Minimal biomass deposition in banded iron formations inferred from organic matter and clay relationships

The cycling of iron and organic matter (OM) is thought to have been a major biogeochemical cycle in the early ferruginous oceans which contributed to the deposition of banded iron formations (BIF). However, BIF are deficient in OM, which is postulated to be the result of near-complete oxidation of OM during iron reduction. We test this idea by documenting the prevalence of OM in clays within BIF and clays in shales associated with BIF. We find in shales >80% of OM occurs in clays, butPeer reviewe

Widespread occurrences of variably crystalline C-13-depleted graphitic carbon in banded iron formations

Almost all evidence for the oldest traces of life on Earth rely on particles of graphitic carbon preserved in rocks of sedimentary protolith. Yet, the source of carbon in such ancient graphite is debated, as it could possibly be non-biological and/or non-indigenous in origin. Here we describe the co-occurrence of poorly crystalline and crystalline varieties of graphitic carbon with apatite in ten different and variably metamorphosed banded iron formations (BIF) ranging in age from 1,800 to >3,800 Myr. In Neoarchean to Palaeoproterozoic BIF subjected to low-grade metamorphism, C-13-depleted graphitic carbon occurs as inclusions in apatite, and carbonate and arguably represents the remineralisation of syngenetic biomass. In BIF subjected to high-grade metamorphism, C-13-depleted graphite co-occurs with poorly crystalline graphite (PCG), as well as apatite, carbonate, pyrite, amphibole and greenalite. Retrograde minerals such as greenalite, and veins cross-cutting magnetite layers contain PCG. Crystalline graphite can occur with apatite and orthopyroxene, and sometimes it has PCG coatings. Crystalline graphite is interpreted to represent the metamorphosed product of syngenetic organic carbon deposited in BIF, while poorly crystalline graphite was precipitated from C-O-H fluids partially sourced from the syngenetic carbon, along with fluid-deposited apatite and carbonate. The isotopic signature of the graphitic carbon and the distribution of fluid-deposited graphite in highly metamorphosed BIF is consistent with carbon in the fluids being derived from the thermal cracking of syngenetic biomass deposited in BIF, but, extraneous sources of carbon cannot be ruled out as a source for PCG. The results here show that apatite + graphite is a common mineral assemblage in metamorphosed BIF. The mode of formation of this assemblage is, however, variable, which has important implications for the timing of life's emergence on Earth. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Organic remains in late Palaeoproterozoic granular iron formations and implications for the origin of granules

Toward the end of the Palaeoproterozoic era, over 109 billion tonnes of banded (BIF) and granular (GIF) iron formations were deposited on continental platforms. Granules in iron formations are typically sub-spherical structures 0.2 to 10 mm in size, whereas concretions are >10 mm. Both types of spheroids are preserved throughout the sedimentological record. Their formation has typically been interpreted to originate from reworked Fe-rich sediments in high-energy, wave-agitated, shallow-marine environments. New evidence from six different late Palaeoproterozoic granular iron formations (GIF), however, suggests that some granules are the result of diagenetic reactions, in addition to other features driven by microbial processes and mechanical movements. Characteristic coarse grain interiors and septarian-type cracks inside granules, akin to those features in decimetre- to meter-size concretions, are interpreted as desiccation features from hydrated diagenetic environments where sulphate and/ or ferric iron were reduced while organic matter (OM) was oxidised inside granules. Those granules derived from sulphate reduction preserve diagenetic pyrite rims, whereas those formed via ferric iron reduction preserve diagenetic magnetite along their rims. Other diagenetic minerals including apatite mixed with OM, and various carbonate phases are commonly preserved within granules. Combined with systematically 13C-depleted carbonate, these diagenetic mineral assemblages point to the oxidative decay of OM as a major process involved in the formation of granules. Spheroidal equidistant haematite laminations surround some granules and contain apatite associated with carbonate, OM, and ferric-ferrous silicates, and oxides that further suggest these structures were not shaped by wave-action along sediment-water interfaces, but rather by chemical wave fronts and biomineralisation. Our results demonstrate that the formation mechanisms of GIF also involve microbial activity and chemically-oscillating reactions. As such, granules have excellent potential to be considered as promising biosignatures for studying Precambrian biogeochemistry, as well as astrobiology

Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates

Although it is not known when or where life on Earth began, some of the earliest habitable environments may have been submarine-hydrothermal vents. Here we describe putative fossilized microorganisms that are at least 3,770 million and possibly 4,280 million years old in ferruginous sedimentary rocks, interpreted as seafloor-hydrothermal vent-related precipitates, from the Nuvvuagittuq belt in Quebec, Canada. These structures occur as micrometre-scale haematite tubes and filaments with morphologies and mineral assemblages similar to those of filamentous microorganisms from modern hydrothermal vent precipitates and analogous microfossils in younger rocks. The Nuvvuagittuq rocks contain isotopically light carbon in carbonate and carbonaceous material, which occurs as graphitic inclusions in diagenetic carbonate rosettes, apatite blades intergrown among carbonate rosettes and magnetite–haematite granules, and is associated with carbonate in direct contact with the putative microfossils. Collectively, these observations are consistent with an oxidized biomass and provide evidence for biological activity in submarine-hydrothermal environments more than 3,770 million years ago

