Geochemical features of major and rare-earth element behavior in the Paratunka and Bol’shebannyi hydrothermal systems of Kamchatka

AbstractCirculation of seawater at oceanic spreading centers extracts heat, drives rock alteration, and transports leached metals to shallower levels of the crust, where they may precipitate and form ore deposits. Crystallization of the lower crust, may exsolve and introduce magmatic volatiles into the seawater-dominant system. However, the role of magmatic volatiles added to the hydrothermal system, including pathways of these fluids are lesser known. Here we present coupled in-situ strontium isotope and rare earth element data of distinct domains in epidote, a common hydrothermal mineral throughout the Troodos ophiolite, to track magmatic fluid input and flow. Epidote crystal domains characterize three distinct strontium isotope-rare earth element signatures—suggesting sequential growth from magma-derived fluids (0.704, negative europium anomalies), rock-buffered fluids (0.7055, positive europium anomalies) and seawater-derived fluids (0.7065, negative cerium anomalies). Epidote records episodic fluxing of magmatic fluids from plagiogranites, through epidosites in the upflow zone and into metal ore deposits.

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Quantifying metasomatic high-field-strength and rare-earth element transport from alkaline magmas

Geology ◽

10.1130/g49471.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Krzysztof Sokół ◽

Adrian A. Finch ◽

William Hutchison ◽

Jonathan Cloutier ◽

Anouk M. Borst ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rare Earth ◽

Field Strength ◽

Rare Earth Element ◽

High Field ◽

Earth Element ◽

Chemical Interaction ◽

Hydrothermal Systems ◽

Initial Reaction ◽

High Field Strength ◽

Alkaline Magmas

Alkaline igneous rocks host many global high-field-strength element (HFSE) and rare-earth element (REE) deposits. While HFSEs are commonly assumed to be immobile in hydrothermal systems, transport by late-stage hydrothermal fluids associated with alkaline magmas is reported. However, the magnitude of the flux and the conditions are poorly constrained and yet essential to understanding the formation of REE-HFSE ores. We examined the alteration of country rocks (“fenitization”) accompanying the emplacement of a syenite magma at Illerfissalik in Greenland, through analysis of changes in rock chemistry, mineralogy, and texture. Our novel geochemical maps show a 400-m-wide intrusion aureole, within which we observed typically tenfold increases in the concentrations of many elements, including HFSEs. Textures suggest both pervasive and structurally hosted fluid flow, with initial reaction occurring with the protolith’s quartz cement, leading to increased permeability and enhancing chemical interaction with a mixed Ca-K-Na fenitizing fluid. We estimated the HFSE masses transferred from the syenite to the fenite by this fluid and found ~43 Mt of REEs were mobilized (~12% of the syenite-fenite system total rare-earth-oxide [TREO] budget), a mass comparable to the tonnages of some of the world’s largest HFSE resources. We argue that fenite can yield crucial information about the tipping points in magma evolution because retention and/or loss of volatile-bonded alkali and HFSEs are key factors in the development of magmatic zirconosilicate-hosted HFSE ores (e.g., Kringlerne, at Ilímaussaq), or the formation of the syenite-hosted Nb-Ta-REE (Motzfeldt-type) roof-zone deposits.

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