2005 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Tectonic controls on the endowment of Archean cratons in VHMS deposits: Evidence from PB and Nd isotopes
Authors : David L. Huston, David C. Champion, Kevin F. Cassidy
Published in: Mineral Deposit Research: Meeting the Global Challenge
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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Comparison of Pb and Nd isotopes of the well-endowed Abitibi-Wawa Subprovince with the poorly endowed Eastern Goldfields Province implies that volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) endowment in Archean terrains is controlled by crustal character. The Abitibi-Wawa Subprovince contains mostly primitive crust formed in a wide extensional environment. The high heat flow, promoted by thin crust and high level intrusions, and the extensional structures that characterize such an environment encouraged the formation of extensive VHMS deposits. In contrast, extensional environments are limited to a relatively narrow zone in the Eastern Goldfields Province. Although this zone contains VHMS deposits, they are not abundant enough to create high endowment. Provinciality of Pb isotopes in lode Au deposits from near Leonora in the Eastern Goldfields Province supports the concept of a rift-like zone.