Sulfur isotope variability in sediment-hosted massive sulfide deposits as determined using the ion microprobe SHRIMP; II, A study of the H.Y.C. Deposit at McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia

Eldridge, C. Stewart; Williams, N.; Walshe, John L.

doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.88.1.1

Cited by 101 publications

(116 citation statements)

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“…Data represent pyrite and the full range of base metal sulfi des present, as well as disseminated sulfi des within the host sediments. References and location information are as follows: Aberfeldy, Scotland (Willan and Coleman, 1983); Balmat-Edwards, United States (Whelan et al, 1984); Jianshengpan, Dongshengmiao, and Tanyaokou, China (Ding and Jiang, 2000); Sullivan, Canada (Campbell et al, 1978(Campbell et al, , 1980; Belt Supergroup, United States (Lyons et al, 2000;Luepke and Lyons, 2001); Amjhore, India (Guha, 1971;Pandalai et al, 1991); McArthur River, Australia (Smith and Croxford, 1975;Rye and Williams, 1981;Eldridge et al, 1993;Shen et al, 2002); Mount Isa, Australia (Solomon, 1965;Smith et al, 1978;Andrew et al, 1989;Davidson and Dixon, 1992;Painter et al, 1999;McShane, 1996); Dugald River, Australia (Dixon and Davidson, 1996;Davidson and Dixon, 1992); Lady Loretta, Australia, (Carr and Smith, 1977;Scott et al, 1985). With the exception of the Chinese deposits, the histograms are stacked in a generally correct stratigraphic order.…”

Section: Implications Stratigraphic Isotope Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proterozoic sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits and links to evolving global ocean chemistry

Lyons¹,

Gellatly²,

McGoldrick³

et al. 2006

Evolution of Early Earth's Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere - Constraints From Ore Deposits

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Sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) Zn-Pb-sulfi de mineralization fi rst occurred on a large scale during the late Paleoproterozoic. Metal sulfi des in most Proterozoic deposits have yielded broad ranges of predominantly positive δ 34 S values traditionally attributed to bacterial sulfate reduction. Heavy isotopic signatures are often ascribed to fractionation within closed or partly closed local reservoirs isolated from the global ocean by rifting before, during, and after the formation of Rodinia. Although such conditions likely played a central role, we argue here that the fi rst appearance of signifi cant SEDEX mineralization during the Proterozoic and the isotopic properties of those deposits are also strongly coupled to temporal evolution of the amount of sulfate in seawater.The ubiquity of 34 S-enriched sulfi de in ore bodies and shales and the widespread stratigraphic patterns of rapid δ 34 S variability expressed in both sulfate and sulfi de data are among the principal evidence for global seawater sulfate that was increasing during the Proterozoic but remained substantially lower than today. Because sulfate is produced mostly through weathering of the continents in the presence of oxygen, low Proterozoic concentrations imply that levels of atmospheric oxygen fell between the abundances of the Phanerozoic and the defi ciencies of the Archean, which are also indicated by the Precambrian sulfur isotope record. Given the limited availability of atmospheric oxygen, deep-water anoxia may have persisted well into the Proterozoic in the presence of a growing sulfate reservoir, which promoted prevalent euxinia. Collectively, these observations suggest that the mid-Proterozoic maximum in SEDEX mineralization and the absence of Archean deposits refl ect a critical threshold in the accumulation of oceanic sulfate and thus sulfi de within anoxic bottom waters and pore fl uids-conditions that favored both the production and preservation of sulfi de mineralization at or just below the seafl oor. Consistent with these evolving global conditions, the appearance of voluminous SEDEX mineralization ca. 1800 Ma coincides generally with the disappearance of banded iron formations-marking the transition from an early iron-dominated ocean to one more strongly infl uenced by sulfi de availability. 170 T.W. Lyons et al.

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Section: Implications Stratigraphic Isotope Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proterozoic sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits and links to evolving global ocean chemistry

Lyons¹,

Gellatly²,

McGoldrick³

et al. 2006

Evolution of Early Earth's Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Biosphere - Constraints From Ore Deposits

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“…The sulfides consisted of fine particles, often sub-micrometre in size, commonly aggregated into clusters ranging from ten to several hundred micrometres. Previous investigations of sulfide mineral textures in the HYC deposit have found that sulfide minerals occur in grains of 1-10 lm, aggregated into clusters of 20-200 lm (Eldridge et al, 1993;Ireland et al, 2004). The pure sulfides used in this study are therefore an adequate approximation of the sulfide minerals occurring in HYC.…”

Section: Pure Metal Sulfidesmentioning

confidence: 81%

Effects of sulfide minerals on aromatic maturity parameters: Laboratory investigation using micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis

Holman

Greenwood

Brocks

et al. 2014

Organic Geochemistry

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a b s t r a c tSedimentary organic matter from the Here's Your Chance (HYC) Pb-Zn-Ag deposit (McArthur Basin, Northern Territory, Australia) displays increased thermal maturity compared to nearby non-mineralised sediments. Micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis (MSSVpy) of an immature, organic rich sediment from the host Barney Creek Formation (BCF) was used to simulate the thermal maturation of OM from the HYC deposit, and to assess the effect of sulfide minerals on organic maturation processes. MSSVpy at increasing temperatures (300, 330 and 360°C) resulted in increased methylphenanthrene maturity ratios which were within the range reported for bitumen extracted from HYC sediments. The methylphenanthrene index ratio from MSSVpy of the BCF sample was lower than in HYC, due to a reduced proportion of methylated phenanthrenes. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with four to six rings were produced in increasing abundance as pyrolysis temperature increased, although they did not approach the levels reported from HYC. Addition of lead sulfide, zinc sulfide and pyrite to the MSSVpy experiments resulted in a reduced response of the methylphenanthrene maturity parameters, possibly due to retardation of methyl-shift and transmethylation reactions.

