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Geochemistry of Ordovician Keli Group basalts associated with Besshi-type Cu-Zn deposits from the southern Trondheim and Sulitjelma mining districts of Norway

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Abstract

Besshi-type volcanogenic Cu-Zn deposits in the Scandinavian Caledonides are hosted by Ordovician metabasalts and clastic sediments of the Storen, Fundsjo and Sulitjelma groups. The basalts are transitional between T-MORB and marginal basin tholeiites in composition and are characterised by Nd and Pb isotopic compositions which overlap the more radiogenic values of Lower Palaeozoic MORB. These features, along with the intercalation of the basalts with tuffs and continentally derived sediments, indicate an epicontinental rift or marginal basin origin, possibly analogous to the present Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts. This implies the development of a restricted ocean basin in the north of Iapetus between the Laurentian and Baltoscandian microcontinents during the Cambrian and Early Ordovician.

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  1. A. D. Smith

    Present address: Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E3, Canada

  2. J. S. Farquhar

    Present address: National Research Council of Canada, Montreal Road, Ottawa, K1A OR6, Ontario, Canada

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  1. Mineral Exploration Research Institute (IREM/MERI), University de Montréal, Succursale “A”, Montréal, C.P. 6079, H3C 3A7, Québec, Canada

    A. D. Smith

  2. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 1A7, Ontario, Canada

    P. Smith

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Smith, A.D., Farquhar, J.S. & Smith, P. Geochemistry of Ordovician Keli Group basalts associated with Besshi-type Cu-Zn deposits from the southern Trondheim and Sulitjelma mining districts of Norway. Mineral. Deposita 25, 15–24 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03326379

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