Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T15:03:01.166Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Use of pyrite microfabric as a key to tectono-thermal evolution of massive sulphide deposits – an example from Deri, southern Rajasthan, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Anju Tiwary ,
Mihir Deb  and
Nigel J. Cook
Anju Tiwary
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 10007, India
Mihir Deb
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 10007, India
Nigel J. Cook
Affiliation:
Mineralogical Institute, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Pyrite is an ubiquitous constituent of the Proterozoic massive sulphide deposit at Deri, in the South Delhi Fold Belt of southern Rajasthan. Preserved pyrite microfabrics in the Zn-Pb-Cu sulphide ores of Deri reveal a polyphase growth history of the iron sulphide and enable the tectono-thermal evolution of the deposit to be reconstructed.

Primary sedimentary features in Deri pyrites are preserved as compositional banding. Regional metamorphism from mid-greenschist to low amphibolite facies is recorded by various microtextures of pyrite. Trails of fine grained pyrite inclusions within hornblende porphyroblasts define S1-schistosity. Pyrite boudins aligned parallel to S1 mark the brittle–ductile transformation of pyrite during the earliest deformation in the region. Isoclinal to tight folds (F1 and F2) in pyrite layers relate to a ductile deformation stage during progressive regional metamorphism. Peak metamorphic conditions around 550°C, an estimation supported by garnet–biotite thermometry, resulted in annealing of pyrite grains, while porphyroblastic growth of pyrite (up to 900 µm) took place along the retrogressive path. Brittle deformation of pyrite and growth of irregular pyritic mass around such fractured porphyroblasts characterize the waning phase of regional metamorphism. A subsequent phase of stress-free, thermal metamorphism is recorded in the decussate and rosette textures of arsenopyrite prisms replacing irregular pyritic mass. Annealing of such patchy pyrite provides information regarding the temperature conditions during this episode of thermal metamorphism which is consistent with the hornblendehornfels facies metamorphism interpreted from magnetite–ilmenite geothermometry (550°C) and sphalerite geobarometry (3.5 kbar). A mild cataclastic deformation during the penultimate phase produced microfaults in twinned arsenopyrite prisms.

