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The composition of garnet in garnet-rich rocks in the southern Proterozoic Curnamona Province, Australia: an indicator of the premetamorphic physicochemical conditions of formation

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Abstract

Garnet-rich rocks occur throughout the Proterozoic southern Curnamona Province, Australia, where they are, in places, spatially related to Broken Hill-type Pb-Zn-Ag deposits. Fine-scale bedding in these rocks, their conformable relationship with enclosing metasedimentary rocks, and their enrichment in Mn and Fe suggest that they are metamorphosed chemical precipitates. They formed on the floor of a 1.69 Ga continental rift basin from hydrothermal fluids mixed with seawater and detritus. Garnet in garnet-quartz and garnet-amphibole rocks is generally light rare earth element (LREE) depleted, and has flat heavy REE (HREE) enriched chondrite-normalized REE patterns, and negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* < 1). Garnet in garnet-rich rocks from the giant Broken Hill deposit has similar REE patterns and either positive (Eu/Eu* > 1) or negative Eu anomalies. Manganese- and Mn-Ca-rich, Fe-poor garnets in garnetite, garnet-hedenbergite, and garnet-cummingtonite rocks at Broken Hill have Eu/Eu* > 1, whereas garnet in Mn-poor, Fe-rich quartz garnetite and quartz-garnet-gahnite rocks from Broken Hill, and quartz garnetite from other locations have Eu/Eu* < 1. The REE patterns of garnet and its host rock and interelement correlations among REEs and major element contents in garnet and its host rock indicate that the Eu anomaly in garnet reflects that of its host rock and is related to the major element composition of garnet and its host rock. The value of Eu/Eu* in garnet is related to its Mn, Fe, and Ca content and that of its host rock, and the distribution of REEs among garnet and accessory phases (e.g., feldspar). Positive Eu anomalies reflect high amounts of Eu that was preferentially incorporated into Mn- and Mn-Ca-rich oxides and carbonates in the protolith. In contrast, Eu/Eu* < 1 indicates the preferential discrimination against Eu by Fe-rich, Mn-poor precursor minerals. Precursors to Mn-rich garnets at Broken Hill formed by precipitation from cooler and more oxidized hydrothermal fluids compared to those that formed precursors to Mn-poor, Fe-rich garnet at Broken Hill and the other locations. Garnet from the Broken Hill deposit is enriched in Zn (> 400 ppm), Cr (> 140 ppm), and Eu (up to 6 ppm and positive Eu anomalies), and depleted in Co, Ti, and Y compared to garnet in garnet-rich rocks from other localities. These values, as well as MnO contents  > 15 wt. % and Eu/Eu* > 1 are only found at the Broken Hill deposit and are good indicators of the presence of Broken Hill-type mineralization.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation Grant EAR 03-09627, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Havilah Resources, and a Society of Economic Geologists McKinstry Student Research Grant. Suzy Elhlou is thanked for assistance with LA-ICP-MS analyses. Many fruitful discussions with Wolf Leyh, Ian Plimer, and Frank Spear are gratefully appreciated. Pedro Oyhantçabal is thanked for help with the statistical analysis. Jesús de la Rosa kindly provided trace element data of garnets for comparison. Critical and constructive reviews by Frank Spear and Berndt Lottermoser helped improve an earlier version of the manuscript. We thank Kurt Stuewe and Johann Raith for handling our paper and for many beneficial annotations.

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  1. Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Adriana Heimann & Paul G. Spry

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, 101 Graham Building, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Adriana Heimann

  3. Teale & Associates, P.O. Box 740, North Adelaide, South Australia, 5006, Australia

    Graham S. Teale

  4. Geological Survey Branch, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, GPO Box 1671, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia

    Colin H. H. Conor

  5. Gemoc Centre, Macquarie University, New South Wales, 2109, Australia

    Norman J. Pearson

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Editorial handling: J. Raith

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The complete data set of garnet compositions, a photo plate with representative images of the LA-ICP-MS pits, and correlation matrices mentioned in the text appear in the Electronic Supplementary Material that accompanies this paper. Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1007/s00710-010-0130-x.

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Heimann, A., Spry, P.G., Teale, G.S. et al. The composition of garnet in garnet-rich rocks in the southern Proterozoic Curnamona Province, Australia: an indicator of the premetamorphic physicochemical conditions of formation. Miner Petrol 101, 49–74 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-010-0130-x

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