 16, 118-126.
5. CLAYTON R. N. & MAYEDA T. K. 1963. The use of pentafluoride in the extraction of oxygen from oxides and silicates for isotopic analysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 27, 43-52.
6. CODY R. D. 1976. Growth and early diagenetic changes in artificial gypsum crystals grown within bentonite muds and gels. Geological Society of America Bulletin 87, 1163-1168.
7. COOKE D. R., BULL S. W. & DONOVAN S. 1995. Regional-scale potassic alteration of volcanics in the McArthur Basin, N.T., Australiaimplications for SSHMS and MVT-style mineralisation. In: Leach D. L. & Goldhaber M. B. eds. Extended abstracts: international field conference on carbonate hosted lead-zinc deposits, St Louis, Missouri, pp. 52-55. Society of Economic Geologists, St Louis.
8. CORBETT J. A., LAMBERT I. B. & SCOTT K. M. 1975. Results of rocks from the McArthur area, Northern Territory. CSIRO Technical Communication 57.
9. CROXFORD N. J. W. 1964. Origin and significance of volcanic potash-rich rocks from Mount Isa. Transactions of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 243, 1-26.
10. CROXFORD N. J. W. & JEPHCOTT S. 1972. The McArthur lead-zinc-silver deposit, NT. Transactions of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 243, 1-27.
11. DAVIDSON G. J. A method for determining the conditions of alkali replacement of volcanic glass, as applied to feldspar replacement of volcaniclastics along the Emu Fault Zone, Australia. Geological Society of America Bulletin (in press).
12. DAVIDSON G. J. & DASHLOOTY S. 1993. The Glyde Sub-basin: a volcaniclastic-bearing pull-apart basin coeval with the McArthur River base metals deposit, Northern Territory. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 40, 527-544.
13. DEIKE R. G. & JONES B. F. 1980. Provenance, distribution and alteration of volcanic sediments in a saline alkaline lake. In: Nissenbaum A. ed. Hypersaline brines and evaporitic environments, pp. 167-193. Developments in Sedimentology 28, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
14. DUFFIN M.E., LEE MINGCHOU, KLEIN G. DEV & HAY R. L. 1989. Potassic diagenesis of Cambrian sandstones and Precambrian granitic basement in UPH-3 deep hole, Upper Mississippi Valley, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 59, 848-861.
15. ELDRIDGE C. S., WILLIAMS N. & WALSHE J. L. 1993. Sulfur isotope variability in sediment-hosted massive sulfide deposits as determined using the ion microprobe SHRIMP: II. A study of the H.Y.C. deposit at McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia. Economic Geology 88, 1-26.
16. EUGSTER H. P. 1980. Lake Magadi, Kenya, and its precursor. In: Nissenbaum A. ed. Hypersaline brines and evaporitic environments. pp. 195-232. Developments in Sedimentology 28, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
17. FINLOW BATES T. & LARGE D. 1982. The geochemistry of tuffites and volcanic debris in the Proterozoic ore-bearing sedimentary rock sequences of northern Australia. Billiton Research (unpubl.).
18. FLOYD P. A. & WINCHESTER J. A. 1978. Identification and discrimination of altered and metamorphosed volcanic rocks using immobile elements. Chemical Geology 21, 291-306.
19. HAY R. L., LEE M., KOLATA D. R., MATTHEWS J. C. & MORTON J. P. 1988. Episodic potassic diagenesis of Ordovician tuffs in the Mississippi Valley area. Geology 16, 743-747.
20. HINMAN M., WALL V & HEINRICH C. 1994. The interplay between sedimentation, deformation and hydrothermal activity at the McArthur Pb-Zn-(Cu) deposit. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 37, 176-177.
21. IDNURM M., GIDDINGS J. W. & PLUMB K. A. 1995. Apparent polar wander and reversal stratigraphy of the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic southeastern McArthur Basin, Australia. Precambrian Research 72, 1-41.
22. JACKSON M. J., MUIR M. D. & PLUMB K. A. 1987. Geology of the southern McArthur Basin, Northern Territory. Bureau of Mineral Resources Bulletin 220.
23. KASTNER M. & SIEVER R. 1979. Low temperature feldspars in sedimentary rocks. American Journal of Science 45, 435-479.
24. KNEALE C. M., MACDONALD I. A., SHANNON C. H. C. & ZEISSINK H. E. 1979. Annual report: Exploration Licence 1203, 1226, 1422, 1423, 1437, 1438, 1439, 1486. Northern Territory Geological Survey Open file report CR79/8A-C.