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“…These studies focused on the sulfur isotope composition of sulfide minerals at the mineral grain scale to elucidate the source(s) of sulfur for sulfide precipitation and massive sulfide formational processes. The H 2 S required to form sedimenthosted Zn-Pb-(Ag-Ba) deposits is commonly derived through combinations of biogenic and abiogenic sulfate reduction mechanisms (Eldridge et al 1993;Taylor and Beaudoin 2000;Taylor 2004); however, the source(s) and pathway(s) of sulfur in Selwyn Basin SEDEX Zn-Pb deposits remain contentious (see discussions in Cooke et al 2000;Eldridge et al 1989;Goodfellow 1987;Goodfellow et al 1993;Ohmoto et al 1990;Ohmoto and Goldhaber 1997). The relative importance/predominance of either of these mechanisms is difficult to establish due to a paucity of empirical physicochemical fluid inclusion data in the HPD (and also for a majority of stratiform, sediment-hosted Zn-Pb deposits).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-spatial resolution (ca. 10 μm spot size) ion microprobe instruments (e.g., secondary ion mass spectrometry, SIMS) can measure in situ the sulfur isotope composition of finely intergrown sulfide minerals (Eldridge et al 1988(Eldridge et al , 1993Seal 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a study of the HYC Zn-Pb deposit in Australia, Eldridge et al (1993) recognized δ 34 S variability in pyrite, sphalerite, and galena. The heterogeneous nature of the sulfides was concealed in bulk analyses, but the mineral grain-scale isotope variability revealed that two processes were responsible for the Goodfellow 2004) generation of the two isotopically distinct sulfide reservoirs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The world-class Howard’s Pass SEDEX Zn-Pb district, Selwyn Basin, Yukon. Part II: the roles of thermochemical and bacterial sulfate reduction in metal fixation

et al. 2016

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The Howard's Pass district of sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) Zn-Pb deposits is located in Yukon Territory and comprises 14 Zn-Pb deposits that contain an estimated 400.7 Mt of sulfide mineralization grading 4.5 % Zn and 1.5 % Pb. Mineralization is hosted in carbonaceous and calcareous and, to a lesser extent, siliceous mudstones. Pyrite is a minor but ubiquitous mineral in the host rocks stratigraphically above, within, and below mineralization. Petrographic analyses reveal that pyrite has a complex and protracted growth history, preserving multiple generations of pyrite within single grains. Sulfur isotope analysis of paragenetically complex pyrite by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) reveals that sulfur isotope compositions vary with textural zonation. Within the Zn-Pb deposits, framboidal pyrite is the earliest pyrite generation recognized, and this exclusively has negative δ 34 S values (mean = −16.6 ± 4.1 ‰; n = 55), whereas paragenetically later pyrite and galena possess positive δ 34 S values (mean = 29.1 ± 7.5 and 22.4 ± 3.0 ‰, n = 13 and 13, respectively). Previous studies found that sphalerite and galena mineral separates have exclusively positive δ 34S values (mean = 16.8 ± 3.3 and 12.7 ± 2.8 ‰, respectively; Goodfellow and Jonasson 1986). These distinct sulfur isotope values are interpreted to reflect varying contributions of bacterially reduced seawater sulfate (negative; framboidal pyrite) and thermochemically reduced seawater sulfate and/or hydrothermal sulfate (positive; galena, sphalerite, later forms of pyrite). Textural evidence indicates that framboidal pyrite predates galena and sphalerite deposition. Collectively, the in situ and bulk sulfur isotope data are much more complex than δ 34 S values permitted by prevailing genetic models that invoke only biogenically reduced sulfur and coeval deposition of galena, sphalerite, and framboidal pyrite within a euxinic water column, and we present several lines of evidence that argue against this model. Indeed, the new data indicate that much of the base metal sulfide mineralization was emplaced below the sedimentwater interface within sulfidic muds under reducing conditions during early diagenesis. Furthermore, thermochemical sulfate reduction provided most of the reduced sulfur within the Zn-Pb deposits.

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Sulfur isotope variability in sediment-hosted massive sulfide deposits as determined using the ion microprobe SHRIMP; II, A study of the H.Y.C. Deposit at McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia

Cited by 101 publications

References 0 publications

Proterozoic sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits and links to evolving global ocean chemistry

Proterozoic sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits and links to evolving global ocean chemistry

Effects of sulfide minerals on aromatic maturity parameters: Laboratory investigation using micro-scale sealed vessel pyrolysis

The world-class Howard’s Pass SEDEX Zn-Pb district, Selwyn Basin, Yukon. Part II: the roles of thermochemical and bacterial sulfate reduction in metal fixation

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