Genesis of the Urals VHMS Deposits Inferred from Coupled Pb-Os Isotope Systematics

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Location of the North Magnetic Pole in April 2007

International audienceObservations have been made at five locations in the vicinity of the North Magnetic Pole (NMP)νll. These were used in four different analyses -- virtual geomagnetic pole, simple polynomial, spherical cap harmonic, best fitting grid -- to derive positions of the NMP. The average position at 2007.3 was 83.95°N, 120.72°W, with a positional uncertainty of 40 km. This position is only 27 km from the pole position given by the CHAOS magnetic model. The NMP continues to move in a northwesterly direction but its drift speed has stabilized at just over 50 km per year. The number of direct observations is insufficient to determine if the NMP has started to decelerate

Osmium isotope distribution within the Palaeozoic Alexandrinka seafloor hydrothermal system in the Southern Urals, Russia

The Re-Os distribution and isotopic composition have been studied within different ore facies, host-rocks and sediments from the Alexandrinka volcanogenic hydrothermal massive sulphide deposit, Southern Urals, Russia. The osmium contents increase and the initial 187Os/ 188Os isotopic compositions decrease in the ore facial range: sulphide chimneys-stockwork zone-seafloor massive and clastic sulphides-metalliferous sediments. This range reflects variable degrees of reduced hydrothermal fluid-oxidized seawater mixing during the hydrothermal ore-forming process. The Os isotopic composition of the hydrothermal sulphide chimney ( 187Os/ 188Os = 1.3) is estimated to be a minimum value of the Devonian hydrothermal fluid, which is an intermediate between initial Os isotopic compositions of island-arc volcanics and interlayered sediments. The initial Os isotopic composition of metalliferous sediments ( 187Os/ 188Os ~ 0.17-0.2) possibly reflects that of the Devonian seawater. The low rhenium concentrations in metalliferous sediments (about 1-2 ppb) could indicate oxic formation conditions. The Re-Os isotope data define a best-fit line corresponding to a Late Devonian age of 355 ± 15 Ma (2s) with initial 187Os/ 188Os of 0.12 ± 0.19. This age could indicate a late Os isotope reequilibration due to ongoing hydrothermal fluid flow from the Givetian (stratigraphic age ~ 375 Ma) until the closure of the Ural paleoocean in the Late Devonian. The Os contents are higher and Re/Os ratio is lower within Palaeozoic island-arc hosted Urals VHMS deposits compared with TAG deposit in MOR setting. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Peculiarities of some mafic-ultramafic- and ultramafic-hosted massive sulfide deposits fom the Main Uralian Fault Zone, southern Urals

Some Cu-rich, mafic-ultramafic- and ultramafic-hosted massive sulfide deposits from the southern segment of the Main Uralian Fault Zone (Ivanovka and Ishkinino deposits, southern Urals) show unusual characteristics. Their major features include: (i) relatively high Co (Ni, An), very low Zn and negligible Pb grades; (ii) a pyrrhotite-dominated mineralization, locally characterized by the presence of open- latticework aggregates of lamellar pyrrhotite with Mg-saponite Mg-chlorite and carbonate matrix; (iii) hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic host rocks into talc carbonate quartz chlorite and of mafic host rocks into chloritites; (iv) the presence of clastic facies with reworked sulfide and ultramafic or mafic components; (v) the widespread occurrence of sulfide-associated chromite; (vi) the specific mineralogy of Co, Ni, Fe and As, including sulfoarsenides, mono- and diarsenides, and Co-rich pentlandite and pyrite; (vii) the supra-subduction -zone geochemical signature of the host serpentinites and volcanic rocks. Although some of these features have been separately reported in certain modem ocean-seafloor and ophiolite-hosted fossil deposits, a true equivalent has yet to be found. Based on recognized partial analogies with a few modem seafloor examples, the arc tholeiitic-boninitic geochemical signature of sulfide-associated volcanic rocks and the highly refractory compositions of sulfide-hosted chromite relicts, the studied deposits are believed to have formed by seafloor-subseafloor hydrothermal processes in an oceanic island arc setting. Possible tectonostratigraphic correlation of sulfide-associated units with infant, non-accretionary arc volcanic units of the adjacent Magnitogorsk oceanic island-arc system suggests formation of the studied deposits during the earliest stages of Devonian subduction-related volcanism