Zechstein-Kupferschiefer Mineralization Reconsidered as a Product of Ultra-Deep Hydrothermal, Mud-Brine Volcanism

Keith, Stanley B.; Spieth, Volker; Rasmussen, Jan

doi:10.5772/intechopen.72560

Cited by 2 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Three hydrothermal heat pulses were posited to represent different stages of dehydration of serpentine in the underlying ultramafic basement [1]. The current paper tests that hypothesis by examining chemical evidence in serpentinite basements for (1) general evidence for dehydration, (2) specific evidence for sequential dehydration, and (3) qualitative mass balance constraints that relate to sequential emplacement of brines in the overlying Kupferschiefer-Zechstein.…”

Section: Purposementioning

confidence: 95%

“…The extensive literature on the Kupferschiefer was canvassed [1,2] and revealed evidence for a hot, hydrothermal, mud volcanism model that was sourced in a serpentosphere layer that had earlier been tectonically emplaced by flat subduction between the crust and mantle (Moho). This paper focuses on the deep crustal sources from which the Kupferschiefer and related strata were possibly sourced.…”

Section: Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Kupferschiefer is a copper-, polymetallic-, hydrocarbon-bearing black shale of the lowermost Zechstein Group of Permo-Triassic age (252 Ma) in southern Germany and southwestern Poland [1,2]. It is usually one to two-meters thick and underlies 600,000 square kilometers, extending from Great Britain to Belarus for a distance of over 1500 km (Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Copper has been mined from the Kupferschiefer for over 800 years, since its discovery circa 1200 A.D. The top of the Kupferschiefer carbonaceous shale unit coincides with the Permian extinction event and the Permo-Triassic unconformity dated at circa 252 Ma [1,2]. The brines that deposited the Kupferschiefer metal system were extremely toxic and reduced and may have significantly contributed to the Permian extinction event [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mineralogical, chemical, and geological analyses of the combined Kupferschiefer-Zechstein show strong chemical and paragenetic relationships between the Weissliegend silica extrudites (sandstones), Kupferschiefer carbonaceous shales, and Zechstein salines and dolomitic carbonates. This linkage has led us to a broader, more unified, serpentine-linked model related to deep-sourced, hot, hydrothermal, mud-brine volcanism [1,2]. The overall Zechstein-Kupferschiefer chemical stratigraphy suggests density-and composition-driven fractionation of deep-sourced, high-density brines that are metal-rich, alkali-rich, silica-aluminumrich, and halogen-rich.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generation of Mud Volcanic Systems Sourced in Dehydrated Serpentospheric Mantle: A ‘Deep-to-Seep’ Model for the Zechstein Salines-Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag Deposits

Keith¹,

Rasmussen²,

Spieth³

2022

Soil Science - Emerging Technologies, Global Perspectives and Applications

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Mud volcanism can provide a mechanism for hot hydrothermal muds and brines to ascend from dehydrated, serpentinized peridotite at the mantle-crust contact (Moho). Such mud volcanism may have occurred on a regional scale across northern Europe when high to low density brines erupted as metalliferous, hot, hydrothermal, hydrocarbon-rich mud slurries. These mud-brines were delivered to the Permo-Triassic unconformity in a shallow Zechstein sea during the Pangea breakup through a series of deep-seated conduits that connected the serpentosphere to the Zechstein unconformity. A three-stage, hot, hydrothermal, mud volcanic model can explain the Kupferschiefer-Zechstein-Rote Fäule sequence of polymetallic, hydrocarbon, and saline mineralization as a consequence of a three-stage, dehydration sequence of deep serpentospheric uppermost mantle. Dehydration products of mantle-heated serpentinite were produced in three sequential stages: (1) lizardite to antigorite, (2) antigorite to chlorite-harzburgite, and (3) chlorite-harzburgite to garnet peridotite. The dehydration of serpentine correlates to three stages of Zechstein-Kupferschiefer mineralization: (1) Weissliegend-Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag-carbonaceous shale and silica sand deposits, to (2) Zechstein saline deposits, to (3) Rote Fäule hematite-Au-REE-U cross-cutting metallization.

