Carbonate deposition in the Palaeoproterozoic Onega basin from Fennoscandia : a spotlight on the transition from the Lomagundi-Jatuli to Shunga events

Date of Acceptance: 08/05/2015 Date of online publication: 16/05/2015 Acknowledgements Elemental and isotopic data, thin and polished sections used in this contribution were obtained through two large umbrella-projects with grants provided by the Norwegian Research Council grant 191530/V30 to VAM and NERC grant NE/G00398X/1 to AEF. We thank A. Črne, the editor A. Strasser as well as one anonymous reviewer and D. Papineau for providing their valuable criticism and suggestions.Peer reviewedPostprin

Chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic carbonates: implications for 'blind dating'

The delta C-13(carb) and Sr-87/Sr-86 secular variations in Neoproteozoic seawater have been used for the purpose of 'isotope stratigraphy' but there are a number of problems that can preclude its routine use. In particular, it cannot be used with confidence for 'blind dating'. The compilation of isotopic data on carbonate rocks reveals a high level of inconsistency between various carbon isotope age curves constructed for Neoproteozoic seawater, caused by a relatively high frequency of both global and local delta C-13(carb) fluctuations combined with few reliable age determinations. Further complication is caused by the unresolved problem as to whether two or four glaciations, and associated negative delta C-13(carb) excursions, can be reliably documented. Carbon isotope stratigraphy cannot be used alone for geological correlation and 'blind dating'. Strontium isotope stratigraphy is a more reliable and precise tool for stratigraphic correlations and indirect age determinations. Combining strontium and carbon isotope stratigraphy, several discrete ages within the 590-544 Myr interval, and two age-groups at 660-610 and 740-690 Myr can be resolved

The composition and mode of formation of the Pechenga nickel deposits, Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia

The Pechenga Ni-sulfide deposits, in the Kola Peninsula of Russia, are associated with ferropicrite flows and intrusions. The sulfides are divided into five types: 1) disseminated sulfides within the olivine cumulate portions of the ferropicrites, 2) massive sulfides, which occur at the contact between the ferropicrites and the country-rock black schists, 3) breccia-matrix sulfides, which occur at the contact between the ferropicrites and the schists, and in some cases continue for hundreds of meters subparallel to the contact but within the footwall, 4) chalcopyrite vein or stringer sulfides, which occur in the footwall, and 5) pyrite-rich layers, concretions and lenses in the sedimentary rocks. The disseminated sulfides have similarly shaped mantle-normalized patterns of chalcophile metal abundances to those of the ferropicrites, and could have formed in equilibrium with the ferropicritic magma at moderate R factors (250). The rocks are depleted in platinum-group elements (PGE), suggesting that the magma reached sulfide saturation prior to the formation of the ores. Sulfur isotope data indicate that the S was derived from the sediments onto and into which the ferropicrites were emplaced. The high As and Sb concentrations in the sulfides may have been derived from the sediments. The massive sulfides show a wider variety of composition than the disseminated sulfides; some sulfides are enriched in Os, Ir, Ru, Rh and depleted Pt, Pd, Ag, Au, Cu, Sb, As, Se. This pattern is attributed to the accumulation of monosulfide solidsolution during crystallization of a sulfide liquid. The sedimentary sulfides are richer in As and Sb than the disseminated and massive sulfides, but poorer in all the other chalcophile elements. The breccia-matrix sulfides consist of sedimentary and ultramafic fragments in a sulfide matrix. Compared with vein sulfides from other deposits, those from Pechenga have a very unusual composition. They are not only rich in Cu and Ag, but also in Os, Ir, Ru and Rh, and they are depleted in Pt, Pd, Au, As, Sb and Se

Chalcophile element concentrations in the Pechenga sulphides : comparison with the Cape Smith sulphides

Résumé de présentation

Emissions from the copper–nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula and at Noril'sk, Russia

Published estimates for base metal emissions from the copper–nickel industry on the Kola Peninsula are re-examined in the light of (a) chemical data on the composition of the ores; (b) official emission figures for 1994; and (c) modelled emissions based on dry and wet deposition estimates derived from data for snow and rain samples collected in 1994. The modelled emissions, official emission figures and chemical data are mutually compatible for Ni, Cu and Co and show that previously published figures underestimated the emissions of the major elements, Ni and Cu (though within the same order of magnitude) and overestimated the emissions of As, Pb, Sb and Zn by up to several orders of magnitude, in some cases exceeding the calculated total input to the plants. Published estimates have neglected information on the nature and chemistry of the ores processed in metallurgical industries in the Noril'sk area of Siberia and the Urals. Revised emission estimates for 1994, using knowledge of the chemistry of the ores, are proposed: taken with published information on total emissions up to 2000 these data give an indication of emission levels in more recent years