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Sulfur Isotope Composition of Olivine Gabbronorites from a Mineralized Apophysis of the Yoko-Dovyren Intrusion, Northern Transbaikalia, Russia

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Abstract

High-precision analysis of sulfur isotope composition was carried out for sulfide fractions from ten samples of olivine gabbronorite that composes a thick (approximately 300 m) swell of a ore-bearing apophysis that is parallel to the basal part of the Yoko-Dovyren massif in northern Baikal area, Russia. The δ34S values were found out to widely vary from +11‰ to –1.9‰. The maximum enrichment in isotopically heavy sulfur was identified within the basal horizon, which is 10 m thick, whereas the minimum values of δ34S were observed near the upper contact of the intrusive body. Sulfide droplets in chilled picrodolerite from the lower contact zone (Pshenitsyn et al., 2020) show a narrow range of δ34S (+8.65 ± 0.34‰, n = 5). Lower values of δ34S ranging from +2.09 to +2.53‰ are characteristic of the sulfide-rich net-textured ores, the mineralized olivine gabbronorite, and a cutting leucogabbro dike. The sulfur isotope compositions of two samples of pyrite-bearing rocks from the host carbonate–terrigenous rocks display discrete values of δ34S = +2.20‰ and δ34S = +9.40 ± 0.14‰ at a whole-rock sulfur concentration up to 3.5 wt %. Simple scenarios of the additive mixing of isotope-contrasting reservoirs corresponding to a juvenile magmatic source (δ34S = 0 and +2‰) and a provisionally chosen contaminant (δ34S = +9.4‰) are demonstrated to require a high degree of assimilation of host rocks (as much as 60–80%) and complete isotope equilibration of the hybrid system. In the contact picrodolerite with rare globular sulfides, the mixing mechanism is inconsistent with the estimated sulfur solubility in its parental magma: approximately 0.08 wt % (Ariskin et al., 2016). The high δ34S values in rocks from the basal part of the apophysis may be explained, under the assumption that contact-metamorphic H2S-bearing fluid was introduced into the magmatic system, by the thermal decomposition of pyrite coupled with dehydration of the host rocks. The proposed mechanism does not require a volume assimilation of crustal materials and is consistent with petrological and geochemical characteristics of the Dovyren magmas and derivative cumulates.

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Notes

  1. The term plagioperidotite is used herein as a tribute to the traditional geological description, for example, in (Kislov, 1998). In fact, the bodies are made up of olivine gabbronorite with a broadly varying olivine content (Ariskin et al., 2018) and are usually cut across by leucocratic gabbronorite dikes. These variations are more adequately reflected by the term gabbro–peridotite sills (Orsoev et al., 2018).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank G.S. Nikolaev (Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences) for help in the course of the fieldwork and consultations concerning the presented materials. The physicochemical interpretation of the results was largely stimulated during their discussion with V.B. Polyakov (Korzhinskii Institute of Experimental Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences). Special thanks are due to M.A. Yudovskaya (Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences) and A.S. Mekhonoshin (Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) for valuable comments on the manuscript.

Funding

This paper presents results obtained in the course of studies under projects nos. 16-17-10129 and 18-17-00126 of the Russian Science Foundation. Material for the separation of sulfide fractions and mineralogical studies was prepared under a government-financed research project for the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences. The composition of mineral phases was analyzed at the Laboratory for Analytical Techniques of High Spatial Resolution at the Department of Petrology, Moscow State University (analysts V.O. Yapaskurt and N.N. Korotaeva).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    A. A. Ariskin, I. V. Pshenitsyn & S. N. Sobolev

  2. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    A. A. Ariskin, I. V. Pshenitsyn & S. N. Sobolev

  3. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    E. O. Dubinina & S. A. Kossova

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  1. A. A. Ariskin
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Ariskin, A.A., Pshenitsyn, I.V., Dubinina, E.O. et al. Sulfur Isotope Composition of Olivine Gabbronorites from a Mineralized Apophysis of the Yoko-Dovyren Intrusion, Northern Transbaikalia, Russia. Petrology 29, 597–613 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869591121060023

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