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Section: Purposementioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generation of Mud Volcanic Systems Sourced in Dehydrated Serpentospheric Mantle: A ‘Deep-to-Seep’ Model for the Zechstein Salines-Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag Deposits

Keith¹,

Rasmussen²,

Spieth³

2022

Soil Science - Emerging Technologies, Global Perspectives and Applications

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Palladian Gold: Chemical Composition, Minerals in Association, and Physicochemical Conditions of Formation at Different Types of Gold Deposits

Palyanova,

Zhegunov,

Beliaeva

et al. 2023

Minerals

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This paper reviews and summarizes the available information on the composition of palladian gold with various contents and sets of isomorphic impurities (Ag, Cu, Hg) at 50 deposits and ore occurrences with Au-Pd mineralization. It is revealed that Palladian gold is represented by the systems Au–Pd, Au–Pd–Hg, Au–Pd–Cu, and Au–Pd–Ag–Hg, but more frequently corresponds to Au–Pd–Ag, Au–Pd–Ag–Cu, and Au–Pd–Ag–Cu–Hg. Objects with palladian gold belong to different types of gold deposits and to the deposits at which the main components of ores are PGE, Cr, Cu, Ni, V, and Ti. We propose a classification of the types of deposits with palladian gold: (1) PGE ore deposits related to mafic–ultramafic magmatic complexes (two subtypes—(a) low-sulfide-grade (less than 2%–5% sulfides) Alaskan, and (b) high-sulfide-grade (more than 5% sulfides) Norilsk); (2) orogenic gold deposits (OG); (3) epithermal (porphyry) gold–copper deposits (EPGC); (4) iron oxide copper gold deposits (IOCG); (5) ferruginous quartzite deposits; (6) volcanic exhalation; and (7) gold-PGE placers of five subtypes corresponding to the types of 1–5 primary sources. Palladian gold is mainly high-fineness (910‰–990‰), is less frequently medium-fineness, and contains Ag and Cu, but does not contain Hg at the deposits of types 1, 3, and 4. The only exception is the Au-Pd-Hg Itchayvayam ore occurrence (Kamchatka, Russia), for which two varieties of Pd,Hg-bearing native gold (fineness 816‰–960‰ and 580‰–660‰) are determined. Low-fineness palladian gold with the major content of Ag is typical of OGD deposits. Medium-fineness palladian gold occurs at ferruginous quartzite deposits and in volcanic exhalations. Hg, Ag, Cu-bearing high-fineness palladian gold is present mainly in placer deposits (type 7). The most common minerals in association with palladian gold are arsenides, stibioarsenides, sulfides, stannides, bismuthides, tellurides, and selenides of Pd and Pt. These are typical of deposit types 1 and 7. The minerals of Au, Ag, and Cu (tetra-auricupride, aurostibite, chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, eucairite, etc.) are in association with palladian gold at OG, EPGC, and IOCG deposits. Hg minerals (cinnabar, tiemannite, coloradoite, potarite) are at some deposits (types 1, 2, 7-1, 7-4). Cu, Fe, and Pd oxides (tenorite, hematite, magnetite, PdO, (Pd,Cu)O) and Fe and Pd hydroxides (goethite, (Fe,Pd)OOH) occur at the deposits of the 3, 4, and 7 groups and indicate the highly oxidizing conditions of ore formation. The most common minerals among host minerals are quartz and muscovite, including fuchsite (Cr-Ms), chlorite, albite, K-feldspar, hornblende, and carbonates (calcite, siderite, etc.). The fineness, content, and set of impurities in palladian gold and minerals in association with it reflect the mineralogy of Au-Pd ores and allow them to be used as indicators for the deposit types.

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Zechstein-Kupferschiefer Mineralization Reconsidered as a Product of Ultra-Deep Hydrothermal, Mud-Brine Volcanism

Cited by 2 publications

References 43 publications

Generation of Mud Volcanic Systems Sourced in Dehydrated Serpentospheric Mantle: A ‘Deep-to-Seep’ Model for the Zechstein Salines-Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag Deposits

Generation of Mud Volcanic Systems Sourced in Dehydrated Serpentospheric Mantle: A ‘Deep-to-Seep’ Model for the Zechstein Salines-Kupferschiefer Cu-Ag Deposits

Palladian Gold: Chemical Composition, Minerals in Association, and Physicochemical Conditions of Formation at Different Types of Gold Deposits

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