Interpretation of reprocessed Ohio Consortium for Continental Refl ection Profi ling (COCORP) OH-1 seismic refl ection profi les indicates four structurally complex Precambrian unconformity-bounded stratigraphic sequences that clarify the relative timing of formation of the Fort Wayne Rift and EastContinent Rift System with respect to the Grenville orogeny. Petrographic examination of sparse deep well samples in the region indicates or suggests sedimentary lithologies beneath the Paleozoic sedimentary cover. Other seismic profi les in the region, some with excellent well control, support our proposed model. A generalized model for the latter part of the Grenville orogeny suggests polyphase sedimentation and deformation with multiple episodes of crustal extension and compression. We propose the following events for Ohio and the surrounding region: (1) a major regional unconformity developed on the Eastern Granite-Rhyolite Province and accreted Grenville terranes; (2) western Ohio became the site of extensive fault-bounded rift basins, beginning with the Fort Wayne Rift and extending into west-central Ohio as the East Continent Rift System; (3) westward-advancing thrust sheets followed with deposition of sediments into newly developed basins; (4) continued Grenville thrusting created foreland basins in a westward progression; and (5) a long period of Neoproterozoic to Middle Cambrian erosion removed much of the foreland basin sedimentary sequences prior to Paleozoic deposition. Erosion in the Ohio region did not remove the large volume of rock as in Canada north of Georgian Bay. Other seismic lines in the region suggest that Grenville-age sedimentary basins are preserved beneath the Phanerozoic from Georgian Bay southward. These new fi ndings demonstrate the importance of using fault-and unconformity-bounded seismic sequences to enhance and clarify the relative timing of Proterozoic events in regions where Paleozoic sedimentary cover exists and core samples are sparse or lacking.

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The Carboniferous Pajingo Epithermal System (PES) comprises several low sulphidation Au–Ag ore zones that have a total resource of c . 3 Moz (million ounces). The main Vera–Nancy vein is hosted by andesite that contains alteration which zones from inner silica–pyrite to argillic to distal propylitic alteration. Pyrite is ubiquitous in both alteration and vein. In the latter, pyrite is a minor component (<1%), but the dominant sulphide, and occurs as fine-grained (<50 μm) bands or disseminations. Coarse (up to 0.5 mm) euhedral pyrite is most abundant (up to 10%) in the silica–pyrite alteration whereas in argillic alteration pyrite (<50 to 250 μm) occurs as round to subhedral forms either as infill in narrow veinlets or as replacement. Fine-grained (<50 μm) pyrite occurs in propylitic alteration along rims of earlier mafic phenocrysts and has a low abundance (<1%). In-situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was carried out on the pyrite in order to test the chemical variations between pyrite in different alteration zones. Results indicate that Mo and Ag concentrations vary over two orders of magnitude from the outer alteration zones (Mo c . 0.1 ppm; Ag c . 0.5 ppm) to the proximal vein alteration (Mo c . 30 ppm; Ag c . 20 ppm) whereas Pb displays an overall decrease from the hanging wall (a few hundred ppm) to the footwall (<100 ppm). Pyrite in the hanging- wall argillic alteration zone has Pb/Mo and Pb/Ag ratios of >100 whereas pyrite in silica–pyrite alteration zones has ratios of <100, and pyrite in silica–pyrite alteration zones immediately adjacent to the vein has Pb/Mo ratios of <30 and Pb/Ag ratios of <10. Thus, Pb/Mo and Pb/Ag ratios may provide a potentially powerful vector to epithermal gold veins in the PES and elsewhere.

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