Earth Sciences Commons^™

A Study Of Accidental Daughter Crystals In Fluid Inclusions In Bedded Halite From The Permian Opeche Shale And Cedar Hills Sandstone Of The Midcontinental United States, Ryan James Prchlik

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ancient acid-saline lakes of the midcontinental United States deposited bedded halite during Permian time. These deposits are not typically preserved at the surface, but drill cores of the Opeche Shale of North Dakota and Cedar Hills Sandstone of Kansas contain preserved beds of halite. Halite from these ancient lakes have primary fluid inclusions that contain Permian lake water. Also included are accidental daughter crystals that were trapped inside the fluid inclusions at time of halite precipitation. Both the fluid and daughter crystals inside bedded halite can tell us about the geochemistry of original lake waters of Pangea.

Petrography and laser …

In Situ Study Of Geological Fluid Inclusions Using 23na Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Stephen Pilar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

²³Na Magic Angle Spinning Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS SS NMR) spectroscopy has been used to study natural geological samples of halite, fluorite, and quartz to evaluate the efficacy of NMR spectroscopy for in situ fluid inclusion analysis. NaCl calibration standards yielded a strong linear correlation (R²=0.9919) for salinity, albeit only over a ~1 ppm breadth of chemical shift. Fluid inclusions were successfully identified in all three types of minerals studied using MAS NMR. Chemical analysis with Inductively Coupled Plasma -- Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed to quantify elemental contaminants in halite samples. Powder X-Ray Diffraction …

A Snapshot Of Ancient Microbial Life: Microorganisms And Organic Compounds In Primary Fluid Inclusions In Bedded Halite, Neoproterozoic Browne Formation Of Central Australia, Sara I. Schreder-Gomes

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Modern shallow brine environments contain an abundance of microorganisms. Microorganisms, mineral crystals, and air bubbles can be trapped with those brines in primary fluid inclusions in bedded halite as it grows in shallow saline surface waters. Primary fluid inclusions and their contents can be preserved, unaltered, for millions of years.

The ~830 million-year-old Browne Formation of central Australia contains intervals of bedded halite with unaltered primary fluid inclusions. Intervals of bedded halite were sampled in the Empress 1A core from ~1480 m – 1520 m depths. Here, I used petrography to describe suspect microorganisms and organic compounds that were trapped …

The Geology And Geochemistry Of The Golden Chest Gold Deposit, Murray, Idaho, Alexander Brown

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Golden Chest Au-W Mine has been intermittently mined since the 1880’s. Mineralized quartz veins have been deposited into the Upper Prichard Formation of the Proterozoic Belt Supergroup. The Golden Chest is located in the Summit Mining District within the Murray Gold Belt region of the greater Coeur d’Alene (CdA) Mining District. A modern geochemical study of the Golden Chest has never been conducted at the Golden Chest.

This thesis investigates, with the collaboration of New Jersey Mining Company (NJMC), the paragenesis of ore forming minerals, the mineralogy of the deposit and the genesis of the ore forming processes. A …

How To Search For Life In Martian Chemical Sediments And Their Fluid And Solid Inclusions Using Petrographic And Spectroscopic Methods, Kathleen C. Benison

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abundant resources and efforts have been employed in the search for life on Mars. Satellites, landers, and rovers have tested atmospheric gases, general sediment and rock compositions, and images of Mars surface in an effort to detect biosignatures left by any possible modern or ancient life. Chloride and sulfate minerals suggestive of past acid saline lakes have been found on Mars. In terrestrial acid brine environments, these minerals trap microorganisms and organic compounds and preserve them within fluid inclusions and as solid inclusions for long geologic time periods. Some cells remain viable, especially in the isolated, microscopic aqueous environments of …

Elastic Geothermobarometry: Corrections For The Geometry Of The Host-Inclusion System, M. L. Mazzucchelli, Pamela Burnley, R. J. Angel, S. Morganti, M. C. Domeneghetti, F. Nestola, M. Alvaro

