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Major element compositions of fluid inclusions from hydrothermal vein-type deposits record eroded sedimentary units in the Schwarzwald district, SW Germany

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Abstract

Mixing of sedimentary formation fluids with basement-derived brines is an important mechanism for the formation of hydrothermal veins. We focus on the sources of the sediment-derived fluid component in ore-forming processes and present a comprehensive fluid inclusion study on 84 Jurassic hydrothermal veins from the Schwarzwald mining district (SW Germany). Our data derive from about 2300 fluid inclusions and reveal differences in the average fluid composition between the northern, central, and southern Schwarzwald. Fluids from the northern and southern Schwarzwald are characterised by high salinities (18–26 wt% NaCl+CaCl2), low Ca/(Ca+Na) mole ratios (0.1–0.4), and variable Cl/Br mass ratios (30–1140). In contrast, fluids from the central Schwarzwald show even higher salinities (23–27 wt% NaCl+CaCl2), higher Ca/(Ca+Na) mole ratios (0.2–0.9), and less variable Cl/Br mass ratios (40–130). These fluid compositions correlate with the nature and thickness of the now eroded sedimentary cover rocks. Compared to the northern and the southern Schwarzwald, where halite precipitation occurred during the Middle Triassic, the sedimentary basin in the central Schwarzwald was relatively shallow at this time and no halite was precipitated. Accordingly, Cl/Br ratios of fluids from the central Schwarzwald provide no evidence for the reaction of a sedimentary brine with halite, whereas those from the northern and southern Schwarzwald do. Instead, elevated Ca/(Ca+Na), high SO4 contents, and relatively low Cl/Br imply the presence of a gypsum dissolution brine during vein formation in the central Schwarzwald which agrees with the reconstructed regional Triassic geology. Hence, the information archived in fluid inclusions from hydrothermal veins in the crystalline basement has the potential for reconstructing sedimentary rocks in the former overburden.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ingrid Stober, her comments improved this manuscript substantially. We acknowledge the very detailed and constructive comments by the reviewers Antonin Richard and Kåre Kullerud and the editorial guidance by Bernd Lehmann. Edgar Nitsch (LGRB) is gratefully acknowledged for invaluably hints on the paleo-topography of the sedimentary cover in SW Germany. We thank Gabi Stoschek and Bernd Steinhilber for their help with crush-leach analyses. Furthermore, we thank S. Schafflick and P. Jeiseke for sample preparation. This study was supported by the Alfried-Krupp Prize for Young University Teachers of the Krupp Foundation to Gregor Markl, and the German Research Foundation (DFG), grant Ma2135/20-1.

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  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstrasse 56, 72074, Tübingen, Germany

    Benjamin F. Walter, Mathias Burisch, Michael A.W. Marks & Gregor Markl

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Walter, B.F., Burisch, M., Marks, M.A. et al. Major element compositions of fluid inclusions from hydrothermal vein-type deposits record eroded sedimentary units in the Schwarzwald district, SW Germany. Miner Deposita 52, 1191–1204 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-017-0719-7

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