Premium
Fluid flow connections to basement rocks below sedimentary basins: Evidence from the base metal deposits in Ireland
Author(s) -
Dixon Paul R.,
Rye Danny M.,
Janecky D. R.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/91gl00953
Subject(s) - geology , basement , geochemistry , sedimentary rock , structural basin , base metal , sedimentary basin , mineralization (soil science) , petrology , geomorphology , civil engineering , materials science , welding , soil science , engineering , metallurgy , soil water
Lead isotope systematics in Irish base metal deposits and basement rocks indicate that lead and other metals were derived from local basement rocks with little or no addition from basinal sediments hosting the deposits. Thus, a fluid circulation model involving simple basin brine expulsion and an impermeable boundary at the basin‐basement interface cannot be invoked to explain the origin of the mineralization. Production of ore deposits as a result of transport out of the basement would involve a relatively trivial integrated heat addition as compared to the total heat transported within the basin on the time scale of deposit formation.