Geoscience Faculty Research

Elastic geothermobarometry on inclusions is a method to determine pressure-temperature conditions of mineral growth independent of chemical equilibrium. Because of the difference in their elastic properties, an inclusion completely entrapped inside a host mineral will develop a residual stress upon exhumation, from which one can back-calculate the entrapment pressure. Current elastic geobarometric models assume that both host and inclusion are elastically isotropic and have an ideal geometry (the inclusion is spherical and isolated at the center of an infinite host). These conditions do not commonly occur in natural rocks, and the consequences for inclusion pressures can only be quantified with …

Cathodoluminescence, Fluid Inclusions, And Trace Element Data For The Syntaxial Quartz Cementation In The Sandstones Of The Ora Formation, Northern Iraq, Muhamed F. Omer, Henrik Friis

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Quartz cements of the quartz arenitic sandstones from the Chalky Nasara and Ora sections of the (Devonian-Carboniferous) Ora Formation in northern Iraq have been studied. A combination of hot cathodoluminescence, LA-ICP-MS, and fluid inclusion microthermometry revealed three syntaxial quartz cement generations (Q1, Q2, and Q3). The early Q1 cementation has gray to slightly brown luminescences, postdated compaction, and reduced intergranular porosity associated with illite formed during eogenesis. Q2 is characterized by dark brown luminescence overgrowths and is more voluminous in the thinly bedded sandstones than in the thickly bedded sandstones filling most of the remaining pore space during mesogenesis. Q3 …

Mineralogy And Geochemistry Of The Heddleston Porphyry Cu-Mo Deposit, Montana, Ben Schubert

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Heddleston porphyry Cu-Mo deposit is located in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, near the headwaters of the Blackfoot River. It is immediately west of the historic Mike Horse mine, an important producer of Pb-Zn from polymetallic veins and lodes. The Heddleston property was explored extensively by the Anaconda Company in the 1960s and 1970s, but was never mined. Specimens of polished drill core from the deposit are archived in the Anaconda Research Collection at Montana Tech campus. The purpose of this research project was to use the archived samples to examine the geochemistry and mineralogy of the Heddleston and …

Geochemical, Microthermometric, And Isotopic Constraints On The Origin Of Fluorite Deposits In Central Anatolia, Turkey, Peli̇n Coşanay, Ece Kirat, Ni̇hal Çevi̇k, Ceyda Kizilkanat, Hali̇m Mutlu, Şükrü Koç

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

We investigate rare earth element geochemistry, microthermometric characteristics, and radiogenic isotope systematics of fluorites and stable isotope compositions of gangue minerals from several fluorite deposits in central Turkey. In the deposits, fluorite is the main ore mineral and it is accompanied by quartz, calcite, and minor pyrite and barite. Veins are represented by three different fluorite types based on their color. Total REY contents of fluorites are highly variable, ranging from 24 to 693 ppm. LREE concentrations of fluorites of all colors are similar but medium and heavy REE abundances of green fluorites are nearly an order of magnitude greater …

High-Resolution Signatures Of Oxygenation And Microbiological Activity In Speleothem Fluid Inclusions, Nigel Blamey, Penelope J. Boston, Laura Rosales-Lagarde

International Journal of Speleology

Speleothems frequently host “fossil” fluids that were trapped in small inclusions during growth. Such fluids may provide valuable clues to past microbial, geochemical, and climatic processes during their formation. However, one difficulty is to understand which gases represent background atmosphere and fluids within a given cave system at a particular time, and which may be the product of post-trapping residual microbial activity or abiotic chemical reactions? Do we have any hope of sorting out these differences? The success depends on a quantitative understanding of the gas composition trapped in the inclusions and an understanding of the interactions of cave mineralogy, …

The Bou Dahar Jurassic Carbonate-Hosted Pb–Zn–Ba Deposits (Oriental High Atlas, Morocco): Fluid-Inclusion And C–O–S–Pb Isotope Studies, Larbi Rddad, Salah Bouhlel

Publications and Research

The Bou Dahar Pb–Zn–Ba (±Sr) is hosted in the Lower and Middle Liassic carbonate platform in the oriental High Atlas of Morocco. The paragenetic sequence includes quartz–pyrite–melnicovite–sphalerite–galena– calcite–barite ± fluorite– ± celestite. Fluid-inclusion studies were conducted on sphalerite (early mineralizing stage) and barite, and celestite (late mineralizing stage). These studies reveal two end-member fluids, a hot (~143 °C) and saline fluid (~23 wt.% NaCl eq.) and a cooler (b50 °C) and diluted fluid (~5 wt.% NaCl eq.). Based on fluid-inclusion and C–O–S isotope studies, a conclusion is reached that the Bou Dahar ore deposits were formed by the mixing of …

