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Distribution of oceanic and continental leads in the Arabian-Nubian Shield

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Abstract

New common lead data for feldspar, whole-rock, and galena samples from the Arabian-Nubian Shield, together with data from previous work, can be divided into two main groups. Group I leads have oceanic (mantle) characteristics, whereas group II leads have incorporated a continental-crustal component of at least early Proterozoic age. The group I leads are found in rocks from the Red Sea Hills of Egypt and the western and southern parts of the Arabian Shield. Group II leads are found in rocks from the northeastern and eastern parts of the Arabian Shield, as well as from the southeastern Shield near Najran. They are also found in rocks to the south in Yemen, to the east in Oman, and to the west at Aswan, Egypt. This distribution of data suggests that the Arabian-Nubian Shield has an oceanic core flanked by rocks that have developed, at least in part, from older continental material. Two mechanisms are suggested by which this older lead component could have been incorporated into the late Proterozoic rocks, and each may have operated in different parts of the Shield. The older lead component either was derived directly from an underlying early Proterozoic basement or was incorporated from subducted pelagic sediments or sediments derived from an adjacent continent.

New U-Pb zircon data indicate the presence of an early Proterozoic basement southeast of Jabal Dahul in the eastern Arabian Shield. These data, together with 2,000-Ma-old zircons from the Al Amar fault zone, verify the implication of the common lead data that at least a part of the eastern Arabian Shield has an older continental basement.

Because continental margins are particularly favorable locations for development of ore deposits, these findings may have important economic implications, particularly for tin, tungsten, and molybdenum exploration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., 94025, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    John S. Stacey

  2. U.S. Geological Survey Mission, APO, 09697, New York, USA

    Douglas B. Stoeser

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  1. John S. Stacey
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  2. Douglas B. Stoeser
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Stacey, J.S., Stoeser, D.B. Distribution of oceanic and continental leads in the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 84, 91–105 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01132334

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