25. KRALIK M. 1982. Rb-Sr age determinations on Precambrian carbonate rocks of the Carpentarian McArthur Basin, northern territories, Australia. Precambrian Research 18, 157-170.
26. LAMBERT I. B. & SCOTT K. M. 1973. Implications of geochemical investigations of sedimentary rocks within and around the McArthur zinc-lead-silver deposit, Northern Territory. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 2, 307-330.
27. LARGE R. R. & MCGOLDRICK P. J. 1993. Primary geochemical halos related to Proterozoic sediment hosted Pb-Zn deposits and applications to exploration. Centre for Ore Deposit and Exploration Studies, AMIRA/ARC Project P.384 Report 3, 63-126 (unpubl.).
28. LARGE R. R., BULL S. W., COOKE D. & MCGOLDRICK P. J. 1995. Review of genetic models at HYC: constraints from new sedimentology, alteration halo studies and fluid chemical modelling. Centre for Ore Deposit and Exploration Studies, AMIRA/ARC Project P. 384. Final report, pp. 371-409 (unpubl.).
29. LEISING J. F., TYLER S. W. & MILLER W. W. 1995. Convection of saline brines in enclosed lacustrine basins: a mechanism for potassium metasomatism. Geological Society of America Bulletin 107, 1157-1163.
30. LOGAN R. G. 1979. The geology and mineralogical zoning of the H.Y.C. Ag-Pb-Zn deposit, McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia. MSc thesis, Australian National University, Canberra (unpubl.).
31. LOGAN R. G. & WILLIAMS N. 1984. Sedimentary controls on the hydrothermal system that formed the HYC deposit at McArthur River, Northern Territory. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 12, 339.
32. LOUTIT T. S., WYBORN L. A. I., HINMAN M. C. & IDNURM M. 1994. Palaeomagnetic, tectonic, magmatic and mineralisation events in the Proterozoic of northern Australia. In: Hallenstein C. P. ed. Australian Mining Looks North-The Challenges and Choices, pp. 123-128. Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Publication Series 5/94.
33. MCCONACHIE B. A. & DUNSTER J. N. 1996. Sequence stratigraphy of the Bowthorn block in the northern Mount Isa basin, Australia: implications for the base-metal mineralization process. Geology 24, 155-158.
34. MOINE B., SAUVAN P. & JAROUSSE J. 1981. Geochemistry of evaporitebearing series: a tentative guide for the identification of metaevaporites. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 76, 401-412.
35. MUIR M. D., LOCK D., & VON DER BORCH C. C. 1980. The Coorong-model for penecontemporaneous dolomite formation in the Middle Proterozoic McArthur Group, Northern Territory, Australia. In: Zenger D. H. ed. Concepts and Models of Dolomitisation-Their Intricacies and Significance, pp. 51-67. SEPM Special Publication 28.
36. PAGE R. W. 1981. Depositional ages of the stratiform base metal deposits at Mt Isa and McArthur River, Australia, based on U-Pb zircon dating of concordant tuff horizons. Economic Geology 76, 648-658.
37. PAGE R. W., SUN S-S. & CARR G. 1994. Proterozoic sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits in northern Australia: U-Pb zircon and Pb isotope studies. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 37, 334-335.
38. PIETSCH B. A., WYCHE S., RAWLINGS D. J., CREASER P. M. & FINDHAMMER T. L. R. 1991. McArthur River region 6065-6165. Northern Territory Geological Survey 1:100 000 Geological Series Explanatory Notes, Government Printer of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
39. PLUMB K. A. & WELLMAN P. 1987. McArthur Basin, Northern Territory: mapping of deep troughs using gravity and magnetic anomalies. BMR Journal of Australian Geology & Geophysics 10, 243-252.
40. RODDY M. S., REYNOLDS S. J., SMITH B. M. & Ruiz J. 1988. K-metasomatism and detachment-related mineralization, Harcuvar Mountains, Arizona. Geological Society of America Bulletin 100, 1627-1639.
41. SHEPPARD R. & GUDE A. 1968. Distribution and genesis of authigenic silicate minerals in tuffs of Pleistocene Lake Tecopa, Inyo County, California. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 597.
42. SONNENFELD P. 1984. Brines and Evaporites. Academic Press Inc., Orlando.
43. STAMATAKIS M. G. 1989. Authigenic silicates and silica polymorphs in the Miocene saline-alkaline deposits of the Karlovassi Basin, Samos, Greece. Economic Geology 84, 788-798.
44. TAYLOR H. P. JR & EPSTEIN S. 1962. Relationship between 18O/16O ratios in coexisting minerals of igneous and metamorphic rocks, part 1. Geological Society of America Bulletin 73, 461-480.