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The Kohlou barite deposit, Markazi Province, Iran: studies on rare earth element geochemistry, O and S isotopes, and fluid inclusions

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Abstract

To determine the origin of the Kohlou barite deposit, comprehensive studies on petrography, rare earth element (REE) geochemistry, oxygen and sulfur isotopes, and fluid inclusions were performed. The Kohlou deposit is located 70 km northwest of Tafresh town in Markazi Province, Iran. Barite mineralization occurs as a stratabound manto at the contact of an overlying Eocene-aged volcano-sedimentary sequence with an underlying limestone horizon. Barite is accompanied by subordinate Fe- and Mn-oxides, calcite, and quartz. Field evidence including the presence of barite veinlets cross cutting host tuffs, and the brecciated host rocks cemented by barite suggest an epigenetic origin for the mineralization. The concentration of ∑REE is very low in barites, ranging from 0.22 to 16.41 ppm. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns show LREE enrichment relative to HREE, and mostly negative La and Ce anomalies. Gadolinium (Gd) anomalies vary from negative to positive in barite samples. The Ce/La and Y/Ho ratios, as well as La and Gd anomalies confirm a terrestrial source for barite from the Kohlou deposit. The δ18O and δ34S isotopic ratios in barites fall in narrow ranges of 1.7–2.7‰ and 14.6–16.3‰, respectively, implying that sulfate originated most likely from adjacent Miocene evaporites, with minor components of magmatic sulfur and oxygen carried in mineralizing fluids. Plots of δ34S versus δ18O do not show any similarity to barites from main modern marine and pedogenic settings, while overlap with the field represented by continental barite. Salinity values in fluid inclusions range from 8.28 to 23.25 wt% NaCl + CaCl2 equivalent. Homogenization temperatures occupy the range of 139–272 °C. Fluid inclusion data indicate that basinal fluids, with minor contribution from meteoric water, were the source of mineralizing solutions. It is concluded here that faulting and brecciation of the host rocks provided the pathways needed for the upward migration of the basinal Ba-rich solutions. Barite precipitated where Ba-bearing fluids interacted evaporite deposits.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Economic Geology for the first author from the Behbahan Branch, Islamic Azad University. Funding this research was partly provided by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) Company, which is kindly acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Geology, Behbahan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Behbahan, Iran

    Hedayat Hodaie Keveshk, Farhad Ehya & Sara Maleki Kheymehsari

  2. Department of Geology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

    Ghodratollah Rostami Paydar

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  1. Hedayat Hodaie Keveshk
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  3. Ghodratollah Rostami Paydar
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Correspondence to Farhad Ehya.

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Keveshk, H.H., Ehya, F., Paydar, G.R. et al. The Kohlou barite deposit, Markazi Province, Iran: studies on rare earth element geochemistry, O and S isotopes, and fluid inclusions. Carbonates Evaporites 37, 38 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-022-00785-2

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