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Hydrodynamic regime as a major control on localization of uranium mineralization in sedimentary basins

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Abstract

Uranium deposits in sedimentary basins can be formed at various depths, from near surface to the basement. While many factors may have played a role in controlling the location of mineralization, examination of various examples in the world, coupled with numerical modeling of fluid flow, indicates that the hydrodynamic regime of a basin may have exerted a major control on the localization of uranium deposits. If a basin is strongly overpressured, due to rapid sedimentation, abundance of low-permeability sediments or generation of hydrocarbons, fluid flow is dominantly upward and uranium mineralization is likely limited at shallow depths. If a basin is moderately overpressured, upward moving fluids carrying reducing agents may meet downward moving, oxidizing, uranium-bearing fluids in the middle of the basin, forming uranium deposits at moderate depths. If a basin is weakly or not overpressured, either due to slow sedimentation or dominance of high-permeability lithologies, minor topographic disturbance or density variation may drive oxidizing fluids to the bottom of the basin, leaching uranium either from the basin or the basement, forming unconformity-type uranium deposits. It is therefore important to analyze the hydrodynamic regime of a basin in order to predict the most likely type and location of uranium deposits in the basin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada

    GuoXiang Chi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    ChunJi Xue

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  1. GuoXiang Chi
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  2. ChunJi Xue
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Correspondence to GuoXiang Chi.

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Chi, G., Xue, C. Hydrodynamic regime as a major control on localization of uranium mineralization in sedimentary basins. Sci. China Earth Sci. 57, 2928–2933 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-4976-3

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