Porphyry Copper Exploration Of The Hualapai Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, Usa: A Multi-Faceted Approach, Patrick Kevin Meazell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A variety of exploration methods including geologic mapping, trace- and major-level geochemical analyses, fluid inclusion petrography, remote sensing, and SWIR clay spectroscopy were used to investigate the potential for porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization at the Wikieup prospect, in the southern Hualapai Mountains of northwestern Arizona. Aspects of the Mineral Park mine were used as an analogue to guide exploration due to the proximity and similar geology of the area.

The Hualapai Mountains are a series of northwest-trending Precambrian gneisses, schists, granitoids and amphibolites that have been cut by younger intrusive rocks. Within the Wikieup study area, the intrusive rocks include aplite …

Low-Sulfidation Epithermal Au-Ag Mineralization In The Sındırgı District, Balıkesir Province, Turkey, Hüseyi̇n Yilmaz, Fatma Nuran Sönmez, Erhan Akay, Ahmet Keri̇m Şener, Seda Tufan

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Sındırgı District (Balıkesir, western Turkey) lies within the Western Anatolian volcanic and extensional province, adjacent to the WNW-trending Simav graben, approximately 130 km NE of İzmir. The Sındırgı mining district is underlain mainly by Miocene volcanic rocks and hosts several low-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits and prospects located near the towns of Sındırgı and Bigadiç. The Kızıltepe low-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver deposit is located southeast of Yusufçam village (Sındırgı, Balıkesir), and other prospects, including the Kepez, Kavaklıdüz, and Karadüz prospects, are located northeast of Kızıltepe. Potentially economic grades occur at Kızıltepe, which contains a measured and indicated resource of 1.754.790 Mt …

Implications Resulting From The Study Of The Fluid Inclusions In The Shear Zone-Type Gold Mineralization From Bozovici (Banat) And Somesul Rece (Gilau Mountains), Vasile PomâRleanu, Ioan MâRza

Studia UBB Geologia

The paper presents the results of a study on fluid inclusions (petrography, chemistry, Th, Td) from the gold-containing quartz in the shear zone – type mineralizations from Bozovici (Banat) and Some¿ul Rece (Gil¾u Mountains). Four types of fluid inclusions were identified: A – aqueous, AS – aqueous with efflorescences and crystals of nahcolite, C – monophasic and biphasic containing CO2, and AC – aqueous solutions with CO2. Microthermometry (Th and Td) indicated homogenisation temperatures of nahcolite between 136-2600 C, total homogenisation temperatures of 283-3900 C, and a maximum temperature (Td) between 380-4200 C. The molar content of the CO2/H2O ratio …

The Present Day Genesis And Evolution Of Cave Minerals Inside The Ojo De La Reina Cave (Naica Mine, Mexico), Giovanni Badino, José Maria Calaforra, Paolo Forti, Paolo Garofalo, Laura Sanna

International Journal of Speleology

Ojo de la Reina is the first and the smallest cave intersected at the -290 level in the Naica Mine (Mexico), therefore it was the first cavity in which the lowering of temperature induced by mine ventilation caused condensation over crystals’ surface since 2005. The consequent dissolution of the gypsum crystals and subsequent condensed water evaporation lead to the deposition of several new minerals, among which some highly soluble Mg/Na compounds (bloedite, epsomite, halite, hexahydrite, kieserite, starkeyite). The single available source of Mg and Na ions in this minerogenetic environment is represented by the huge fluid inclusions widespread within the …

Using Fluid Inclusions To Trace Formative Fluid Evolution At The Verde And Pancho Porphyry Au Deposits Of The Refugio District, Chile, Brian Joshua Aillaud

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Evolution of magmatically-derived formative fluids, and the processes that control the ratio of ore metals in porphyry and high-sulfidation epithermal deposits remain enigmatic. The Refugio district in the Maricunga Belt of Northern Chile hosts the temporally and spatially related Pancho and Verde porphyry gold deposits. Vein types at Pancho include A-veins, transitional veins, banded veins, D-veins and quartz-alunite ledges that formed by replacement. Verde East and West lack A-veins, and show an earliest vein type with transitional characteristics of A- to banded veins, banded veins and D-veins. Fluid inclusions and quartz textures were characterized by using optical microscopy and cathodoluminesence …