Hydrothermal mineral deposits: principles and fundamental concepts for the exploration geologist

This book is intended primarily for exploration geologists and post� graduate students attending specialist courses in mineral exploration. Exploration geologists are engaged not only in the search for new mineral deposits, but also in the extension and re-assessment of existing ones. To succeed in these tasks, the exploration geologist is required to be a generalist of the Earth sciences rather than a specialist. The exploration geologist needs to be familiar with most aspects of the geology of ore deposits, and detailed knowledge as well as experience play an all important role in the successful exploration for mineral commodities. In order to achieve this, it is essential that the exploration geologist be up to date with the latest developments in the evolution of concepts and ideas in the Earth sciences. This is no easy task, as thousands of publications appear every year in an ever increasing number of journals, periodicals and books. For this reason it is also difficult, at times, to locate appropriate references on a particular mineral deposit type, although this problem is alleviated by the existence of large bibliographic data bases of geological records, abstracts and papers on computers. During my teaching to explorationists and, indeed, during my years of work as an explorationist, the necessity of having a text dealing with the fundamental aspects of hydrothermal mineral deposits has always been compelling. Metallic mineral deposits can be categorised into three great families, namely: (I) magmatic; (2) sedimentary and residual; (3) hydrothermal

A review of mineral systems and associated tectonic settings of northern Xinjiang, NW China

In this paper we present a review of mineral systems in northern Xinjiang, NW China, focussing on the Tianshan, West and East Junggar and Altay orogenic belts, all of which are part of the greater Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The CAOB is a complex collage of ancient microcontinents, island arcs, oceanic plateaux and oceanic plates, which were amalgamated and accreted in Early Palaeozoic to Early Permian times. The establishment of the CAOB collage was followed by strike-slip movements and affected by intraplate magmatism, linked to mantle plume activity, best exemplified by the 250 Ma Siberian Traps and the 280 Ma Tarim event. In northern Xinjiang, there are numerous and economically important mineral systems. In this contribution we describe a selection of representative mineral deposits, including subduction-related porphyry and epithermal deposits, volcanogenic massive sulphides and skarn systems. Shear zone-hosted Au lodes may have first formed as intrusion-related and subsequently re-worked during strike-slip deformation. Intraplate magmatism led to the emplacement of concentrically zoned (Alaskan-style) mafic–ultramafic intrusions, many of which host orthomagmatic sulphide deposits. A huge belt of pegmatites in the Altay orogen, locally hosts world-class rare metal deposits. Roll-front, sandstone-hosted U mineralisation completes the rich mineral endowment of the northern Xinjiang terranes

Weighting of BLEG data with drainage and catchment properties to enhance Au anomalies

© 2020 Elsevier GmbHThis research aims to take the effect of drainage sediment dilution into consideration by using catchment weighted-bulk leachable extractable gold (CW-BLEG) data in order to enhance and recognize Au anomalies. As a case study, an area in the Eskisehir region in Western Turkey was selected. In this area, gold-bearing crystalline quartz veins, of probable orogenic type, containing up to 20 g/t Au, occur in low-grade schists and marbles of the Karakaya Complex in the vicinity of the Sogut area. To classify the final geochemical maps of the BLEG data to differentiate Au anomalies from background, the singularity model was applied. After that, in order to take the sediments dilution effect (DE) into account, the other important factors in the study area such as the sinuosity index (SI) of the stream sediments per catchment, and the topography slope and area of each catchment were taken into consideration and implemented on the BLEG data. To do so, the CW-BLEG models based on the relation between the Au concentrations and each factor (i.e., C × sinuosity as DE-sinuosity, C × slope as DE-slope, and C × area as DE-area) were generated. Because of the insufficient number of known mineral deposits within the study area to evaluate the effectiveness of the models statistically, the models generated were compared with each other and studied using cross-validation. It demonstrated that the DE-area and DE-sinuosity models work better than the other model in recognizing strong and very strong anomalies considering the known mineral deposits. The cross-validation results show that the DE-area model provides a more robust result compared the other models. Considering the models generated, the very strong and strong Au anomalies in the western part of the study area are corresponded to the known gold mineralization (e.g., Sogut and Mayislar) hosted by the Karakaya Complex, and the anomalies in the eastern and central parts of the study area are associated with the Damdaca mineralization

Major types and time–space distribution of Mesozoic ore deposits in South China and their geodynamic settings

