Origin of the Mesoproterozoic Jingtieshan bedded barite deposit, North Qilian Mountains, NW China: Geochemical and isotope (O, S, Sr) evidence

Abstract

The bedded Jingtieshan barite deposit, which occurs in the western part of North Qilian, NW China, is intimately associated with banded iron formation (BIF) and is hosted in weakly metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic clastic–carbonate rocks. Although numerous studies have focused on the BIF, the origin of the barite mineralization is poorly understood. The barite orebody occurs as a lenticular/stratiform unit overlying and locally interlayered with the BIF. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive and integrated study of the geochemistry and S–O–Sr‐isotope characteristics of the Jingtieshan barite deposit, thereby constraining its origin and the depositional conditions in the Mesoproterozoic ocean. The ore is composed of barite, minor carbonate minerals, specularite, and other minerals and is characterized by low Sr concentrations (711–1469 ppm), total rare earth element concentrations (7–28 ppm), and La/Ce values, relative enrichment in light rare earth element, positive Gd anomalies, and elevated Lan/Cen, which indicate that mineralizing fluids were derived from seawater and submarine hydrothermal solutions. Barite separates yield δ34S = 19.5–29.1‰ and δ18O = 12.7–23.6‰, which are consistent with a coeval seawater origin for SO42− modified bacterial sulfate reduction. Moreover, the 87Sr/86Sr values suggest that Sr, as well as Ba, was derived from contemporaneous seawater and hydrothermal solutions, with additional radiogenic Sr derived from late‐stage hydrothermal alteration. The redox‐sensitive trace element ratios of V/(V + Ni), V/(V + Cr), and V/Cr, combined with negative Ce anomalies (0.11–0.82), indicate that the barite formed under oxic marine conditions in a redox stratified ocean. Geological, geochemical, and isotope data support a sedimentary–exhalative origin for the Jingtieshan barite deposit, where barite was deposited under oxic conditions in a shallow marine environment when ascending Ba‐bearing submarine hydrothermal solutions encountered sulfate‐rich seawater.

Origin of barite deposits in dolomite-limestone units, Gazipasa, Eastern of Antalya: geology, geochemistry, statistics, sulfur isotope composition

“…Taking into account the PCA analysis used five factors in Table 9, factor F1 contains SiO2, MgO, Na2O, TiO2, Ba, Sr, TOTS, Cs, Rb, Th, Zr, Ce, Dy, Ni, As, Tl; factor F2 contains MnO, Ba, Yb, Cd, Sb, Bi, Ag, Se; factor F3 contains LOI, SO3, TOTC, Ga; factor F4 contains K2O, Pr, Nd, Tm, Mo, Cu; factor F5 contains P2O5, Tm, Lu, Pb. BT16,17,8,13,3,9,15,19,12,4,10,20,14,18,2,6 and 11 in the dendogram analysis of the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis which is based on the XRF results of 20 barite samples, among themselves; BT1 and 7 in between present similarities. BT1, 7, and 5 do not resemble the others of the previous examples.…”

“…The generation of barite deposits has been the center of attraction of geological, mineralogical, geochemical, genesis and isotope studies for many years [1]- [12].…”

Central China Orogen along the Silk Road (Part 2): Mineral deposits, hydrocarbons, geohazards, and environments

“…The first paper in the thematic set on Mineral deposits and oil‐gas‐coalfields by Sun, Zhu, Tang, and Luan () analyses trace elements in magnetite in Neoarchean Gongchanling banded iron formations in NE China and the involvement of metamorphic hydrothermal alteration in the genesis of high‐grade iron ore. The paper by X. Yang, Zhang, and Duan () uses stable isotopes studies to understand the formation of Jingtieshan bedded barite deposits in banded iron formations in Mesoproterozoic rocks of North Qilian Mountains. Statistical analysis of Landsat imagery in combination with geochemical anomalies is used by Han, Zhao, Wu, Wu, and Feng () as a predictive tool to locate prospective ore bodies in eastern China.…”

Migration and Reaction Mechanism of Barium in BaSO4–CaCO3–Fe2O3 System during Sintering

“…[1][2][3] Excellent properties of sinter are the premise of stable operation of blast furnace, which is not only related to the content of main gangue elements such as CaO, SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , but also related to the content of trace components such as BaSO 4 . [4,5] The iron ores mined from Jingtieshan Iron deposit in Gansu Province, [6] Bayan Obo Iron deposit in Inner Mongolia, [7] and Baharia iron deposit in Egypt [8] all contain a certain amount of barite. Since barium and calcium belong to the same main group and have higher optical basicity, it is difficult to remove barite in ore powder due to the reasons of veins; the presence of barium has a certain impact on the formation of sinter bonding phase and metallurgical properties in the sintering process.…”