Pb–Zn occurrences and their Pb-isotopic signatures bearing on metallogeny and mineral exploration—Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, northern Appalachians, Quebec

Galena Pb-isotope ratios of epithermal vein and disseminated sulfide occurrences in the Taconian Orogen and Siluro-Devonian basin cluster around 17.90–18.05 for 206Pb/204Pb and 37.70–38.00 for 208Pb/204Pb. The major source of Pb in most, if not all, occurrences is a fairly common continental crust, a characteristic found in published analyses of Grenville feldspar Pb. A southwest to northeast increase in galena 206Pb/204Pb ratios is ascribed to the supply of several types of detritus from Grenville basement during the Cambro-Ordovician: coarse-grained, K-feldspar-bearing in the southwest, grading into fine-grained phyllitic, and relatively more highly radiogenic in the northeast.Emplacement (i) of Pb–Zn–barite veins and disseminations, commonly of homogeneous crustal Pb-isotopic signature, was late Taconian; (ii) of Pb–Zn–quartz veins, of less homogeneous signature, was post-Taconian; and (iii) of Pb–Zn–carbonate veins, relatively highly radiogenic and commonly homogeneous, was late or post-Acadian. Signatures of the first-mentioned group seem to be most useful in exploration.