Keywords

pyritemicrofabricmetamorphismmassive sulphideRajasthanIndia
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 1998 , pp. 197 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, A.T. and Lindsley, D.H. (1985) New (and Final?) model for the Ti magnetite/ ilmentite geothermometers and oxygen barometers (abst.). Trans. Geophysical Union, 66, no. 18, p.416.Google Scholar
Bhattacharjee, J., Golani, P.R. and Reddy, A.B (1988) Rift related bimodal volcanism and metallogeny in the Delhi fold belt, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Indian J. Geol., 60(3), 191–9.Google Scholar
Brooker, D.D., Craig, J.R. and Rimstidt, J.D. (1987) Ore metamorphism and pyrite porphyroblast development at the Cherokee mine, Ducktown, Tenessee. Econ. Geol., 82, 72–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carstens, H. (1986) Displasive growth of authigenic pyrite. J. Sed. Petrol., 56, 252–7.Google Scholar
Cook, N.J., Halls, C.and Boyle, A.P. (1993) Deformation and metamorphism of massive sulphide at Sulitjelma, Norway. Mineral. Mag., 57, 67–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, S.F., Etheridge, M.A. and Hobbs, B.E. (1981) The experimental ductile deformation of polycrystalline and single crystal pyrite. Econ. Geol., 76, 2105–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, J.R., Vokes, F.M. and Simpson, C. (1991) Rotational fabrics in pyrite from Ducktown, Tenessee. Econ. Geol., 86, 1737–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, J.R. and Vokes, F.M. (1993) The metamorphism of pyrite and pyrite ores. Mineral. Mag., 57, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deb, M. (1979) Polymetamorphism of ores in Precambrian stratiform massive sulphide deposits at Ambaji-Deri, western India. Mineral. Deposita, 14, 21–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deb, M. (1980) Genesis and metamorphism of two stratiform massive sulfide deposits at Ambaji and Deri in the Precambrian of western India. Econ. Geol., 75, 572–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deb, M. Thorpe, R.I., Cumming, G.L. and Wagner, P.A. (1989) Age, source and stratigraphic implications of Pb isotope data for conformable, sediment-hosted, base metal deposits in the Proterozoic Aravalli-Delhi orogenic belt, NW India. Precamb. Res., 43, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deb, M.and Sarkar, S.C. (1990) Proterozoic tectonic evolution and metalligenesis in the Aravalli-Delhi orogenic complex, northwestern India. Precamb. Res., 46, 115–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deb, M., Thorpe, R.I., Krstic, D., Corfu, F.and Davis, D.W. (in prep.) Zircon U-Pb and Pb isotope evidence for an approximate 1.0 Ga terrane along the western margin of the Aravalli-Delhi orogenic belt, northwestern India.Google Scholar
Ferry, J.M. and Spear, F.S. (1978) Experimental caliberation of the partioning of Fe and Mg between biotite and garnet. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 66, 113–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghosh, S.K. (1993) Structural Geology — Fundamentals and Modern Developments. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 598 pp.Google Scholar
Gopalan, K. (1986) Geochronology of the Precambrian rocks of Rajasthan: problems and prospects. In: Evolution of the Precambrian crust in the Aravalli mountain belt, Udaipur. abst. Pap, 64–5.Google Scholar
Graf, J.L., Bras, J., Fagot, M., Levade, C.and Couderc, J.-J. (1981) Transmission electron microscopic observation of plastic deformation in experimentally deformed pyrite. Econ. Geol., 76, 738–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graf, J.L. and Skinner, B.J. (1970) Strength and deformation of pyrite and pyrrhotite. Econ. Geol., 65, 206–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heron, A.M. (1953) The geology of central Rajputana. Memoir. Geol. Surv. India, 79, 389 pp.Google Scholar
Hobbs, B.E., Means, W.D. and Williams, P.F. (1976) An Outline of Structural Geology. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 571 pp.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, R.W. and Scott, S.D. (1981) Sphalerite geobarometry in the Cu-Fe-Zn-S system. Econ. Geol., 76, 143–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Indares, A.and Martignole, J. (1985) Biotite–garnet geothermometry in the granulite facies: the influence of Ti and Al in biotite. Amer. Mineral., 73, 20–47.Google Scholar
Lindsley, D.H. and Spencer, K.J. (1982) Fe-Ti oxide geothermometry: Reducing analyses of coexisting Ti-magnetite (Mt) and Ilmenite (Ilm) (abst.). Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union, 63, no. 18, p. 471.Google Scholar
McClay, K.R. and Ellis, P.G. (1983) Deformation and recrystallization of pyrite. Mineral. Mag., 47, 527–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClay, K.R. and Ellis, P.G. (1984) Deformation of pyrite. Econ. Geol., 79, 400–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mookherjee, A. (1971) Deformation of pyrite — A discussion. Econ. Geol., 66, 200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perchuk, L.L. and Lavrent'eva, IV (1983) Experimental investigation of exchange equilibria in the system cordierite— garnet—biotite. In: Saxena, S.K.(ed.) Kinetics and Equilibrium in Mineral Reactions. Springer Berlin, Heidleberg, New York, 199–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philipotts, A.R. (1994) Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., 497 pp.Google Scholar
Roy, A.B. (1988) Stratigraphic and tectonic framework of Aravalli mountain range. Geol. Soc. India Memoir., 7, 3–31.Google Scholar
Sarkar, S.C. and Deb, M. (1974) Metamorphism of the sulfides of the Singbhum copper belt, India — the evidence from the ore fabric. Econ. Geol., 69, 1282–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, K.J. and Lindsley, D.H. (1981) A solution model for coexisting iron-titanium oxides. Amer. Mineral., 66, no.11/12, 1189–201.Google Scholar
Sugden, T. (1987) Kinematic indicators: structures that record the sense of movement in mountain chains. Geology Today, May–June, 93–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Templemen-Kluit, D.J. (1970) The relationship between sulfide grain size and metamorphic grade of host rocks in some stratabound pyritic ores. Canad. J. Earth Sci., 7, 1339–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiwary, A. (1995) Geological environment, genesis and evolution of the massive sulfide deposit at Deri, Sirohi district, NW India. Unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, Delhi Univ. , 179 pp.Google Scholar
Tiwary, A.and Deb, M. (1997) Geochemistry of alteration zone in bimodal volcanics around Deri massive sulfide deposit, Sirohi district, Rajasthan, India. J. Geochem. Explor., 59, 99–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernon, R.H. (1978) Porphyroblast matrix relationships in deformed metamorphic rocks. Geologisches Rundschau, 67, 288–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernon, R.H., Peterson, S.R. and Foster, D. (1991) Growth and deformation of porphyroblasts in the Foothill Terrane, Central Sierra Nevada, California: negotiating a microstructural minefield. J. Metamorph. Geol., 11, 203–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vokes, F.M. (1968) Regional metamorphism of the Palaezoic geosynclinal sulphide ore deposits of Norway. Trans. Inst. Mining Metall., 77, sect. B, 53–9.Google Scholar
Yardley, B.W.D. (1989) An Introduction to Metamorphic Petrology. Longman, London, 248 pp.Google Scholar