The ore deposits of the Mesozoic age in South China can be divided into three groups, each with different metal associations and spatial distributions and each related to major magmatic events. The first event occurred in the Late Triassic (230–210 Ma), the second in the Mid–Late Jurassic (170–150 Ma), and the third in the Early–Mid Cretaceous (120–80 Ma). The Late Triassic magmatic event and associated mineralization is characterized by peraluminous granite-related W–Sn–Nb–Ta mineral deposits. The Triassic ore deposits are considerably disturbed or overprinted by the later Jurassic and Cretaceous tectono-thermal episodes. The Mid–Late Jurassic magmatic and mineralization events consist of 170–160 Ma porphyry–skarn Cu and Pb–Zn–Ag vein deposits associated with I-type granites and 160–150 Ma metaluminous granite-related polymetallic W–Sn deposits. The Late Jurassic metaluminous granite-related W–Sn deposits occur in a NE-trending cluster in the interior of South China, such as in the Nanling area. In the Early–Mid Cretaceous, from about 120 to 80 Ma, but peaking at 100–90 Ma, subvolcanic-related Fe deposits developed and I-type calc-alkaline granitic intrusions formed porphyry Cu–Mo and porphyry-epithermal Cu–Au–Ag mineral systems, whereas S-type peraluminous and/or metaluminous granitic intrusions formed polymetallic Sn deposits. These Cretaceous mineral deposits cluster in distinct areas and are controlled by pull-apart basins along the South China continental margin. Based on mineral assemblage, age, and space–time distribution of these mineral systems, integrated with regional geological data and field observations, we suggest that the three magmatic–mineralization episodes are the result of distinct geodynamic regimes. The Triassic peraluminous granites and associated W–Sn–Nb–Ta mineralization formed during post-collisional processes involving the South China Block, the North China Craton, and the Indo-China Block, mostly along the Dabie-Sulu and Songma sutures. Jurassic events were initially related to the shallow oblique subduction of the Izanagi plate beneath the Eurasian continent at about 175 Ma, but I-type granitoids with porphyry Cu and vein-type Pb–Zn–Ag deposits only began to form as a result of the breakup of the subducted plate at 170–160 Ma, along the NNE-trending Qinzhou-Hangzhou belt (also referred to as Qin-Hang or Shi-Hang belt), which is the Neoproterozoic suture that amalgamates the Yangtze Craton and Cathaysia Block. A large subduction slab window is assumed to have formed in the Nanling and adjacent areas in the interior of South China, triggering the uprise of asthenospheric mantle into the upper crust and leading to the emplacement of metaluminous granitic magma and associated polymetallic W–Sn mineralization. A relatively tectonically quiet period followed between 150 and 135 Ma in South China. From 135 Ma onward, the angle of convergence of the Izanagi plate changed from oblique to parallel to the coastline, resulting in continental extensional tectonics and reactivation of regional-scale NE-trending faults, such as the Tan-Lu fault. This widespread extension also promoted the development of NE-trending pull-apart basins and metamorphic core complexes, accompanied by volcanism and the formation of epithermal Cu–Au deposits, granite-related polymetallic Sn–(W) deposits and hydrothermal U deposits between 120 and 80 Ma (with a peak activity at 100–90 Ma)

The origin of the world class tin-polymetallic deposits in the Gejiu district, SW China: constraints from metal zoning characteristics and ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar geochronology

The Gejiu tin-polymetallic deposits in the Western Cathaysia Block of South China comprise the world's largest primary tin district, with a total resource of approximately 300 million metric ton ores, at an average grade of 1 wt percent Sn. Tin polymetallic mineralization occurs in five deposits and has four ore types, i.e., greisen, skarn, stratabound cassiterite-sulfide (mostly oxidized) and vein type ore. In each deposit the orebodies typically occur in an extensive hydrothermal system centered on a shallow Late Cretaceous granitoid cupola. Metal zoning is well developed both vertically and horizontally over the entire district, from W + Be + Bi ± Mo ± Sn ores inside granite intrusions, to Sn + Cu-dominated ores at intrusion margins and farther out to Pb + Zn deposits in the surrounding host carbonate. This zoning pattern is similar to that of other hydrothermal deposits in other parts of the world, indicating a close genetic relationship between magmatism and mineralization. In this paper, we dated thirteen mica samples from all types of mineralization and from the five deposits in the Gejiu district. The ages range from 77.4 ± 0.6 Ma to 953 ± 0.7 Ma and are similar to the existing zircon U-Pb age of the granitic intrusions (77.4 ± 2.5-85.8 ± 0.6), indicating a genetic relationship between the mineralization and the intrusions. Geological characteristics, metal zoning patterns and new geochronological data all indicate that the tin-polymetallic ores in the Gejiu district are hydrothermal in origin and are genetically related to the nearby granitic intrusions. It is unlikely that the deposits are syngenetic, as has been proposed in recent years