Cavity-Based Secondary Mineralization In Volcanic Tuffs Of Yucca Mountain, Nevada: A New Type Of The Polymineral Vadose Speleothem, Or A Hydrothermal Deposit?, Yuri V. Dublyansky, Sergey Z. Smirnov

International Journal of Speleology

Secondary minerals (calcite, chalcedony, quartz, opal, fl uorite, heulandite, strontianite) residing in open cavities in the Miocene rhyolite tuffs of Yucca Mountain, Nevada have been interpreted by some researchers as "speleothemic" formations, deposited as a result of downward infi ltration of meteoric waters (DOE, 2001, Whelan et al., 2002). The major mineral of the paragenesis, calcite, shows spectacular trend of the textural and crystal morphology change: from anhedral granular occurrences, through (optional) platelet, bladed and scepter varieties, to euhedral blocky morphologies. The trend is consistent with the overall decrease in the supesaturation of the mineral forming solution. Stable isotope properties …

Mineral Paragenesis And Ore Fluids At The Turquoise Ridge Gold Deposit, Nevada, Michiko Shigehiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this study, mineral assemblages and related fluid inclusions at the Turquoise Ridge Carlin-type gold deposit were examined to answer the following questions: (1) What is the ore-stage mineral paragenesis? (2) At what pressures and temperatures did the deposits form? (3) What are the sources of ore fluids?

Pyrite with gold, jasperoid quartz, stibnite, orpiment, realgar, and calcite were successively deposited at Turquoise Ridge. Microthermometric data and isotopic ratios of inclusion fluids in ore-related minerals indicate entrapment of multiple generations of fluids in pre-ore, ore-, and late-ore stage minerals. Primary fluid inclusions in an ore-stage jasperoid quartz crystal have salinities …

A Petrographic And Fluid Inclusion Study Of The Purple Vein And Post/Betze Orebodies, Carlin, Nevada, Jan B. Lamb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Purple Vein (Meikle Mine) and Post/Betze orebodies, two Carlin-type, gold deposits, display important differences in size, alteration, silicification, pyritization, and gold grade. A core hole was examined from each deposit to gather petrographic and microthermometric data to determine the mineral paragenesis, to determine fluid pressure, temperature, and composition to compare of the two orebodies, and to determine depths of formation.

The parageneses determined were divided into three stages. (1) The Early Mineralization Stage contains quartz, pyrobitumen, barite, sphalerite, sulfosalts, quartz, and pyrite in the Purple Vein deposit and consists of calcite in the Post/Betze deposit. High salinity basinal brines, …

Fluid Inclusion Studies Of The Morefield Pegmatite Amelia County, Virginia, John Richard Smerekanicz

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Morefield Pegmatite is a planar, nearly vertical body situated in Grenville age gneisses and schists in the southeast Piedmont of Virginia. It consists of a mineralogically simple albite-quartz outer zone and a texturally and mineralogically complex inner zone of microcline-topaz-quartz, with trace amounts of rare-element minerals. Fluid inclusions in samples of quartz, topaz, beryl, spessartite and albite that span the length, width and depth of both zones can be classified by chemical composition into two main groups: H₂O-rich solutions and CO₂- H₂O -rich fluids. The H₂O -rich inclusions consist of H …

A Study Of Fluid Inclusions And Geochemical Mechanisms For Gold Deposition, Cannon Mine, Wenatchee, Washington, Michael P. (Michael Peter) Klisch

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Carmen Mine is located 1 km south of the city of Wenatchee, Washington. The mine is hosted by lower to middle Eocene fluvial arkoses of unknown correlation. An unaltered rhyodacite dome, dated at 43.2 ± 8 Ma, bordered by perlite, intrudes the sediments and is separated from the orebody by a zone of sheared and faulted sediments. The western border of the orebody is a brecciated and weakly altered and mineralized andesite of probable early Eocene age. The structural geology of the mine area is quite complex and related to the formation of the Chiwaukum graben during the middle …