Journal of the Geological Society of India

, Volume 77, Issue 2, pp 149–159 | Cite as

Rb-Sr direct dating of pyrite from the Pipela VMS Zn-Cu prospect, Rajasthan, NW India

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Abstract

In unaltered volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) ore deposits, variable Rb/Sr ratios in the ore mineral permits application of the Rb-Sr isotopic method to directly date the time of ore formation. In contrast, post-crystallization deformation and metamorphism would open the system to metamorphic fluids that would alter elemental ratios. To test whether the Rb-Sr isotopic systematics in the ore minerals had preserved the formation time in the ∼800 Ma metamorphosed VMS ores within the ∼1 Ga Ambaji-Sendra arc terrain, Rajasthan, NW India, common sulfides, pyrite and sphalerite from the Pipela Cu-Zn prospect, were analyzed for their geochemistry and Rb-Sr isotopic systematics. Trace and rare earth elements in these minerals are resident probably at crystal defects, whereas all inclusions (including those from metamorphic fluids) were removed by a simple crush leach method. Results of direct dating by the Rb-Sr method to the hydrothermal pyrite yielded an isochron age of 1025±76 Ma with an initial Sr ratio of 0.7051±0.0006, similar to previously determined zircon U-Pb age of 987 Ma from associated rhyolites. This suggests the applicability of the crush leach method to date formation time of metamorphosed pyrite ores.

Keywords

Hydrothermal pyrite Rb-Sr dating Pipela VMS Cu-Zn prospect Rajasthan 
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Copyright information

© Geological Society of India 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Institute Instrumentation CenterIndian Institute of TechnologyRoorkeeIndia
  2. 2.Geological Survey of India Training InstituteJaipurIndia

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