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Fluid-inclusion microthermometry and the Zr-in-rutile thermometer for hydrothermal rutile

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Abstract

The Zr-in-rutile thermometer is well established for the determination of metamorphic temperatures, particularly in high-grade metamorphic terrains, and for sedimentary provenance studies. The robustness of the rutile thermometry has not been tested on hydrothermal systems. Unlike quartz, a common hydrothermal mineral with abundant fluid inclusions, it is difficult to find fluid inclusions in rutile that are suitable for fluid-inclusion microthermometry. Here, we report fluid-inclusion microthermometric measurements in rutile from the auriferous quartz–kaolinite–hematite vein that typifies the gold deposit of Mil Oitavas in the southern Serra do Espinhaço, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Primary fluid inclusions in the rutile record moderately saline (10–12 wt% NaCl equivalent), aqueous–carbonic fluids with a total homogenization temperature of ~250 °C, which were likely trapped at about 300 °C and 2.0 kbar. This temperature is approximately 200 °C lower than that predicted by the Zr-in-rutile thermometer. For hydrothermal conditions of relatively low temperature, direct measurements of homogenization temperatures in rutile-hosted fluid inclusions should be preferred to the Zr-in-rutile thermometer.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was performed during a research project financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CA 737/1-1). We gratefully acknowledge FAPEMIG (Project CRA PPM 00179/1), CNPq (Project 307546/2011-0) and FINEP/REDETEC (Project 2715/09). We are also grateful to Dr. Maria Sylvia Dantas, NovaS Group of the Engineering Department of the UFMG, for the Raman measurements. An anonymous reviewer and Osvaldo Rabbia contributed with thoughtful comments to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mineral Deposits, Technische Universität Clausthal, Adolph-Roemer-Str. 2A, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Alexandre Raphael Cabral & Bernd Lehmann

  2. Fluid-Inclusion Laboratory, Department of Mineral Technology and Geology (SETEM), Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, CDTN/CNEN, Caixa Postal 941, Belo Horizonte-MG, 30123-970, Brazil

    Francisco Javier Rios & Lucilia Aparecida Ramos de Oliveira

  3. Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Avenida Presidente Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte-MG, 31270-901, Brazil

    Lucilia Aparecida Ramos de Oliveira

  4. Coffey Consultoria e Serviços Ltda., Av. Afonso Pena, 1500, 5° andar, Belo Horizonte-MG, 30130-008, Brazil

    Francisco Robério de Abreu

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 460, 40530, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Thomas Zack

  6. Czech Geological Survey, Geologická 6, 152 00, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    František Laufek

Authors
  1. Alexandre Raphael Cabral
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  2. Francisco Javier Rios
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  3. Lucilia Aparecida Ramos de Oliveira
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  4. Francisco Robério de Abreu
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  5. Bernd Lehmann
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  6. Thomas Zack
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  7. František Laufek
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Correspondence to Alexandre Raphael Cabral.

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Cabral, A.R., Rios, F.J., de Oliveira, L.A.R. et al. Fluid-inclusion microthermometry and the Zr-in-rutile thermometer for hydrothermal rutile. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 104, 513–519 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1120-8

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