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The effects of metamorphism on O and Fe isotope compositions in the Biwabik Iron Formation, northern Minnesota

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Abstract

The Biwabik Iron Formation of Minnesota (1.9 Ga) underwent contact metamorphism by intrusion of the Duluth Complex (1.1 Ga). Apparent quartz–magnetite oxygen isotope temperatures decrease from ∼700°C at the contact to ∼375°C at 2.6 km distance (normal to the contact in 3D). Metamorphic pigeonite at the contact, however, indicates that peak temperatures were greater than 825°C. The apparent O isotope temperatures, therefore, reflect cooling, and not peak metamorphic conditions. Magnetite was reset in δ18O as a function of grain size, indicating that isotopic exchange was controlled by diffusion of oxygen in magnetite for samples from above the grunerite isograd. Apparent quartz–magnetite O isotope temperatures are similar to calculated closure temperatures for oxygen diffusion in magnetite at a cooling rate of ∼5.6°C/kyr, which suggests that the Biwabik Iron Formation cooled from ∼825 to 400°C in ∼75 kyr at the contact with the Duluth Complex. Isotopic exchange during metamorphism also occurred for Fe, where magnetite–Fe silicate fractionations decrease with increasing metamorphic grade. Correlations between quartz–magnetite O isotope fractionations and magnetite–iron silicate Fe isotope fractionations suggest that both reflect cooling, where the closure temperature for Fe was higher than for O. The net effect of metamorphism on δ18O–δ56Fe variations in magnetite is a strong increase in δ18OMt and a mild decrease in δ56Fe with increasing metamorphic grade, relative to the isotopic compositions that are expected at the low temperatures of initial magnetite formation. If metamorphism of Iron Formations occurs in a closed system, bulk O and Fe isotope compositions may be preserved, although re-equilibration among the minerals may occur for both O and Fe isotopes.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by National Science Foundation grants, EAR-0207340 (JWV) and EAR-0525417 (CMJ and BLB), the Geological Society of America, and Sigma Xi. Thanks also to John Fournelle for help with the electron microprobe analyses, Brian Hess for sample sections and polishing thin sections, and Mike Spicuzza for help with the laser line and oxygen isotope mass spectrometer. Ron Frost kindly provided unpublished information on mineral assemblages and isograds. We thank Aaron Shultis, Heidi Crosby, and Rene Wiesli for performing the Fe isotope analyses.

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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Elizabeth Valaas Hyslop, John W. Valley, Clark M. Johnson & Brian L. Beard

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  1. Elizabeth Valaas Hyslop
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  2. John W. Valley
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Correspondence to John W. Valley.

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Hyslop, E.V., Valley, J.W., Johnson, C.M. et al. The effects of metamorphism on O and Fe isotope compositions in the Biwabik Iron Formation, northern Minnesota. Contrib Mineral Petrol 155, 313–328 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-007-0244-2

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