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K–Ar ages of clay concentrates from Irish orebodies and their bearing on the timing of mineralisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

A. N. Halliday  and
J. G. Mitchell
A. N. Halliday
Affiliation:
Isotope Geology Unit, Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QU, Scotland.
J. G. Mitchell
Affiliation:
School of Physics, The University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 7RU, England.
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Abstract

The K–Ar ages of 117 clay concentrates from samples associated with mineral deposits in Ireland indicate that most, if not all of the major ore deposits were formed during Carboniferous times or earlier. The Avoca orebodies are pre-400 Ma in age. Many of the vein deposits traversing Palaeozoic rocks were either formed or rejuvenated during the Hercynian orogeny c. 300 Ma ago. The SW Ireland Cu–Ba ores are 290 Ma old, and the major, frequently stratiform, base metal deposits stratabound in the Lower Carboniferous were, at least largely, formed during the Carboniferous period. In the case of the Navan orebody, an early Carboniferous age is indicated. Previous models invoking major mineralisations during Mesozoic or Tertiary times are rendered invalid. However, in some areas there appears to have been hydrothermal activity during the Triassic and possibly the Permian. The Triassic event is thought to be genetically related to coeval hydrothermal avtivity found throughout the N Atlantic regions. The data suggest that probably <10 km of cover has been removed from the majority of Ireland since Lower Carboniferous times. K–Ar dating of clays is shown to be a powerful method for constraining the ages of oredeposits.

Keywords

CarboniferousHercynianhydrothermalIrelandK–Ar datingmineral depositPermianstrataboundTriassicvein.
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , 1983 , pp. 1 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1983

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