Lead isotopes as tracers of crude oil migration within deep crustal fluid systems

Fetter, Nadège; Blichert‐Toft, Janne; Ludden, John; Lepland, Aivo; Borque, Jorge Sánchez; Greenhalgh, E.; García, Bruno; Edwards, Dianne; Télouk, Philippe; Albarède, Francis

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115747

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The source of Au in Carlin-type gold systems is also debated, with both metal-enriched sedimentary formations (Hofstra and Cline, 2000;Large et al, 2011) and magmatic-hydrothermal activity (Muntean et al, 2011;Large et al, 2016;Zhu et al, 2020) being consider as the progenitor. In both cases Au bearing fluids can interact with liquid oil in the shallow crust (Fetter et al, 2019). Yet, the lack of coeval igneous intrusions near the gold deposits of the Nanpanjiang Basin, as well as elevated δ 34 S values of ore-related sulfide minerals (Xie et al, 2018b) are interpreted to indicate basinal derived fluids could have played an important role during mineralization (Gu et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic relationship between hydrocarbon system evolution and Carlin-type gold mineralization: Insights from ReOs pyrobitumen and pyrite geochronology in the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China

et al. 2021

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The spatial association of hydrocarbons with metalliferous ore deposits is found worldwide and is particularly common to Carlin-type gold systems. Both liquid oil and pyrobitumen are found in Carlin-type gold deposits of North Nevada, USA and the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China. However, the temporal and genetic association of hydrocarbons and gold mineralization are still debated. To this end, using rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) geochronology of pyrobitumen and gold-bearing pyrite from the Laizishan and Banqi reservoirs and the Yata Carlin-type gold deposit in the Nanpanjiang Basin, we consider hydrocarbons played a critical role in the mineralization process. A Re-Os age of 228 ± 16 Ma obtained for highly mature pyrobitumen suggests that liquid oil cracking occurred during the Late Triassic in the Laizishan and Banqi reservoirs. This age is in agreement with the modelled thermal history of the Nanpanjiang Basin. Additionally, a broadly identical gold-bearing pyrite Re-Os age of 218 ± 25 Ma from Yata Carlin-type gold deposit which is in agreement with ages reported for other Carlin-type gold deposits in the Nanpanjiang Basin (e.g., in-situ SIMS U-Pb rutile = 213.6 ± 5.4 Ma, Re-Os arsenopyrite = 204 ± 19 Ma -235 ± 33 Ma and Rb-Sr illite = 212.8 ± 4.6 Ma) suggests the auriferous Carlin-type systems of the Nanpanjiang Basin also formed during the Late Triassic. Integrating our Re-Os data, with recent liquid hydrocarbon experimental data and fluid inclusion data from both reservoirs and gold deposits within the Nanpanjiang Basin, a methane (CH 4 ) dominated thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) process, which introduced 3 hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) into basinal fluid and ultimately led to the deposition of gold-bearing pyrite by sulfidation, is considered to be the genetic link between of pyrobitumen and gold-bearing pyrite mineralization of the Carlin-type systems of the Nanpanjiang Basin.

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